I’m always on the lookout for quick, healthy weeknight dinners—especially ones with a lot of protein. There are lots of healthy dinner recipes to choose from, but easy salmon recipes are a go-to for me since salmon packs almost 40 grams of protein per 6-ounce serving.

Here’s everything you need to know about making baked pesto salmon.

Baked Pesto Salmon Recipe

This recipe from the Taste of Home Test Kitchen serves four and takes 20 minutes from start to finish.

Ingredients

• 4 salmon fillets (6 ounces each)
• 1/2 cup prepared pesto

Directions

Step 1: Prepare the baking sheet

Preheat the oven to 400°F. While it preheats, arrange the salmon fillets evenly on a greased rimmed baking sheet.

Step 2: Dollop the pesto on the fillets

Dollop the pesto evenly onto the fish, 2 tablespoons per fillet.

Step 3: Spread the pesto on the fillets

Spread the pesto dollops evenly over the top of each fillet.

Step 4: Bake the pesto salmon

Bake until the fillets just begin to flake easily with a fork, 12 to 15 minutes. Let the fish rest for a few minutes before serving.

How to Tell When Pesto Salmon Is Done

Take the pesto salmon out of the oven when the fillets flake easily with a fork. The internal temperature should reach 145° before you dig in. However, fish will continue to cook a bit with the residual heat from the pan even after you pull it out of the oven. Consider pulling the fish from the oven when it reaches somewhere between 125° and 135°, then letting it rest until it reaches 145°.

Tips for Making Pesto Salmon

What type of salmon fillets should you use?

While you can use skinless salmon fillets, skin-on is a great choice for baked fish. The skin acts as a barrier between the hot pan and the delicate fillet. Beyond that, it’s up to you whether you choose wild or farmed salmon at the grocery store. If you want more guidance on how to choose between the two, here are more tips on how to buy salmon.

If you pick up fresh salmon fillets, cook or freeze them within one to two days. You can also use frozen salmon fillets for this pesto salmon recipe. Our guide on how to cook frozen salmon walks you through all the details. You’ll need to pop the fish in the oven for a few minutes before you spread on the pesto and continue baking; otherwise, the pesto will slide right off the frozen fish in the oven.

Regardless of whether you cook fresh or frozen salmon, try to make sure that each fillet is about the same thickness so that it cooks evenly.

How can you make pesto salmon your own?

Make this baked pesto salmon your own by experimenting with the pesto. Keep it easy and use your favorite store-bought pesto brand, or whip up a from-scratch pesto like parsley pesto, arugula pesto or kale pesto.

If you’ve still got some pesto left in the jar when you’re done, put it to use in any of these recipes with pesto.

What do you serve with baked pesto salmon?

There are plenty of side dishes for salmon that would go well with this recipe, but it depends on how much time you have to prepare them. If you have a little time, orzo recipes such as orzo with spinach and pine nuts would be complementary. Most roasted vegetables would work nicely too, whether you prefer oven-roasted asparagus or Parmesan-roasted broccoli.

If you want to reserve your oven for just cooking the salmon, you can call upon these air-fryer vegetable recipes so that everything can be cooked at the same time.

How do you store baked pesto salmon?

Keep any leftover fish in an airtight container in the fridge. We recommend preparing your pesto salmon fresh every time if you can, simply because it’s so easy—but leftover pesto salmon will last three to four days in the fridge.

The post How to Make Baked Pesto Salmon appeared first on Taste of Home.

How to Make Real Fruit Shaved Ice

It really couldn’t be easier! Simply freeze chunks of fruit overnight, and then use a Microplane to create the shaved ice effect. If you don’t have a Microplane at home, use a box grater or even the grater attachment for your food processor.

For the best results, take a tip from @blairhorton and make the chunks of fruit on the bigger side so you have something to hold onto as you grate. And work quickly—those smaller shavings will melt if left sitting for too long!

@blairhorton VIRAL PINEAPPLE SHAVED ICE is definitely worth the try! @littlefatboyfrankie made strawberry shaved ice a viral sensation and I had to try it with pineapple. Because I love pineapple, but also because I was nervous about micro planing a smaller fruit 😝😝 As a texture girlie I can tell you that this 1000% hits the spot! Plus it’s truly the easiest thing to make! @littlefatboyfrankie topped his with condensed milk, so I tried it with condensed coconut milk, but it honestly didn’t need it all. Let me know if you try this and what you think! #viraldessert #viralrecipe #viralrecipes #shavedice ♬ original sound – Blair Horton

Once you have the perfect mound of deliciousness, get creative with your toppings. @littlefatboyfrankie topped his strawberry shaved ice with a drizzle of condensed milk. Want a 100% vegan treat? Use coconut condensed milk like @blairhorton. Lots of easy ways to dress up this dessert. Toasted almonds, shredded coconut and mini chocolate chips sound pretty delicious, too.

