Salmon is a nutritional powerhouse, packed with protein, healthy fats, and essential nutrients. It’s no wonder it's a staple in many diets, including the carnivore diet. If you're following a carnivore or ketovore lifestyle, salmon can be a versatile and delicious option. This article explores various ways to prepare salmon while adhering to carnivore principles, ensuring a satisfying and healthy meal.
Why Salmon is a Great Choice for Carnivore Diets
Salmon is a fantastic food to eat on a keto diet. It’s got no carbs, and full of protein and heart healthy fats. Per 4 ounce serving, there are 200 calories, 20 grams of protein, and 13 grams of fat. All cuts of salmon are keto friendly, including fillets, canned salmon, and smoked salmon.
Nutritional Benefits of Salmon
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Salmon is rich in omega-3 fatty acids that lower the risk of heart disease and stroke.
- Brain Health: Omega-3s in salmon help brain health and minimize the risk of Alzheimer's disease by improving the brain’s cognitive function.
- Joint Health: Omega-3s in salmon decrease joint inflammation, helping those suffering from arthritis.
- Eye Health: Salmon’s omega-3s minimize age-related macular degeneration.
- Skin Health: Omega-3s are necessary for skin health and can decrease skin conditions like eczema.
- High Protein: Salmon is rich in high-quality protein necessary to build and repair tissues.
Simple Carnivore Salmon Recipes
1. Pan-Seared Salmon
Pan-seared salmon is a quick and easy way to enjoy this nutritious fish. It requires minimal ingredients and can be cooked in under 10 minutes.
Ingredients:
- Salmon fillets (skin on or off)
- Salt
- Pepper
- Lemon juice
- Butter or ghee
- Olive oil (optional)
- Garlic (optional)
- Fresh parsley (optional)
Instructions:
- Prepare the Salmon: Take your salmon and pat dry with paper towel. This is a crucial step and will help your pan seared salmon skin get crispy. Season salmon with salt and pepper on both sides. Rub the lemon juice all over each fillet.
- Sear the Salmon: Heat up your skillet over medium high heat then add butter to melt. Let it brown a bit, making sure it doesn’t burn. Place the salmon fillets flesh side down onto the pan, pressing lightly so that it sears.
- Cook the Salmon: Sear for 3-4 minutes, until crispy and golden. Flip and cook for a further two minutes. Add the butter, garlic, and a pinch of fresh parsley, and stir around each fillet.
- Serve: Remove the pan from the heat and place each salmon fillet on a plate. Drizzle with the pan juices and sprinkle with more parsley.
Tips for Perfect Pan-Seared Salmon:
- Pat dry the salmon before seasoning it with the salt and pepper. This helps achieve a crispy skin.
- Use a non-stick pan to prevent the salmon from sticking.
- Don't overcrowd the pan; cook the salmon in batches if necessary.
- Avoid overcooking to maintain a tender and flaky texture. Ideally, you want to cook salmon until its internal temperature reaches 110-125˚F.
2. Baked Salmon with Garlic Parmesan Topping
This Garlic Parmesan Baked Keto Salmon Recipe is the easiest ways to make a healthy and delicious low carb salmon dish! It is a fool proof keto salmon recipe that’s best made with frozen salmon and has only 1g net carbs per serving! Tender & perfectly cooked salmon topped with a delicious blend of parmesan, garlic and parsley held together with full fat mayonnaise. This recipe is not only perfect for a keto diet meal, but it’s also gluten-free and grain-free!
Ingredients:
- Salmon fillets (fresh or frozen)
- Butter, softened
- Parmesan cheese, grated
- Garlic, minced
- Mayonnaise (full-fat)
- Parsley, chopped
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions:
- Preheat the Oven: Preheat your oven to 350F and line a baking pan with parchment paper.
- Prepare the Salmon: Place salmon on prepared pan and lightly season with sea salt and pepper. Set aside while preparing the topping.
- Make the Topping: Simply combine butter, mayonnaise, parmesan cheese, garlic and parsley, mix well. I like to use my mini food processor, however a small bowl and spoon will work good too. If your butter is not room temperature/soft, feel free to use melted butter from the stove or microwave.
