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    Home » Recipes » Salads

    Thai Pesto Salmon Salad

    Published: Jan 12, 2023

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    This Thai Pesto Salmon Salad recipe features a rainbow of colours, textures, and flavours, and is topped off with fresh Thai cilantro pesto. Tasty!

    Thai pesto salmon salad with sesame crusted salmon on top.

    We’ve been photographing all of my favorite salad recipes over the past month or so, looking forward to sharing a bunch of the different ways that we like to dress up our tasty recipe for meal prep salads.

    It’s January, after all - probably about time to get some classically healthy recipes on the go, right?

    Anyway, this healthy salmon salad is quite possibly the perfect recipe for this type of salad.

    The tender salmon takes only about 1 minute of prep work to make, and cooks up in 15 minutes.

    It’s laid on top of a great salad, with a ton of bright colours, flavors, and crunch.

    A flavorful cilantro pesto acts as a light dressing. It also works up in just minutes, though it can also be made ahead and kept in the fridge.

    All around, it’s our best salmon recipe . It makes a great meal, whether as a somewhat fancy supper, or an easy lunch. It's *pretty*, too!

    Let’s get to it!

    Two sesame crusted salmon salads with thai pesto.

    Ingredients

    This fresh salad may look fancy, but it’s really just a collection of simple ingredients that you can find in any grocery store.

    I tend to look at the salmon salad ingredients in 3 parts: The base salad, the toppings, and the salmon. Here are some notes for you:

    Base Salad

    I like to meal prep several days worth of salad base bowls on grocery day - some sort of fresh greens, along with some fairly neutral fresh veggies - Usually shredded broccoli stems, carrot, green onions, cucumber, and radish.

    I have some flat Ikea bowls that I use as meal prep containers, and they tend to last up to 6-7 days in the fridge.

    1 batch makes 10 salads, so we’ve got a few days worth of base salads to adorn all kinds of different ways.

    It’s a pretty slick way to get a lot of vegetables into our diet, and feels like SO much less work than making full salads individually.

    See my Salad Meal Prep post for full details on how I do it.

    Want to make this salad as a standalone thing?

    You can use a base of crisp lettuce and/or other salad greens, spring mix, baby spinach, and/or romaine lettuce. I’d add some cucumber and green onions in, for good measure.

    A plate of watermelon radish, carrot, yellow beets, avocado, and purple cabbage arranged on a plate.

    The Salad Toppings

    My choice of veggies for this salad were picked to provide a range of vibrant colors, flavours, and textures that would work well with both the salmon and the cilantro pesto.

    Topping off the base salad, I used:

    Red cabbage
    Watermelon radish
    Carrot
    Golden Beet
    Creamy avocado
    2 Green Onions

    Sometimes I’ll toss in some red onion slices as well., as it’s one of my favorite ingredients to bring a bit of bite to any salad.

    I like to use my Vegetable Spiralizer on the carrots and yellow beets, and my Mueller Multi Blade Adjustable Mandoline Slicer for slicing the watermelon radish.

    In addition to the vegetable toppings, there’s another important component of the salad: the salad dressing.

    In this case, it’ a flavorful cilantro pesto that melts down a bit from the heat of the salmon.

    The dressing ingredients are simple:

    Cilantro (Fresh herbs, not dried!)
    Peanuts
    Green onions
    Fresh garlic cloves
    Sriracha
    Extra virgin olive oil
    Fresh lime juice or calamansi juice
    Salt and ground black pepper

    Generally, I’ll use the calamansi juice for almost anything I’d normally use lemon or lime juice in. I buy it at Seafood City, a large Filipino grocery store.

    LOVE it, highly recommend it... but lime juice works great in this as well.

    Baked Sesame Salmon

    Wild salmon is a great source of protein, healthy fats, and flavour, so this simple baked salmon recipe gets a LOT of use at our house.

    We tend to use skinless sockeye salmon fillets, but feel free to use whatever type of salmon you like.

    I like to start with a fresh salmon filet - I’ll usually get a bigger piece of salmon, and cut it into fresh salmon fillets at home.

    The piece of salmon is dressed up with:

    Sesame Oil
    Salt and Ground Black Pepper
    Black Sesame Seeds
    Toasted Sesame Seeds

    It takes just minutes to prepare, but is definitely one of our favorite salmon recipes!

    Thai pesto salmon salad with sesame crusted salmon on top.

    How to Make Thai Pesto Salmon Salad

    The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post. Here is the pictorial walk through, with some more detailed information where necessary.

    Cilantro Pesto

    Measure everything except the salt and pepper into the food processor

    Blitz until everything is well chopped and blended to a good consistency.

    Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

    Cover - or transfer to an airtight container - and chill until use.

    (If you’re using it soon, you can leave it at room temperature for up to a few hours, at least.)

    A 5 part image showing the thai cilantro pesto being made in a mini food processor.

