Baked Salmon with Cucumber Mint Salsa

This healthy baked salmon with cucumber salsa is a quick, tasty, and fresh meal!

I love simple baked salmon. I buy what looks good, and in this case, it was a lovely piece of bright red wild sockeye salmon. A good piece of fish doesn’t need much to enhance its flavor. I added a little bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder prior to popping it into the oven.

The rest of that piece of salmon went to another dish that sadly won’t make it to the blog because I just wasn’t impressed enough with it. Still ate it, though. 😛

The quick cucumber salsa is just as simple.

Cucumber (I love the Persian/mini ones), mint, salt & pepper, olive oil, lemon juice, and za’atar spices make it sparkle. It pairs wonderfully with the salmon. Cucumber and salmon just go so well together!

You can serve this dish when the fish is straight out of the oven, or you can make everything a few hours ahead and let it chill in the fridge. It tastes good either way!

I ate the salmon and cucumber salsa as a light meal, but you could just as easily make some rice with it or a large salad. Whatever floats your boat. It’s still summer and summer eats should be easy!

If you’re curious about za’atar, it’s simply a blend of spices that’s popular in Middle Eastern cooking. It typically consists of dried thyme, sumac, and sesame seeds (and sometimes oregano and/or marjoram).

Here’s some more info on it from my go-to cooking resource, The Kitchn, if you’re interested. I’ve been seeing it in grocery stores a lot lately, so you likely won’t have to go to a specialist shop to find it. I look forward to using it in more recipes because it’s really good!

Hope you’ll enjoy this healthy baked salmon recipe!

You may also like my baked salmon with a lemon shallot butter sauce (which happens to be the first recipe I ever posted on this blog!), my healthy salmon tacos, or my healthy salmon Caesar salad.

Questions? Leave me a comment.

5 from 4 votes

Baked Salmon with Cucumber Mint Salsa

By Natasha Bull

This healthy baked salmon with cucumber mint salsa is a quick, tasty, and fresh meal!

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 15 minutes mins

Total: 25 minutes mins

Servings: 2

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Ingredients 

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• ▢ 2 pieces salmon (or 1 larger piece totaling about 1 pound)
• ▢ Olive oil
• ▢ Garlic powder
• ▢ Salt & pepper to taste

Cucumber salsa:

• ▢ 3 Persian cucumbers chopped
• ▢ Small handful fresh mint chopped finely
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon za'atar (or more to taste)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon olive oil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ▢ Salt & pepper

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Instructions 

• Preheat oven to 375F and move the rack to the top third of the oven. Line a baking sheet with foil for easy clean-up.
• Lightly coat the salmon in some olive oil, and then gently sprinkle on a bit of garlic powder and salt & pepper. Bake until it's cooked through (check after 8-10 minutes for a thinner piece of salmon)... a good rule of thumb is about 5 minutes baking time per half inch of thickness. 
• Meanwhile, combine all the cucumber salsa ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate until needed.
• Once the fish is done, serve it with the cucumber salsa on the side. This dish is also very tasty when the salmon is cooked then chilled for a few hours.

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