Healthy Baked Salmon Salad

An overhead shot of a white bowl with salmon salad in it with avocado and lemon slices on it and another salad and tahini dressing on the side

The Best Salmon Salad Recipe! This fresh salmon salad is healthy, delicious and easy to make with a zesty lemon tahini dressing!

Prep Time15

Cook Time10

Total Time25

Servings: salads

Calories: 600kcal

Ingredients

For the salmon:

20 oz. salmon cut into 4 5-oz. filets
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon black pepper

For the dressing:

1/3 cup lemon juice about 2 small lemons
¼ cup raw tahini 65 g
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup cold water
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 cloves garlic minced (about 2 tbsp)
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup fresh basil finely chopped (about 1 .75-oz. clamshell, or 10 g chopped)
¼ cup fresh parsley finely chopped (about ¼ bunch, or 6 g chopped)
2 tablespoons fresh chives finely chopped

For the salad:

12 cups romaine lettuce chopped (about 4 large heads of romaine or 2 9-oz. packages of chopped romaine)
1 medium ripe avocados pitted, peeled, and sliced
1 large English cucumber sliced into half-moons (about 2 cups sliced)
2 small shallot peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)
½ cup walnuts raw or roasted

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a sheet pan with tin foil and set aside.
If not pre-cut, use a very sharp knife to cut the salmon into 4 filets. Using a paper towel, pat the salmon filets dry and place them on the foil-lined sheet pan.
In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Brush the salmon filets generously with the oil/lemon juice mixture. Coat each filet liberally with kosher salt, garlic powder, and black pepper.
Place the salmon in the preheated oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until they reach your desired level of doneness. Avoid overcooking. You want the meat to be flakey, and moist but opaque.
While the salmon is cooking, prepare the dressing. Place the ¼ cup of tahini, ¼ cup of olive oil, 1/3 cup of lemon juice, ¼ cup of cold water, 1 tbsp maple syrup, 2 cloves of minced garlic, and ½ tsp kosher salt in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Finely chop the herbs and mix them into the dressing (do not blend!). Place in the fridge to thicken until you’re ready to use.
Prepare the salad. Chop the romaine into bite-size pieces and divide between 4 bowls (or a bowl for each salad you plan on serving). Halve the avocados, remove the pit, scoop out the flesh, and slice. Halve the cucumber and slice it into half-moons. Peel the shallot and slice it very thinly.
Divide the veggies between the bowls. Top each bowl with walnuts and a piece of salmon. Dress the salad with as much dressing as you would like and serve immediately.

Nutrition