Coconut Lime Salmon
Weeknight dinners just got a whole lot better with this one-pan coconut lime salmon recipe. The sauce is creamy, flavorful, and bursting with delicious sweet & zesty flavor that’s delicious over seared salmon fillets.
Serve it over rice with your favorite side of veggies for a well-rounded dinner.
30-minute Dinner
If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I’m all about simple & healthy weeknight meals. I’ve been trying to come up with recipes that are easy to make, come together within 30 minutes, and taste fancier than they actually are.
This coconut lime salmon is the dish to make when you’re looking for just that. It comes together so quickly, and is packed with so many delicious flavors.
How to make coconut lime salmon
Creamy coconut sauce
The creamy coconut sauce is made from just a few basic ingredients like coconut milk, shallots, garlic, and fresh lime juice. It’s thickened with tapioca flour to get it nice and creamy.
Here’s what you’ll need to make coconut lime salmon:
- fresh, skinless salmon fillets- about 3-4
- avocado or olive oil, to sear the salmon
- coconut milk- I prefer using a full-fat coconut milk for this recipe
- shallots, garlic and ginger for flavorful aromatics
- fresh lime juice + zest
- tapioca flour, to help thicken the sauce
- salt
- cumin
- Sear the salmon: sear the salmon on a hot skillet to brown both sides. The trick to getting flakey salmon is to sear it on high heat for just a couple of minutes, then continuing to cook it in the sauce
- Cook the sauce: remove the salmon from the pan and cook the coconut sauce with your canned coconut milk, aromatics, lime juice and spices. Add the tapioca flour and whisk well. Cook the sauce until it thickens.
- Finish cooking the salmon: once the sauce is thick, add your salmon back in to the pan to finish the cooking process
- Garnish and serve: garnish with fresh cilantro, sliced limes and zested lime
This salmon just melts in your mouth, and is bursting with delicious sweet & zesty flavor. I bet this would even taste good with chicken breast instead of fish if you needed to change up the protein.
This one-pan recipe is a simple weeknight meal to incorporate into your dinner rotation. I can’t wait for you guys to try it!
More salmon recipes you may like:
Crispy Rice with Spicy Cooked Salmon
Pistachio Crusted Salmon
Apricot Glazed Salmon
Coconut Lime Salmon
Ingredients
- 3-4 skinless salmon fillets, about 4 oz each
- 2 tbsp avocado or olive oil
- Salt & pepper
Coconut Lime Sauce
- 1 shallot, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 can of full-fat coconut milk, 14 oz
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp tapioca flour, or substitute all-purpose flour, cornstarch, or arrowroot
- Lime zest to top
- Cilantro to top
Directions
- Pat the salmon dry and season each fillet with salt and pepper.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat for 1 minute. Once hot, add in the oil.
- Place the salmon into the skillet and sear on both sides for about 1 1/2 minutes on medium/high to brown each side. The salmon doesn't need to cook fully, it will continue to cook in the sauce.
- Remove the salmon from the pan and place onto a plate or cutting board to rest.
- Lower the heat to medium and add in the chopped shallot to the pan. Saute for about 1 minute until soft.
- Add the garlic and ginger and stir together for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Pour in the coconut milk, lime juice, salt and cumin and mix well.
- Whisk the tapioca flour in a small bowl with a tbsp of water to create a slurry. Add the slurry into the pan and whisk together. Let the sauce cook for about 3 minutes on medium heat to thicken. Taste and adjust salt to your liking.
- Place the salmon fillets back into the sauce and let it cook over a medium/low flame for about 10 minutes, or until the salmon is fully cooked through.
- Garnish with zested lime and fresh cilantro before serving
I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
So easy and sooo delicious!! Such good flavors and would work with other fish too.
Thank you, Carly!
Immediately agreed this will be a repeat recipe. Used onion on hand instead of shallot, still turned out amazing. Thank you for this recipe.
I’m so happy you tried it, Sarah!