What to Eat with Salmon

Salmon is one of the first things I learned to cook on my own. With that learning curve came a lot of back and forth about what I should include as a side dish for the main event. If you’re wondering what to eat with salmon, these are a few side-dish options I wish someone had told me about way back when I first started cooking for myself. 

The following article contains affiliate links that may generate a small commission to us when you make a purchase through the link. Learn more about how we work with affiliates here.

Seeds of Change Brown Basmati Rice

If you hate brown rice, it’s because you haven’t tried this brown rice. And brown rice is a great, healthy side dish to pair with salmon. This microwavable pouch of brown rice is oily in the best way. It tastes like rice that was browned in a pan when, really, it was just nuked in the microwave for 90 seconds. In his ranking of the best brown rice, Sporked contributor Danny Palumbo gave the top spot to Seeds of Change because it made him believe in microwaved rice again. “Each grain feels like it’s coated in deliciously fatty oil, which makes it quite addicting,” he wrote. Skip the extra stove clutter, pop this in the microwave, and you’ll have the perfect salmon side dish in no time.

Betty Crocker Creamy Butter Mashed Potatoes

Thanks to managing editor Gwynedd Stuart’s best instant mashed potatoes ranking, we know exactly which buttery, creamy instant mashed potatoes to pair with our next plate of salmon. And the winner is: Betty Crocker Creamy Butter Mashed Potatoes! Gwynedd wrote that these mashed potatoes are “packed with flavor and don’t need additional seasoning.” This means you can focus all your seasoning energy on your salmon and still craft a salmon dinner that’s perfect all around. Betty Crocker really did that.

La Brea Bakery Take & Bake French Dinner Rolls

We love a good roll with some salmon. You know who else loves a good roll? Danny. In his best dinner roll ranking, he informed us that these La Brea Bakery dinner rolls “are soft and squishy with a great crust—something that’s hard to come by at the grocery store.” Rare rolls like these ought to be paired with a meal fit for royalty (which is, in this case, salmon). Danny also noted that these rolls would pair extremely well with a tablespoon of butter. Salmon, bread, and butter—what’s not to love?

Patti’s Good Life Mac & Cheese

I have very fond memories of going to the fish counter at Ralphs and asking the workers there to fry up a pound of salmon (grocery store hack) before then trotting along to the other side of the store to look for some mac and cheese. If only I had known about Patti’s Good Life Mac & Cheese, which Gwynedd placed at the top of her best frozen mac and cheese ranking. I remember trying a scoop of this in the office—I really thought we might end up fighting over the last bites. This mac and cheese—marketed by R&B legend Patti LaBelle—is rich, salty, and extremely buttery. It’s perfect if you want some fat along with that lean piece of salmon.

Cappello’s Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Macaroni isn’t the only pasta that pairs well with salmon. Danny’s best store bought gnocchi ranking opened our eyes to a new world of gnocchi-possibilities (gnocchibilities??), like this sweet potato and almond flour gnocchi from Cappello’s. “This gnocchi is made with almond flour (hence the nuttiness), and you really taste that clean, earthy, and toasty almond flavor,” Danny noted. This is a versatile, gluten-free side dish that you could toast in butter in a pan while baking some salmon in the oven.  

Trader Joe’s Brussels Sprouts Sauté Kit

This kit comes with all you need to throw together the perfect veggie side for a salmon dinner. It contains shaved Brussels sprouts, chopped hazelnuts, shredded parmesan cheese, and a lemon garlic vinaigrette. Trader Joe’s website recommends toasting the hazelnuts first before sautéing the Brussels sprouts in oil, which you can then continue to cook up with the vinaigrette and marry with the parmesan cheese. This kit will help turn any last-minute dinner into the healthy salmon feast of your dreams with very little effort.