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The easy salmon side dishes help turn one of the easiest fish recipes into a complete dinner and includes delicious rice, pasta, and potato ideas to pair with a vegetable or salad.
Salmon is my favorite fish to cook for dinner because the tender filets pair perfectly with a wide variety of seasonings and side dishes.
You can use salmon as a quick cook protein and pop one of these delicious side dishes into the oven or pot for an easy weeknight meal.
Just by mixing up the salmon side dishes, you can have dozens of completely different dinner ideas to add to your meal plan all month long!
Start with the Best Salmon Recipes
New to cooking salmon? Try one of my easy salmon recipes and you'll see why it is my family's favorite fish in no time.
For beginners, I recommend trying my oven baked salmon. All you need is a 9x13-inch dish, butter, and a special seasoning.
Salmon is a flaky pink fish with a delicate sweetness that tastes amazing with a wide variety of seasonings or marinades.
The best salmon side dishes will complement the flavor of your salmon and highlight its delicate texture.
For each side dish recipe, I've tried to include the perfect seasoning blend or sauce to go with it.
Rice Side Dishes
Rice is a perfect pick for a side dish for salmon because it is a delicate dish that soaks up any sauce you might drizzle over the fish.
Season the salmon with practically any herb blend, blackening spice, Cajun spice, or even lemon pepper seasoning and pair it with these rice side dishes.
Wild Rice Pilaf
You can make this wild rice pilaf recipe in the Instant Pot or on the stovetop and it is filled with tender veggies.
Wild Rice Pilaf
This easy wild rice pilaf is the perfect holiday side dish for Easter or Christmas but would be right at home for a special dinner on a busy weeknight. Loaded with fresh vegetables and savory herbs, it is the perfect partner for turkey, ham, beef, or seafood.
Another Instant Pot recipe that could be tweaked for the stovetop, I just love this easy herb butter rice recipe.
This would be amazing with salmon that has a lemon butter sauce.
Instant Pot Herb Butter Rice
This quick and easy herb butter rice is the perfect side dish for many holiday dinner ideas. The simple herbs pair perfectly with any chicken, fish, or shrimp dish you want to serve.
Season the salmon with a Cajun or blackening seasoning and it will taste amazing with this tomato-based baked red rice dish.
Red Rice with Bacon
This spicy rice recipe is a classic Southern side dish served at our favorite beach restaurants under the name Charleston red rice or Savannah red rice. Filled with savory bacon and veggies, it goes great with grilled fish or chicken and is so easy to make at home.
Learn to make perfect jasmine rice in your Instant Pot in just 3 minutes. It is the perfect side dish for saucy chicken and beef dinner recipes, stirring into soups for a gluten-free option instead of noodles, or using as the base for homemade fried rice.
If you want to pair pasta with salmon, you can either lay the salmon right on top of a bed of pasta for a full entree or plan a simple pasta side dish to put next to the filet on the plate.
In either case, avoid tomato-based sauces and lean towards olive oil, butter, lemon, or garlic based pastas.
My favorite salmon pasta side dishes include:
Warm Couscous Salad
This warm couscous salad is loaded with fresh veggies and bright mandarin oranges that would go perfectly with a spiced salmon filet.
Try blackening, Cajun, or mustard glazed salmon.
Warm Couscous Salad with Oranges
This delicious warm couscous salad features a rainbow of fresh peppers and onions and is sweetened with a can of mandarin oranges and orange juice. Toss it together and serve it warm for a delightful side dish but it could be served at room temperature or even chilled for a buffet.
This refreshing chicken pasta salad is loaded with raw veggies and a delicious savory Asian marinade. Make a batch for easy work week lunches or for serving at a party.
This bright and lemony pasta with lemon butter sauce is the perfect spring side dish. Add roasted shrimp or grilled chicken to make it a delicious main dish.
A spicy seasoned salmon or one with a simple Italian or Mediterranean herb blend would be perfect.
Lemon Orzo Salad with Tomatoes & Dill
This simple Greek orzo pasta salad made with fresh tomatoes and feta is bright and zesty from the fresh squeezed lemon juice. Serve it warm or chilled with shrimp or chicken.
The tangy goat cheese pasta has a burst of lemon and green baby spinach.