The Best Fruit for Shaved Ice

Generally speaking, any fruit that can be chopped into larger chunks is best. You’ll want to have something that starts big enough that you can keep your fingertips a safe distance from the shredding. Be sure to choose the biggest strawberries in the bunch! Other fruits that would shave up beautifully are bananas, cantaloupe, mango or pineapple. Or possibly a combo of two or three? Our favorite part about this recipe is all the different flavor possibilities!

The post How to Make the Viral (and Simple!) Frozen Fruit Shaved Ice appeared first on Taste of Home.

Warm, flaky, buttery puff pastry makes everything taste better. In a pie or tart, it can highlight fresh, savory veggies or complement sweet seasonal fruits. These days, you don’t even have to make it yourself: store-bought puff pastry yields elegant dishes with very little hassle.

So, it’s no wonder that TikTok has recently become obsessed with the kitchen staple. In particular, food influencers have been making numerous upside-down tarts. While the viral pineapple upside-down pastries are amazing, there’s no limit to the quick, delicious dishes you can make with puff pastry. Here’s how to transform any produce into a beautiful upside-down puff pastry tart—sweet or savory!

A Brief History of Baking Puff Pastry Tarts Upside-Down

While TikTok is bringing the upside-down puff pastry baking technique to a new generation of home cooks, the technique actually dates well back to the 19th century. Legend has it that in the 1880s, French baker Stéphanie Tatin accidentally placed her apple tart in the oven upside-down. This flub yielded surprisingly delicious results and the famous Tarte Tatin was born. Ever since then, bakers around the world have continued experimenting with baking tarts upside-down—we particularly love this Blood Orange Caramel Tarte Tatin.

Why Baking Puff Pastry Tarts Upside-Down Works

Baking puff pastry tarts upside-down works for two main reasons: the caramelization of the fruit and the crispiness of the puff pastry.

Food influencer Lily Ghodrati (@lilyghodrati), who has become famous for her puff pastry tarts, explains to GMA: “An advantage of laying the fruit down first and placing the puff pastry on top is it prevents the pastry from becoming soggy. So you end up with a well-cooked flaky pastry while the fruit gets caramelized on the bottom, just like a Tarte Tatin.”

How to Make Upside-Down Puff Pastry Tarts

Check out the videos below to see exactly how Ghodrati makes her easy and elegant upside-down puff pastry tarts.

Sweet Upside-Down Puff Pastry Tarts

In one video that has garnered over 42.5 million views, Ghodrati makes caramelized honey and nectarine pastries. To start, she drizzles rectangles of honey onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Then, she stacks nectarine slices on top of the honey, covers them with a larger rectangle of puff pastry, crimps the edges, and applies a light egg wash on top. After baking, she flips over the pastries and tops them off with a sprinkle of sifted powdered sugar.

@lilyghodrati Caramelised Honey & Nectarine pastries 🍯 #honey #nectarine #pastry #pastries #patisserie #puffpastry #caramelised #bake #baking #sweet #snack #foodhack #EasyRecipe #Recipe #eats #food #FoodTok #Foodie #fy #fyp #foryou #foryoupage ♬ Sleep Walk – Santo and Johnny

Savory Upside-Down Puff Pastry Tarts

For a savory rendition of the puff pastry treat, Ghodrati drizzles olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and maple syrup onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. She then tops this mixture with a slice of onion, a sprinkle of fresh thyme leaves, salt, pepper, and finally the rectangle of puff pastry. As with the sweet rendition, she crimps the edges down and applies an egg wash before baking.

@lilyghodrati 🧅🌿 #balsamic #thyme #caramelisedonion #pastry #pastries #puffpastry #caramelised #bake #baking #patisserie #snack #foodhack #EasyRecipe #Recipe #eats #food #FoodTok #Foodie #fy #fyp #foryou #foryoupage ♬ Howl’s Moving Castle – Merry Go Round of Life – Vitamin String Quartet

Customizing Your Upside-Down Puff Pastries

To make your own caramelized upside-down puff pastries, you can follow a basic formula: sugar + produce + puff pastry + egg wash. The sugar aids in the caramelization and could be granulated sugar, brown sugar, honey, maple syrup or agave. The produce should be fresh, but “firm and not fully ripe yet, since it holds its shape better,” according to Ghodrati. To add even more flavor, place cheese, herbs or spices on top of the produce before laying down the puff pastry.

To bake the pastries, I recommend starting for 20 minutes at 350 degrees, though you may need more time to achieve optimal caramelization. And be sure to try out some of our favorite desserts and appetizers using any leftover puff pastry!

The post We Can’t Get Enough of These Upside Down Puff Pastries Going Viral Right Now appeared first on Taste of Home.

Grilled Salmon Fillet

The post 55 Easy Salmon Recipes Anyone Can Make In a Hurry appeared first on Taste of Home.