Salmon is one of my quick and healthy weeknight go-to meals, the trick is finding new ways to prepare it so it doesn’t get boring. Maple Citrus Salmon with Orange-Avocado Salsa uses fresh produce and a cool element to a hot plank of salmon.
What is Maple Citrus Salmon?
This Maple Citrus Salmon recipe combines sweet, savory and zesty flavors with smooth and juicy textures for the ultimate quick meal. The next time you have a hankering for a salmon fillet, this recipe is the best.
It really isn’t that hard to cook salmon at home. And unlike other lean meat that need to be cooked thoroughly, salmon (if handled properly and kept at the right temperature) is actually best served medium.
The biggest mistake people make is overcooking their salmon, resulting in dry, gross fish. But don’t let that intimidate you! It’s always best to cook it a little under, and then throw it in for a few extra minutes if needed.
How to Cook Salmon
- When in doubt, use a meat thermometer. This no shame in not being able to “eyeball it”. The FDA suggests an internal temperture of 145 degrees, however salmon if safe to eat raw, so don’t focus on getting it that temp.
- When the white stuff starts to ooze out, your salmon is close to being done (if not overdone), take it out!
- Handle your salmon with care. While is should go without saying, wash or hands and keep the fish refrigerated or frozen until just before cooking.
So stop being scared of making citrus salmon and make it one of your easy, go-to and healthy weeknight meals!
The Orange-Avocado Salsa can be made ahead and can also be used as a stand alone dip, on salads or on top of chicken if someone in your family doesn’t care for salmon.
Citrus Salmon Ingredients
- Salmon fillets – You can either buy a large piece of fish and cut your own fillets, or buy them already cut into fillets.
- Maple syrup – Make sure you’re using a good quality maple syrup here. It really makes a big difference on the flavor of your citrus salmon.
- Orange juice – You can use freshly squeezed or bottled orange juice. This is used to make the citrus sauce.
- Fine sea salt and pepper – You could also use kosher salt if you don’t have fine sea salt. Freshly ground black pepper works best.
- Oranges – I used navel oranges, but feel free to use blood oranges or cara cara oranges if you prefer. Rather than orange slices, we want them to be chunks.
- Avocados – This is how we get that fresh, creamy element to our salsa. The perfect addition to add on top of the salmon.
- Red onion – I love the color that red onion adds to this salsa.
- Bell pepper – Use any color you want, but I like to make this salsa as colorful as possible. Use different colors to make it fun!
- Jalapeno – Add more or less jalapeno depending how spicy you want your salsa. Just make sure to remove the seeds.
- Lime juice – This really helps to bring out the citrus flavors of this salmon, but you could also use lemon juice too.
How to Make Citrus Salmon
- Prepare oven and baking dish. Preheat oven and coat the bottom of a baking dish or rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.
- Season salmon. Pat salmon dry with paper towels, then place salmon fillets in a single layer in the bottom of the baking dish and season with fine sea salt and pepper. In a small bowl, whisk together maple syrup and orange juice. Pour over the top and side of salmon, allowing to sit before baking.
- Bake. Bake until the fish flakes easily with a fork.
- Make salsa. While salmon cooks, combine all ingredients for orange-avocado salsa in a medium bowl and gently toss.
- Top with salsa. Remove salmon from the oven, plate and add salsa to top of salmon. You can serve with lime slices or slices of lemons for extra citrus flavor. It would taste great with a fresh green salad.
Storage and Freezing
Unfortunately, the salsa will not keep well. The avocado will brown fairly quickly, but it’s easy enough to whip up pretty quickly.
You can, however, store leftover citrus salmon in the refrigerator for up to three to four days in an airtight container.
More Quick Salmon Recipes
- Lemon Dill Salmon
- Crispy Chipotle Salmon
- Pan Seared Salmon with Balsamic Tomato Reduction
- Dill Salmon
- Baked Teriyaki Salmon
Maple Citrus Salmon with Orange-Avocado Salsa
Equipment
Ingredients
For salmon:
- 4 salmon fillets
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- Fine sea salt and pepper
- Cooking spray
For Orange-Avocado Salsa:
- 2 large navel oranges peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes
- 2 avocados diced
- 2 tablespoons red onion diced
- 1/2 cup bell pepper diced
- 1 jalapeno seeded and diced
- 1 tablespoons lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.
- Place salmon fillets in a single layer in the bottom of the baking dish and season with fine sea salt and pepper. In a small bowl, whisk together maple syrup and orange juice. Pour over salmon fillets, allowing to sit for at least 10 minutes before baking.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until salmon flakes easily with a fork.
- Meanwhile, combine all ingredients for orange-avocado salsa in a medium bowl and gently toss.
- Remove salmon from the oven, plate and top with a generous helping of Orange-Avocado Salsa.
- If you’ve tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was!
What a fabulous recipe for the summer! The combo of the orange and avocado is perfection. So good!
I just can never say no to a good salmon recipe. And yours is just a great example of it!
Really truly very very good! Avocado and orange salsa is amazing with the salmon! It was just a wonderful combination of sweet, salty, tangy and umami! Great recipe!
The combination of the citrus, avocado, and bell pepper was amazing on this salmon! Thank you so much for sharing!
This salmon is the perfect meal love the freshness and will make it again soon!
This recipe is fabulous, and so healthy. I would decrease the amount of maple syrup next time, we used fresh from the farms maple syrup. I used a greater amount of lime juice for the salsa. This is a favorite, easy and fast prep. A winner!
Thanks for coming back to let us know!
This looks like a wonderful summer recipe, can’t wait to try it.
Love the bright and fresh flavors in this salmon, the maple citrus is so perfect for summer and the orange avocado salsa is bright and fresh.