This rich pasta dish would complement a spicy blackened salmon or a Mediterranean herb salmon.
Goat Cheese Pasta
Rich and creamy goat cheese pasta with baby spinach is an easy pasta skillet recipe. This dish is elegant enough for a holiday meal but easy enough for a busy weeknight. Serve it as a meatless main dish or as a delicious side dish with spicy meatballs, grilled chicken, or fish or shrimp.
Pairing potatoes with salmon can be a little tricky if you're not careful. Since fish has such a flaky, delicate texture, your dinner will be lacking if you don't add something with a bit of a crispy crunch to it.
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This is the creamiest, fluffiest mashed potatoes recipe you'll ever find. It's the perfect make ahead side dish for a busy holiday dinner. Use the Keep Warm setting and the potatoes will be ready when you are!
My oven roasted mini potatoes and onions has a hint of mustard and would go really well with the mustard glazed salmon recipe.
Oven Roasted Mini Potatoes and Onions
These crispy roasted mini potatoes with onions, mustard, and simple seasonings are an easy side dish to make any time of year. Pair it with your favorite main dish, they work great with chicken, pork, sausages, and even fish.
Did you know you can roast potato gnocchi in the oven?? Toss in a hearty vegetable and some simple seasonings and this roasted gnocchi recipe would be perfect with salmon.
Roasted Gnocchi
This roasted gnocchi with butternut squash and fresh sage has a simple browned butter sauce that pairs perfectly with salty parmesan cheese. 25-minute sheet pan recipe that makes a great side dish or vegetarian main dish for the holiday.
Cube them up and toss them with olive oil for the best crispy roasted sweet potatoes you've ever had! Slightly sweet from the potato itself with a hint of spice from the red pepper flakes, this is the perfect potato side dish for grilled chicken, savory pork, or even grilled fish.
You could even pair it with my sweet potato mash with fresh pineapple.
Sweet Potato Mash with Pineapple
These creamy mashed sweet potatoes have juicy chunks of fresh pineapple in the mix for a sweet and savory side dish to pair with spicy pork, barbecue chicken, or grilled fish.
Roasted Peppers and Pineapple: This dish would complement the sweetness of the salmon and is especially tasty if you rub the salmon with a spicy herb blend.
Roasted Peppers and Pineapple
This easy pan of roasted peppers with sweet roasted pineapple makes an amazing side dish for any meal.
Roasted Broccoli and Carrots: This colorful mix of sweet and crispy veggies even cooks at the same temperature as the salmon. You could bake them at the same time.
Roasted Broccoli and Carrots
This easy roasted vegetables side dish is perfect for serving alongside your favorite Italian pasta dishes or even tossing right into a pasta primavera.
Stir fry vegetables: For a more Asian-inspired dish, brush your salmon with teriyaki or my stir fry seasoning blend and serve alongside rice and these easy veggies.
Stir Fry Vegetables in the Oven or Air Fryer
Prep a pan of stir fry vegetables in your oven or air fryer as an easy vegetable side dish for a rice bowl or Asian-inspired pasta dish. This method allows you to make a large quantity of perfectly crisp-tender veggies for a family dinner.
Easy parmesan roasted asparagus takes just 5 minutes of prep and is the perfect green vegetable side dish to add to an elegant chicken or seafood dinner. Roast this easy vegetable in the oven or air fryer.
This could be a good choice for adding some acid to a salmon and mashed potatoes dinner but you might want to also have something like my chunky corn salsa for a little bit of crunchy texture.
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
One of the easiest vegetable side dishes ever, toss these roasted cherry tomatoes into pasta dishes, stir-frys, or serve them alongside your main entree as a side dish. The roasting makes them extra sweet and delicious.
This classic zucchini and yellow squash casserole is a rich and delicious side dish you could serve with fish and skip the carbs altogether!
Old Fashioned Squash Casserole
Turn ordinary fresh zucchini and yellow squash into a decadent side dish for a special meal by pairing them with a touch of cream, shredded cheese, and crispy bread crumbs. This is the perfect side dish for grilled fish or chicken when your garden is overflowing with squash!
Tangy lemon parmesan vinaigrette is the perfect salad dressing for simple green lettuce. You can also use it as a marinade for chicken or for tossing with cooked grains for a hearty dinner.
