Coconut Lime Salmon

Weeknight dinners just got a whole lot better with this one-pan coconut lime salmon recipe! It’s creamy, flavorful, and bursting with delicious sweet & zesty flavor. Serve it over rice with your favorite side of veggies for a well-rounded dinner.

Coconut lime salmon

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 tastes out of this world!

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.

Pan searing the salmon first is key to getting the fish crispy. The trick to getting flakey salmon is to sear it on high heat for just a couple of minutes, then continue cooking it in the sauce.

Serve it with fluffy rice and a side of veggies for a simple, well rounded meal during the week. Did I mention its a one-pan meal?

How to make coconut lime salmon

Here’s what you’ll need to make coconut lime salmon:

• fresh, skinless salmon
• avocado oil, to sear the salmon
• coconut milk- I prefer using a full-fat coconut milk for this recipe
• shallots, garlic and ginger for some 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

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 until and cook it until it thickens.

Finish cooking the salmon: once the sauce is thick, add your salmon back in to continue cooking it through.

Garnish and serve: garnish with fresh cilantro 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 instead of fish if you needed to change up the protein.

Coconut lime salmon is a flavor-packed simple weeknight meal to incorporate into your dinner rotation. It comes together in less than 30 minutes, and requires only 1 pan!

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

5 from 1 vote

Course: Gluten-Free, Main

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Total time

30

minutes

Ingredients

• 3-4 skinless salmon fillets, about 4 oz each

• 2 tbsp avocado 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

• 2 tbsp lime juice

• 1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste

• 1/4 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp tapioca flour, or substitute all-purpose, 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 avocado oil.
• Place the salmon in 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!

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @somethingnutritious on Instagram- I’d love to see your creations!