Baked Balsamic Salmon with Asparagus (the EASIEST fancy dinner)

The easiest fancy dinner you will ever make! This baked balsamic salmon with asparagus, spinach, and basil pesto comes together so quickly and tastes like restaurant quality meal. 

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I have the EASIEST dinner recipe for you today! It reminds me of something you would order at a nice restaurant. Except this one is made right in your kitchen in about 30 minutes. It’s perfect for date night in, unexpected company, or when you want to fancy up your weekly dinners.

It’s one of my ALL time favorite salmon recipes that I’ve been making for a while now.  The recipe came together unintentionally one evening when I needed a quick dinner for my family with whatever I had in my fridge. In my experience, these type of dinners usually become our favorites. I love it because it’s all super simple ingredients that you can find at just about any grocery store.

You basically roast the salmon and asparagus in the oven. While they are roasting, you want to prepare the spinach on the stovetop. For the spinach all you need is some garlic, butter, salt, and pepper. Then to assemble, you will need fresh chopped tomato, basil pesto, and balsamic glaze.  It truly is that easy! And you can make the presentation as fancy or as simple as you like.

I love love that this recipe comes together in a cinch with the most simplest ingredients. If you need more salmon inspo. Here are few of my favorite salmon recipes: open-faced salmon burgers and loaded salmon salad.

If you guys end up making this, please do tag me on IG and Facebook @littlebrokenblog.

If you try this Baked Balsamic Salmon, don’t forget to leave feedback and a rating.

Baked Balsamic Salmon with Asparagus

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews

• Author: Katya
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins
• Total Time: 35 mins
• Yield: 4 1x
• Category: Main
• Method: Baked
• Cuisine: American

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Description

The easiest fancy dinner you will ever make! This roasted balsamic salmon with asparagus, spinach, and basil pesto comes together so quickly and tastes like restaurant quality meal. 

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 4 (5-7 oz. each) salmon fillets, rinsed and pat dried
• 1 lb. asparagus, ends trimmed
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 11 oz. bag fresh baby spinach
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• fresh basil pesto, preferably homemade*
• Balsamic glaze
• olive oil
• kosher salt and black pepper
• fresh lemon, optional

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Add salmon to one baking sheet. Rub with little olive oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
3. Add asparagus to the second baking sheet and toss with little olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
4. Place salmon on the middle rack and asparagus on the lower rack and bake for 12 – 15 minutes. When done, salmon should easily flake and asparagus be tender but crisp.
5. Meanwhile, heat about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and just when it becomes fragrant, immediately add spinach, tossing constantly with tongs until wilted. If it begins to stick to the pan, add water by 1 Tablespoon. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and season with salt and pepper.
6. To assemble: divide the spinach, salmon, and asparagus among four plates. Top with chopped tomato. Spoon lightly some of the basil pesto and add a drizzle of balsamic glaze. If desired, add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Serve immediately.

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Notes

*For this recipe I recommend the freshest pesto. Jarred pesto tends to be on the sour side due to preservatives. I like to make my own or a lot of the grocery stores sell fresh pesto in the produce section or the antipasto bar (where they sell olives, marinated veggies, etc.)

Keywords: date night, romantic, seafood