- Apply the Topping: Give your salmon a lightly season the skin salt and pepper and place it skin side down on a a baking sheet lined with unbleached parchment paper. Then top it with the garlic parmesan mixture. And don’t be afraid to spread it on thick! This recipe will work perfectly with either one large filet (fillet) or several individual pieces, whichever works best for you! I typically let my ideal serving size (in ounces or gram of protein you’re aim for) guide the portions that I make for dinner.
- Bake the Salmon: Bake your garlic parmesan topped salmon at 350 degrees F. Frozen salmon will take 20-25 minutes depending on how thick your filet(s) are, thawed salmon will be done in roughly 15 minutes. To check salmon lightly flake with a fork - don't over cook it you want it to still look slightly translucent.
3. Salmon Polonaise
This 5-ingredient Salmon Polonaise is a ketovore’s and carnivore’s dream, and naturally, it’s also suitable for many other lifestyles.
Read also: The Carnivore Diet: An Autoimmune Solution?
Ingredients:
- Salmon (preferably wild-caught)
- Melted salted (grass-fed) butter
- Freshly-squeezed lemon juice from organic lemon
- Finely chopped hard-boiled (organic) egg
- Finely chopped fresh dill
Instructions:
- Cook the Salmon: Cook the salmon in a skillet, covered, until just done, about 15-20 minutes. Don't overcook!
- Add the Toppings: Drizzle or sprinkle the remaining ingredients on top and serve.
4. Carnivore Smoked Salmon Egg Scramble
This Carnivore Smoked Salmon Egg Scramble is not only delicious but also super healthy for almost everybody!
Ingredients:
- 1/4 pound sliced smoked salmon
- 12 eggs
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp butter
- Some salt and black pepper (optional)
Instructions:
- Prepare the Salmon: Chop all salmon (except two slices for garnish) into tiny pieces.
- Mix the Eggs: Whisk the eggs, mix with cream, and season with salt and pepper.
- Scramble: Preheat a pan over medium heat and melt butter. Then, add the egg mixture. Scramble the mixture and let it cook for a minute or two.
- Combine: Add the chopped salmon and let it all cook.
- Garnish: Remove the pan from the heat and garnish with the two slices of salmon you reserved earlier.
5. Salmon with Cream Cheese Sauce
This sauce is so simple to make it feels weird writing a recipe for it. But it's tangy flavor is the perfect addition to fish such as salmon. A lot of fish recipes include lemon or some other sour taste to complement the fish, but in this recipe, that's achieved with the cream cheese.
Ingredients:
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- Salt
- Pepper (optional)
- Salmon fillets
Instructions:
- Prepare the Sauce: Add all ingredients to a small spot and whisk at medium heat until combined and creamy.
- Cook the Salmon: Since I had very thin salmon fillets, I cooked them by heating my cast iron pan to medium high heat and then adding some butter. Once melted, I seared the fillets for about a minute on each side. For a thicker fish fillet you can use an oven-sear technique like for steaks. In an oven safe pan, sear at medium high heat for a couple minutes on each side, then immediately transfer to your oven pre-heated to 425 degrees for 6-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of your fillet.
- Serve: Serve the salmon with the cream cheese sauce. This sauce would be a great addition to chicken or any fish but I prepared it with salmon.
Tips for Cooking Salmon
- Freshness: The first thing you want to do is to make sure your fillets are fresh. To see if they are, simply give them a poke. The flesh should spring back rather than leave a dent. Additionally, the flesh should have a bright orange, reddish hue with nice marbling.
- Don't Overcook: You should refrain from overcooking salmon to avoid chewy texture. Ideally, you want to cook salmon until its internal temperature reaches 110-125˚F.
- Crispy Skin: The secret lies in patting salmon fillets dry with paper towel and placing them on a hot pan.
Wild-Caught vs. Farmed Salmon
Wild salmon are caught straight from the ocean, rivers and lakes which is their natural habitat. On the other hand, farmed salmon makes up about half of the salmon you see in stores today. If possible, always opt for wild caught salmon.
Wild caught salmon has a healthier ratio of anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats to inflammatory omega-6 fats, as well as an overall better nutritional profile. Farmed salmon is not sustainable and may harm the environment by spreading disease to wild-caught fish and encouraging overfishing as well as contributing to heart disease and inflammation.
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