Got your salmon recipes ready and need to find some of the best sides for salmon? These side dishes will take your favorite fish to a whole new level.
Salmon is the ocean jewel, with pink flesh and fresh flavor iconic in many international cuisines.
We all know it’s good already, so our only mission is to find a side dish that can honor it. That’s the mission we are embarking on with this list, and I think we accomplish it handily.
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What to Serve with Salmon?
As I said, salmon is a rich and oily fish with a unique flavor profile. Choosing the suitable dish to accompany it is about understanding this fish’s traits and adapting to them.
The best side dishes for a salmon-based meal freshen the fish, highlighting its juiciness and distinctive color. The good news is, there are so many dishes out there that meet these criteria.
So, let’s kick into it.
Sides for Salmon Dinner
Who’s coming to dinner today? Salmon, that’s who! If you choose to hero this iconic seafood for your dinner, you’ll need a delicious side dish that can anchor the whole affair.
Salmon is a light and delicate protein with many robust flavors, but it won’t satisfy everyone at the table all on its own. That’s why it’s essential to choose a tasty side dish.
1. Apple Sweet Potato Bake
We’re kicking off our list with an homage to fall. These apple sweet potatoes sing with autumn flavors and warm spices. It’s the perfect presence to anchor a fish as light and oily as salmon.
This is also a wonderful side for ribs.
2. Mediterranean Roast Vegetables
Using a Mediterannean spice profile, this recipe brightens a series of roast vegetables.
As we all know, roast vegetables are also very easy to make. Just toss them in a pan with your spice mix, whack them in the oven, and you’re ready to go!
3. Easy Honey Roasted Carrots
Carrots are packed with natural sugars and become golden and sweet when roasted low and slow in the oven.
This perfect recipe doubles down on that sweetness, adding a light honey glaze that brings out the carrots’ natural earthiness.
You could also easily serve this side dish with pasta.
4. Garlic Butter Mushrooms
The deep rich flavors of mushrooms beautifully complement salmon’s light and delicate touch.
Best of all, these garlic butter mushrooms are super easy to prepare. You can whip them up in fifteen minutes for just about any dish under the sun. All you need is your stove!
5. Whole Roasted Baby Potatoes
In this recipe, you’ll be roasting baby potatoes whole to create little flavor bombs scattered on your plate. These tasty treats are hard to beat, and they’re a classic companion for a salmon dish.
This is also just a wonderful side dish to have with chicken wings.
6. Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower
When you pair roasted cauliflower with salmon, you’ll find the smokey notes from the charred cauliflower offer a solid contrast to the delicate fish.
You might want to use the same spice blend you’re using on your salmon on your cauliflower to tie the two elements together even more.
Sides for Salmon Patties
Salmon patties rely on the flakiness of this delicious fish to create a light, crunchy patty. Forget your standard fish cakes; salmon patties are the way of the future.
Rather than emphasizing the salmon’s freshness, easy side dish recipes paired with a salmon patty should draw attention to the fish’s deeper flavors.
This fish has a delightful depth that deserves appreciation when cooked and flaked. So, these perfect side dishes will make salmon patties your family favorite.
7. Red Lentil Pasta Salad
First off the ranks is a red lentil pasta salad that is, by turn, fresh and hearty. Featuring red lentils and woody chickpeas, this pasta salad is the perfect way to highlight salmon’s dual freshness and depth.
8. Tabbouleh
Originating from the Mediterranean, tabbouleh is a woody, sweet, and crunchy dish.
Paired with a robust seafood protein like salmon, tabbouleh cannot be beaten in terms of flavor. The two dishes play off each other to create delightful new sensations with every mouthful.
9. Cilantro Lime Taco Slaw
This slaw recipe is undeniably fresh, bursting with cilantro and lime notes. That freshness is tempered by the light creamy dressing, which makes the salmon love it so much.
As with any coleslaw, I’d recommend making this recipe in advance and giving it a chance to mellow in the fridge before serving.
10. Pineapple Pico De Gallo Salsa with Avocado
Pico de gallo is a raw vegetable salsa that usually spotlights the lovely tomato. However, this time we’ll be drawing the focus to a more tropical option: the pineapple.
The tart pineapple will bring your salmon patties to life with their freshness. This would also suit salmon sashimi or seared salmon dish.
11. Cheesy Garlic Broccoli
Roasted broccoli topped with cheese is a tasty dish that blends with salmon perfectly.
You only need three ingredients and about ten minutes of preparation to make this dish.
In addition, you just need one pan, so there are no dishes to do!
Enjoy a side dish with brisket!
12. 5-Minute Lemon Pepper Asparagus
Asparagus is a vegetable with a light, delicate flavor that ideally suits salmon.
Add lemon and pepper into the mix, and the result is a side dish just waiting to make your salmon sing.
It takes literally five minutes to prepare. Simply snap the stalks, dress in lemon and pepper, and fry in a pan.
13. Bulgur Wheat Salad
This bulgur wheat salad is packed with protein and fiber. It’s a quick and simple salad that anyone can make, but the result is bursting with woody flavors.
Speckled with slices of avocado throughout, this salad is a play on textures that will highlight the delicate smoothness of the salmon.
14. Garlic Herb Roasted Vegetables
Nothing says ‘delicious’ like a plate of roasted vegetables, and these garlic herb versions certainly do the trick.
Get creative with your vegetable combinations or stick with the classics; it’s up to you!
The fragrant garlic and herb combination is a perfect pair to the salmon’s freshness.