This easy raw veggie salad makes a great side dish. Top it with a bit of feta cheese and a portion of cooked salmon to turn it into an easy entree.
Raw Veggie Salad
A cold and crispy raw veggie salad tossed in a spicy pepper vinaigrette with savory croutons on top makes an excellent summer side dish for grilled chicken, fish, or pork. This travel-friendly recipe is perfect for bringing to a potluck party since nothing will spoil in the heat.
Salmon and strawberries pair together amazingly well. This easy strawberry feta salad with chopped nuts would be a perfect base for a seasoned salmon filet.
Strawberry Feta Salad
Fresh strawberry feta salad is sized just right for enjoying for your lunch. It is so easy to scale it up for serving to the family for dinner or bringing to a potluck party on a big platter. Elegant, easy, and so delicious.
If you stick with just the veggies or salad and want something a little starchy other than rice, pasta, or potatoes, a simple biscuit or dinner roll is the perfect salmon side.
Cheddar Bay Biscuits: These are served at Red Lobster for a reason! The herb butter topping would be perfect with salmon of any flavor.
Copycat Cheddar Bay Biscuits
These light and flaky buttermilk biscuits have shredded cheddar in the mix and are brushed with an herb butter topping. They taste just like Red Lobster's famous cheddar bay biscuits but are so much better since they are made from scratch.
Buttermilk Drop Biscuits: Want something a little more flavor neutral? These crispy, buttery biscuits are the perfect pick.
Easy Buttermilk Drop Biscuits
These easy buttermilk drop biscuits can be made in just minutes and bake up so light and flaky. Try the classic butter biscuit recipe first and then switch things up with one of the 3 fun flavor variations listed in the notes below!
Whole Wheat Buns: Want to make a salmon sandwich? This would be my husband's choice of dinner roll for sure!
Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns
Use your bread machine to make a batch of easy whole wheat hamburger buns. The deep flavor and texture of these whole wheat buns are so much better than anything from the grocery store.
Bread Machine Crescent Dinner Rolls: These soft buttery dinner rolls are an elegant choice if you're serving salmon for a special holiday dinner.
Bread Machine Crescent Dinner Rolls
Easy homemade bread machine crescent rolls are perfect for a delicious holiday bread. Serve them at Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas warm from the oven. Can be made ahead and frozen for an even easier serving.
Finally, if you're looking to mix things up with your salmon routine, sometimes just changing the seasoning, marinade, or sauce you serve with the dish is the fix you need.
Pineapple Salsa: Try using a fajita-style seasoning blend on your salmon and top it with this fresh pineapple salsa. You could even make salmon tacos.
Pineapple Salsa for Tacos
Make this fresh pineapple salsa to spoon over your favorite shrimp, fish, or chicken tacos. It adds a burst of citrus juice and tons of flavor to every bite. You could also spoon it over grilled fish or baked chicken seasoned with blackening spices or jerk seasoning for an easy family dinner.
Spicy Remoulade Sauce: Spoon a dollop of this creamy sauce over the salmon and serve it with the red rice mentioned above. Or you could make a salmon po'boy sandwich on a roll with shredded lettuce.
Remoulade Sauce
This spicy cajun remoulade sauce is a great dipping sauce for crab cakes or for using as a shrimp po'boy sandwich spread, too! Made from easy things you have in your pantry mixed with a few classic creole ingredients for a creamy sauce you'll want to use again and again.
Thick Teriyaki Sauce: Keep it easy and spoon this over the cooked salmon on a bed of jasmine rice. Add a sprinkle of green onions for fresh color and flavor.
Thick Teriyaki Sauce
This easy homemade teriyaki sauce is thick and savory. It works perfectly for brushing over grilled chicken or stirring into a healthy stir fry.
Mustard Vinaigrette: Roast the salmon and then drizzle this sauce over the top. Serve it with a vegetable salad or simple pasta salad.
Mustard Vinaigrette
This easy mustard vinaigrette takes just a few minutes to measure and mix. It pairs perfectly with salads featuring apples, cranberries, citrus, or dark leafy greens like spinach or arugula. It's delicious with chicken or pork. Use it to baste salmon before roasting.
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