This 5 ingredient pesto salmon recipe with green beans and rice is an easy healthy dinner with very little hands-on time! It’s also a great meal to make ahead and bring to a friends house for dinner or a healthy meal to make and take to new moms.

I’m always looking for a dish that I can bring to a friends house, something that’s not too heavy and doesn’t require a lot of work. This 5 ingredient pesto salmon recipe is just that meal! It’s such a fast and easy dinner to put together and only has 5 ingredients (green beans, salmon, pesto, rice, lemon) which makes it a great addition to Five Ingredient Fridays. 

This pesto salmon is also quickly becoming one of my favorite dishes to bring to new moms – it’s healthy and flavorful, but above-all, it’s light.  Often, new parent’s are receiving a lot of hearty pasta dishes, so this is a great alternative. 

An added bonus? I like to make this in a throw-away foil pan, so you don’t have to worry about getting your dish back when your friend is done enjoying it. 

As we enter the New Year, I know I am looking for lighter meals for myself and the family.  And I want to be sure those meals don’t lack in flavor either.  So many of you love my recipe for perfectly baked salmon (thank you, by the way!) that I wanted to share another easy baked salmon recipe.  

This salmon dish is so simple to prepare.  It just takes a few simple steps:

• Fill the bottom of a baking dish with green beans
• Place salmon on top of beans and spread pesto on top
• If you’d like to include lemon, lay wedges on top
• Prepare rice
• Bake salmon
• Enjoy!

Of course, you can modify this recipe with whatever vegetables you have on hand (you could use bell peppers or zucchini or a combination of vegetables.  The same goes for the starch (you could use quinoa or serve this salmon over potatoes or sweet potatoes), but I just prefer rice when I am making seafood.  Once you’ve baked this salmon, you’ll have a flaky, delicious piece of fish that you can be proud of!

A fun little tip I wanted to share is that you don’t have to break the bank on a super nice pesto because you’re nervous an inexpensive one will lack in flavor.  We love shopping at Costco and one of my favorite things to buy is pesto in bulk.  It’s what I used on this recipe and would 100% recommend if you love pesto as much as I do.  If you’re planning a trip to Costco, take a peak at a few more of my favorite Costco products.

Next time you’re looking for an easy healthy baked salmon dinner, try this 5 ingredient salmon green beans and rice!

Yield: 4 servings

5 Ingredient salmon with green beans and rice

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This 5 ingredient pesto salmon recipe with green beans and rice is an easy healthy dinner with very little hands-on time!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 12 -14 oz. fresh green beans (ends trimmed)
• 1 -1 1/2 pounds of salmon
• 3-4 tablespoons pesto
• lemon wedges - optional
• 2 cups cooked white rice (or brown rice)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Place green beans in a foil pan (or a baking dish)
3. Place salmon on top of green beans (if salmon has skin, skin side down - skin touching green beans)
4. Generously spread pesto on top of salmon
5. Lay lemon wedges on top of pesto salmon (optional)
6. Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes, until salmon is cooked through
7. While salmon is cooking, make rice (or use instant rice)