Salmon With Pesto Crust

Salmon with Pesto Crust in 20 minutes – fresh salmon fillets, topped with basil pesto, parmesan and panko crumbs then oven-baked.

My oven baked Salmon with Pesto Crust recipe is going to be your new quick and easy way to cook salmon fillets. With a yummy basil pesto crust, this simple baked salmon recipe only has 5 ingredients, and that includes the salmon & olive oil!

Plus it’s done in 20 minutes! Winner!

As far as recipes go – this one is super fast! All you have to do is mix up some basil pesto, panko breadcrumbs and parmesan – this is going to form our crust. Top your salmon fillets with this basil pesto crumb mixture, then bake.

Ingredients for oven baked salmon with basil pesto crust

• Fresh salmon fillets – skinless
• Basil pesto
• Panko breadcrumbs
• Fresh parmesan cheese
• Olive oil

*Please see the recipe at the end of this post for detailed quantities & instructions.

How to cook salmon with pesto crust

• Place basil pesto, panko breadcrumbs and finely grated fresh parmesan cheese in a bowl – see Image 1.
• Mix to combine well, it should look like chunky bread crumbs – see Image 2.

• Brush the top of the salmon fillets with a little olive oil, then top the salmon fillets with the pesto crust mixture, pressing down well – see Image 3.
• Place the fillets on to a baking tray, and brush the sides of the fillets with a little more olive oil – see Image 4.

• Then bake for 10 minutes (depending on the thickness of your fillets) or to your liking.

My top tips for making salmon with pesto crust

• It’s always a good idea to give your salmon fillets a quick once-over, feeling for any pin bones that may have been missed that need to be removed.
• If you are one of my regular readers, this is going to come as no surprise when I say that I recommend that you make your own basil pesto. It seriously only takes a few minutes, and the flavour is amazing! I promise you won’t go back to store-bought! This pesto crusted salmon will still taste great even if you don’t make your own pesto though!
• The cooking time will depend on the thickness of your salmon fillets. My fillets were 3cm / 1.25″ at the thickest part, and they took 10 minutes.
• Panko breadcrumbs are Japanese style breadcrumbs – see this post for more info.

Other basil pesto recipes you make like

Creamy Pesto Chicken – chicken breast fillets topped with a combination of basil pesto and cream cheese, then oven-baked until golden.

Pesto Grilled Cheese Sandwich – caprese style grilled cheese with fresh tomatoes, basil pesto, lots of fresh mozzarella cheese all wrapped in prosciutto then grilled until crisp!

Basil Pesto Crusted Lamb – moist, succulent lamb rack with a golden crunchy crust of breadcrumbs flavoured with parmesan cheese and basil pesto.

Other salmon recipes you may like

Salmon with Avocado Salsa – spiced and grilled salmon topped with fresh avocado and orange salsa. A quick and tasty low carb dinner.

Lemon Parsley Salmon Pasta – a creamy sauce of chilli, garlic & lemon coating gorgeous chunks of still-pink salmon.