    Baked Sesame Salmon

    Preheat your oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

    Place salmon portions on the baking sheet, skin side down if applicable.

    Drizzle a little sesame oil over the salmon, use a pastry brush to evenly spread it over the top and sides of each salmon piece. Season with a little salt and pepper.

    Sprinkle the salmon portions generously with sesame seeds, turning the pieces to coat the sides as well.

    A 5 part image showing 2 salmon portions being brushed with sesame oil and coated with sesame seeds.

    Bake until done - it should flake easily. For salmon this size, it’s usually about 15 minutes.

    Salad Assembly

    As the salmon is baking, arrange your prepared vegetables on top of your base salads - or beds of salad greens, if not using base salads.

    Put a big scoop of the pesto on each salad.

    A 5 part image showing the rainbow of vegetable toppings being arranged on a base salad and topped with a baked sesame crusted salmon filet.

    When ready, carefully lift the baked salmon up off the skin, place on the salad, and serve!

    Thai pesto salmon salad with sesame crusted salmon on top.

    More Keto Main Dish Salad Recipes

    Looking for more low carb salad recipes that are substantial enough to serve as a meal? Look no further!

    Buffalo Chicken Salad
    Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad
    Cobb Salad
    Italian Sub Salad
    Keto Taco Salad
    Mediterranean Chicken Salad
    Salad Meal Prep
    Seafood Cobb Salad
    Seared Tuna Salad
    Sesame Ginger Chicken Salad
    Shawarma Chicken Salad
    Steak Salad with Creamy Wasabi Dressing

    Two sesame crusted salmon salads with thai pesto.

    Share the Love!

    Before you chow down, be sure to take some pics of your handiwork! If you Instagram it, be sure to tag me - @LowCarbHoser - or post it to My Facebook Page - so I can cheer you on!

    Also, be sure to subscribe to my free email newsletter, so you never miss out on any of my nonsense. Well, the published nonsense, anyway!

    ... and hey, if you love the recipe, please consider leaving a star rating and comment! (Sharing the post on social media is always appreciated, too!)

    Thai pesto salmon salad with sesame crusted salmon on top.

    Thai pesto salmon salad with sesame crusted salmon on top.
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    5 from 1 vote

    Thai Pesto Salmon Salad

    This Thai Pesto Salmon Salad features a rainbow of colours, textures, and flavours, and is topped off with fresh Thai cilantro pesto. Tasty!
    Prep Time15 mins
    Cook Time15 mins
    Total Time30 mins
    Course: Main Course, Salad
    Cuisine: Asian
    Diet: Diabetic, Gluten Free, Low Lactose
    Servings: 4 Servings
    Calories: 503kcal

    Equipment

    Baking sheet
    Parchment paper
    Spiralizer

    Ingredients

    Cilantro Pesto

    • 3 cups Cilantro large stems removed and packed well.
    • ⅓ cup Peanuts
    • 3 Green onions
    • 4 cloves Garlic
    • 1 teaspoon Sriracha
    • ¼ cup Olive oil
    • 1 tablespoon Fresh lime juice or calamansi juice
    • Salt and Pepper

    Baked Sesame Salmon

    • 16 oz Salmon Portion 4 x 4 oz portions
    • 1 tablespoon Sesame oil
    • Salt and Pepper
    • Black Sesame seeds
    • Toasted Sesame Seeds

    Assembly

    • 4 Base salads or 8 cups Salad Greens
    • 1 cup Red cabbage thinly sliced
    • 1 Watermelon radish
    • 1 Large Carrot Spiralized
    • 1 Golden Beet Spiralized
    • 1 Avocado
    • 2 Green Onions Sliced

    Instructions

    Cilantro Pesto

    • Measure everything except the salt and pepper into the food processor
    • Blitz until everything is well chopped and blended to a good consistency.
    • Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
    • Cover and chill until use

    Baked Sesame Salmon

    • Preheat your oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
    • Arrange salmon portions on the baking sheet, skin side down if applicable.
    • Drizzle a little sesame oil over the salmon, use a pastry brush to evenly spread it over the top and sides of each salmon piece. Season with a little salt and pepper.
    • Sprinkle the salmon portions generously with sesame seeds, turning the pieces to coat the sides as well.
    • Bake until done. For salmon this size, it’s usually about 15 minutes.

    Salad Assembly

    • As the salmon is baking, arrange your prepared vegetables on top of your base salads - or beds of salad greens, if not using base salads.
    • Put a big scoop of the pesto on each salad.
    • When the salmon is done, carefully lift it up off the skin, place it on the salad, and serve!

    Notes

    See post for details on my use of base salads.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 503kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 38g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 21g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 140mg | Potassium: 1280mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 3888IU | Vitamin C: 35mg | Calcium: 86mg | Iron: 3mg

    Two sesame crusted salmon salads with thai pesto.

    Related posts:

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    « Sub Salad
    Chicken Shawarma Salad »

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