This Paleo Pan Seared Salmon dish will let you enjoy a busy weeknight’s dinner without blowing a whole week’s diet. Making this crispy skin salmon requires just 7 ingredient. Paleo Pan Seared Salmon is a quick, easy, kid friendly meal. It’s grain free, gluten free, low carb, paleo, and using oil instead of butter, it can be dairy free, too! This is a super easy dinner option that can be on the table in less than 20 minutes!
Pan Seared Salmon with Avocado Gremolata Recipe by Lindsay Cotter
Is it safe to eat the skin of fish?
If you don’t already know, there are a lot of unhealthy chemicals and pollutants in the open waters. Those chemicals (called PCBs) absorb into marine life, so not all fish skin is safe to eat. The good news is, wild-caught salmon (and other wild fish) are free of pollutants, so the skin on those fish is perfectly safe to eat. Plus, just like salmon flesh, the skin of salmon has healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Our bodies don’t produce those fatty acids, so we need to eat fatty fish to get them.
Moral: eat more pan seared salmon!
How do you get crispy skin on fish?
You can get a nice, crispy skin salmon by grilling, broiling, or pan searing the fish. For some reason, there are people who find pan searing salmon intimidating. You have nothing to fear – making pan seared salmon is SO easy!
Better yet, pan searing salmon is one of the quickest ways to make a healthy fish dinner. No need to heat up the kitchen with the oven and no standing over a hot grill –less than 10 minutes of cooking time on top of the stove is all you need to make pan seared salmon!
Other recipes you might like to try: Low Cal Alfredo Sauce, Keto Bacon and Egg Cups, Berry and Banana Smoothie
Paleo Pan Seared Salmon
Ingredients
Pan Seared Salmon
- 3 4-5 oz salmon fillets with skin preferred
- 1–2 tbsp olive oil, avocado oil, or butter for pan
- Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
Avocado Gremolata
- 1 small ripe avocado or 1/2 large – diced, skin off
- 4 tsp dried parsley or 1/3 c fresh chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 tsp lemon pepper seasoning peppercorns
- 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
- 3–4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- lemon juice 1 of one lemon and slices to garnish
Instructions
Pan Seared Salmon
- First clean your fish fillets with fresh water. Pat dry on both sides.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add butter (or oil) and swirl until pan is covered or butter melted.
- Add the salmon fillets to the pan, flesh side down.
- Pan sear the salmon flesh side down for 3 minutes, then flip with a spatula or tons to sear the skin. If your goal is a super crispy skin, use a flat spatula to gently press down on the flesh until the fillet flattens out a little more, sealing the skin against the pan. When the flesh feels firm to the touch (3-5 minutes), the salmon is ready.
- Depending on the thickness of your fillet, the searing time could take longer. Check to make sure the inside is no longer pink but opaque.
- Remove pan from heat and cool the salmon in the pan for 2-3 minutes. The salmon should continue cooking (a tad) off the heat. Sprinkle the flesh side of the fillets with a little salt/pepper.
- Top with lemon and avocado gremolata, serve, and enjoy!
Avocado Gremolata
- Chop your avocado and herbs.
- Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl and let it marinate in the fridge while the salmon cooks.
Notes
- Before you begin – You can make the gremolata first before cooking, or quickly make it while the salmon is sitting after being cooked. It takes 2 minutes to make!
- This recipe can be doubled to make 4-5 servings (3-4 ounces of fish per serving)
- Optional spices to add on top -Pinch or chili pepper or cayenne for spice