15. Air Fryer Roasted Bell Peppers
Raw bell peppers are fresh, crispy, and bursting with hidden natural sugars. Once you roast them, those bright and crunchy stripes of color turn golden and crisp.
Roasted bell peppers have a dark sweetness like molasses. This makes them an excellent choice for adding depth to a fresh dish.
16. Air Fryer Carrot Fries with Greek Yogurt Dip
Turn this ordinary vegetable into an extraordinary side dish with just a few minutes of quality time with your chopping board.
Your salmon and these carrot fries will pair well with a creamy sauce. Ranch, Caesar dressing, or a Greek yogurt dip are all great options.
17. Roasted Root Vegetables
These golden roasted root vegetables remind me of the first days of fall.
All the woody vegetables are offset by the occasional burst of sweetness from a charred red onion slice.
This isn’t a one-note side dish, so you’ll have a lot of different elements to pick from on your plate.
Keto Sides for Salmon
Salmon is an ideal protein for keto lunches and dinners. It’s high in healthy fats, so it will help bulk up the portions of your diet you’re looking to improve upon.
In terms of finding a good side dish, plenty of keto side dishes will harmonize with a lovely fillet of salmon. Let’s see what some of them are.
A good hearty side dish will make for a great addition to any ketogenic main course.
18. Keto Roasted Asparagus
Because the asparagus has a light char on its stems, this spring-time vegetable takes a small step backward into autumn. Thanks to this, it’s the perfect partner for a salmon-based dish.
With almost no preparation time and only one dish in use, it’s ideally suited to weeknight dinners.
19. Keto Cauliflower Risotto
Salmon and risotto are a match made in heaven.
Using cauliflower as a rice substitute makes your risotto light and creamy, the perfect contrast to a fresh fillet of salmon. Plus, this version is so much faster to make than regular risotto!
20. Cilantro Lime Caulirice
Cilantro and lime help this dish burst with freshness, and the creamy cauliflower rice does the same.
This is another dish that’s easy to make on a weeknight, especially if you prepare your cauliflower rice in advance.
Use this as a base for your next meal preparation recipe that heroes salmon.
21. Keto Broccoli with Lemon and Garlic
Broccoli is already known for its delightful freshness and crunch, but this recipe takes it to a new level.
Featuring notes of fresh lemon juice and garlic, this recipe makes these tender stalks extra juicy and crunchy.
The key is to cook your broccoli al dente.
22. Keto Stuffed Mushrooms
Stuffing mushrooms with a generous portion of cheese is a great way to turn this vegetable into a simple side dish.
Serve these straight out of the oven for maximum mouth-watering impact. You could also serve this side dish with polish sausage.
23. Crispy Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts
These crunchy and caramelized pearls of delight are excellent as a side dish or even as a healthy snack.
If you’re serving up an Asian salmon dish, you can swap out the delicious parmesan for a light Asian dressing on the sprouts. They’re delicious either way.
Rice Sides for Salmon
Finally, we’ve reached the last section on our list of the best side dishes for rich-tasting fish. Our category is rice dishes!
Rice and salmon go hand in hand because rice’s light, airy texture forms the perfect base for the richer, heavier salmon. We don’t just want to serve salmon with plain rice, do we?
We certainly don’t, not when there are ten much better options! These are some of the best salmon side dishes you can enjoy in different ways and transform any easy meal.
24. Lazy Slow Cooker Rice
Using your slow cooker to make rice means you don’t have to watch a pot.
This recipe is just for plain rice. However, once you know how to make rice this way, you can use it as a quick and easy base for various other rice dishes waiting in the wings.
25. Rice Cooker Coconut Rice with Black Beans
Salmon and coconut are two flavors that exist in harmony, so you could easily serve this rice with a salmon fillet on top and call it a day.
The black beans add an extra dose of protein to make the dish extra filling.
26. Sprouted Brown Rice Pilaf
Sprouted brown rice is perfect for pilafs because it has a lovely chewy texture. It also tastes slightly nuttier than traditional brown rice.
Best of all, sprouted rice is super filling and very versatile.
You could also serve this with your favorite ground lamb recipe.
27. Lemon Brown Rice
This lemon brown rice recipe combines other elements like feta, garlic, and dill to emphasize the interplay between depth and lightness.
It’s a fragrant and woody option that will make your salmon taste even fresher.
You could also serve this with leftover brisket recipe.
28. Easy Mixed Vegetable Rice
Paired with a fillet of salmon, this will spotlight this sea tycoon’s mild oiliness and richness.
Easy mixed vegetable rice is also a brilliant way to sneak more vegetables into your diet. Where you might have served plain rice, opt for this extra healthy option to bolster your nutrient intake.
29. 5-Minute Easy Rice and Beans
This is a quick and easy recipe you can prepare ahead of time, so you can focus on getting that salmon absolutely perfect.
This is my go-to dish when I have to cater to more people than I expected unexpectedly. It’s easy to make, filling, and delicious.
30. Golden Garlic Rice
This golden garlic rice uses a unique ingredient to achieve that stunning golden color: achiote powder!
This powder is made from the annatto seed with a mild peppery flavor that enhances the earthy garlic.
If you can’t find this specialized ingredient, something like turmeric will have a similar effect.
31. Lemon Butter Rice
Lemon butter rice combines the three ingredients put on this earth to accompany salmon: lemon, butter, and rice.
It’s effortless to make, but the flavors bursting forth from each bite are anything but.
It will be your favorite way to make rice from now on for any main dish.