Dinner Plans: Roasted Salmon

Prep 3 Delicious Meals From 1 Easy Salmon Recipe

By Spruce Eats Staff
Updated on 07/29/21
Baked salmon ingredients

The Spruce

Figuring out dinner can feel like a real chore night after night. But with a little planning ahead you can have delicious and unique dinners three nights in a row without the hassle. Make the first simple but delicious salmon dinner on a Sunday or Monday, do some quick prep, and use the leftovers to make two more tasty meals during the week.

Game Plan

Prep and Cooking Time: 1 hour 35 Minutes

  1. Bake a double batch of salmon. Serve half of it fresh from the oven for dinner with roasted asparagus.
  2. While it cooks, make the lemon parsley salad dressing and store in the refrigerator.
  3. Flake half of the leftover salmon into chunks and store it in the fridge for pasta night.
  4. Use the other half to mix up and form salmon patties. Store, uncooked, in an airtight container in the fridge separated by wax paper or parchment.
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See How to Make This Salmon

Prep Day Dinner: Baked Salmon and Asparagus

Simple baked salmon with garlic is tender, filling, and forgiving enough for a beginner to put together without stress. Use your oven to make roasted asparagus at the same time for a quick and easy dinner. It'll leave you plenty of time and energy to prep two more meals.

Baked Salmon With Garlic
The Spruce

Getting Dinner on the Table

  • Double the baked salmon recipe.
  • The asparagus can be baked at the same temperature as the salmon. If the spears are thick, add to the oven at the same time as the salmon. Thinner stalks should be added 5 minutes later for a total cook time of about 15 minutes.
  • The thin tail end of the fillet cooks faster than the thick meaty side, so remove those from the oven a few minutes early.

Pesto Salmon Pasta Night

Time: 20 minutes

Pesto salmon pasta is a crowd-pleasing dish that combines comforting pasta with tender pieces of flaked salmon in a creamy basil sauce. Store-bought pesto and pre-cooked salmon make this a quick, one-dish weeknight meal.

Pesto salmon pasta
The Spruce

Getting Dinner on the Table

  • Use the leftover flaked salmon fillets instead of salmon steaks in this recipe.
  • Get ahead on prep day: Put together the pesto sauce and store it in a labeled container in the fridge. Par cook the spaghetti to al dente, chill, and store until you are ready to assemble the dish.

Salmon Cakes Night

Time: 20 minutes

Crispy salmon cakes are so good you will want to make them again and again. They can be made ahead of time on prep day for a fast dinner—all you have to do is fry the patties. Serve them with a simple green salad with lemon parsley dressing.

Salmon Cakes
The Spruce

Getting Dinner on the Table

  • Use the thinner portions of the fillets to make these cakes.
  • Wash and dry the lettuce while the patties are frying. Shake the dressing before tossing with the lettuce just before serving.

Essential Info

Here's some helpful information about salmon:

About Dinner Plans

Making quick weeknight dinners is easier when you start with a few building blocks. Dinner Plans is a realistic roadmap to help you achieve that goal, by putting in a few hours of work (planning, shopping, and prepping) at the outset. Preparing a big batch of one ingredient (protein, vegetables, or grains) gives you the flexibility to plan a variety of meals. And who knows? You just might discover your new favorite weeknight recipe in the process!

Show everyone how together you are: Instagram your meal prep photos and tag them #thespruceeats.