If you love my parmesan salmon recipe, you will love this easy 3-ingredient Pesto Salmon! Make it in the air fryer or oven.
Pesto Salmon Air Fryer or Oven
If you’re like me and need quick meals to whip up on busy weeknights, you must try this 3-ingredient pesto salmon recipe! In fact, recipes that use just a few ingredients are the reason I created my latest cookbook, Skinnytaste Simple. Pair it with a vegetable and a salad, and you’ll have a healthy dinner on the table in no time. More salmon recipes you will love are these Air Fryer Salmon Bites, Baked Salmon and Asian-Glazed Air Fryer Salmon.
Why This Pesto Salmon Recipe Works!
- Easy! Only Three Ingredients.
- No Prep Work: No washing, chopping, or blending required! Just assemble and cook.
- Flavor Packed: With basil, garlic, and parmesan, pesto is bursting with flavor and eliminates the need to add a lot of other things to make this salmon taste amazing.
- Healthy: Salmon is a nutritional powerhouse, loaded with omega-3s (“essential fats” your body can’t make), protein, vitamins B12 and D, and potassium.
- Fast: The air fryer cooks the salmon in just seven minutes, but even if you bake it, dinner will be done in less than 15 minutes.
Pesto Salmon Ingredients
- Salmon: You’ll need two fillets with the skin on. I prefer wild-caught salmon. If you use frozen salmon, thaw it the night before in the refrigerator.
- Pesto: Buy pesto from the supermarket or make your own using my basil pesto recipe.
- Parmesan: Top each fillet with shredded parmesan cheese.
How to Make Pesto Salmon
- Season Salmon: Spread pesto over each piece of salmon and sprinkle with cheese.
- Air Fryer Pesto Salmon: Spritz the air fryer basket with oil and cook for seven minutes at 400°F.
- Baked Pesto Salmon: If you don’t have an air fryer, bake the fish at 425°F for 10 to 12 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets.
What to Serve with Pesto Salmon
This easy pesto salmon would be great with so many different side dishes. Below are some ideas:
- Vegetables: Roasted Mushrooms, Roasted Broccoli, Broccolini, Cauliflower Rice
- Starches: Rice, Quinoa, Orzo, Roasted Baby Potatoes
- Salads: A big green salad, tomato salad or house salad
FAQs
If you want to know what flavors go well with salmon? You will be surprised how tasty pesto is with salmon! It takes salmon from boring to fabulous!
Salmon is my favorite fish, and while I’d happily eat it every day, everything in moderation. The FDA recommends eating two servings of fish a week as part of a healthy diet. Salmon can help decrease heart disease, prevent inflammation, and improve brain health.
Storage
Leftover salmon will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator and can be reheated in the microwave, air fryer, or oven.
More Salmon Recipes You’ll Love
- Chili-Lime Air Fryer Salmon
- Slow Roasted Salmon
- Blackened Grilled Salmon Skewers
- Baked Salmon
- Air Fryer Salmon Patties
Pesto Salmon Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 5-ounce salmon fillets, skin on
- 2 tablespoons prepared pesto
- 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions
Air Fryer directions:
- Spritz the basket with olive oil to prevent sticking.
- Spread 1 tablespoon of pesto over the top of each salmon. Sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese on top.
- Air fry 7 minutes at 400°F, or longer depending on thickness of the salmon.
Oven directions:
- Preheat the oven to 425F. Spritz a small sheet pan with olive oil.
- Spread 1 tablespoon of pesto over the top of each salmon. Sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese on top.
- Bake 10 to 12 minutes, depending on thickness of the salmon.
Delish! I didn’t have shaved Parmesan so I had to use the sprinkle one, but it was still delicious so I’m picking up the other one so I’ll have it on hand next time
Brilliant quick easy and tasty
Love this and make it all the time. I always make Gina’s pesto too!
Fantastic! Love these quick and easy recipes. I made one filet and served with a side of sauteed spinach. So happy with this one
I had salmon in the fridge and lots and fresh basil in the yard. What a flavorful combo to create. It was very easy to make even when making the homemade pesto!
I just cooked this for lunch. It was very good. I did add some salt and pepper to it before spreading the pesto and Parmesan.
This couldn’t be easier to make, and the flavor is out of this world. Make this today!
Great!
This was amazing!! So easy. Will definitely make again!
This was so easy, and so delicious! Very few recipes have this level of payoff.
Easy and delicious!!!
Needed to be marinated first or in the pesto for awhile. Was very bland.
This was very tasty! used the skinny taste Pesto recipe and fresh basil and the taste was out of this world!!
Delicious and so easy! Used pesto that I made last summer.
I make this all the time! An definite favorite😊
So delicious! My husband kept saying it was like a meal he wouls get at a nice restaurant. Even the next day he was still raving about it. As a side I made a bag of Alfredo cauliflower rice (2pt per serving). Such an easy and delicious meal. Will definitely add it to our rotation!
This was incredible! My only variation was to cook it on a cedar plank over charcoal. It doesn’t get any easier or faster than this delicious combination!
My favorite way to cook salmon I add chopped walnuts over the pesto,delicious!
This is a family favorite! Our teens (16 & 13) love it. I serve it with salad or asparagus and its a clean plate every time.
Oh my goodness! This was so good and just three ingredients. He flavors were perfect together. I served I with a salad and it was a huge hit .
Delicious and so east for a busy weeknight dinner. Everyone loved it!
So easy and good! This is going to be a weeknight staple.
This was delicious and was so quick and easy to make. I put broccoli on the same sheet pan and dinner was done in 15 mins! This recipe is going into the regular rotation.
I just made one piece of salmon eating alone tonight. It was amazing and I also made a half orzo recipe with it. Fantastic dinner!
https://www.skinnytaste.com/broccoli-and-orzo/
I’ve never submitted a rating before, but this came out so good that I had to leave one. Best salmon recipe I’ve tried in a while. My entire family loved it.
YAY!
An excellent easy recipe. Paired it with roasted broccoli and cauliflower cooked on the same full sized sheet pan in my conventional oven. Dinner took 25 minutes with prep and cooking. It’s on the favorites list.
This was easy, fast and excellent! Will be going into rotation.
Fantastic recipe! My husband loved the pesto/ parm topping. The salmon turned out perfect in the air fryer. Thank you for the simplest, yet super delicious recipes!