15 Minute Miso Salmon with Spinach

A deliciously healthy way to serve salmon! Low carb and high protein, with Japanese inspired flavours, this super quick 15 minute miso salmon with spinach is sure to put a smile on your face.

Lets start by taking a peek at those all-important ingredients that combine to make the perfect quick cook miso salmon with spinach dish….

Scrumptious Salmon!

I absolutely adore salmon! This is for many, many reasons. Firstly and perhaps most importantly, it’s so quick to use in cooking! My blog is all about quick recipes so it’s probably no surprise that you can find this particular fish in many of my recipes. Just check out my 10 Minute Salmon and Sweet Chilli Fishcakes, my 5 Minute Dairy-Free Smoked Salmon Pate and my 15 Minute Smoked Salmon & Asparagus Puff Pastry Squares for a bit more salmon-based recipe inspiration.

Salmon is also such a wonderfully healthy fish that I think all of us (who eat fish) should include it as much as possible in our diets. What nutrients exactly does salmon contain that make it so healthy? Well… to be honest, what doesn’t it have?! Lean protein, omega-3 fatty acid and a range of B vitamins to name just a few. A portion a week is what we aim for in our household so it’s no surprise that I’m constantly exploring new ways of cooking with this delightfully versatile fish.

Finally, salmon is absolutely delicious. I think it’s a prime contender for the most versatile, crowd-pleasing and widely available fish that there is. Fresh or smoked, it can be used in so many different types of recipe to give you and your family a healthy and super-quick meal that everyone will love!

Super Spinach

For this 15 minute miso salmon recipe, I’ve chosen spinach as the main accompanying vegetable. I think that salmon and spinach are a match made in heaven quite honestly as they pair so well together.

Not only does spinach taste delicious in this dish and add a powerful, healthy punch, it’s a fantastic quick cook ingredient too! It literally wilts down in the pan in one minute flat! As it does so, it absorbs all the yummy, rich miso dressing which carries the flavours so well here.

As a final bonus, the vibrant, green colour of the spinach makes the final presentation just gorgeous. This is why you’ll find it nestling happily underneath the fish in this recipe. Fabulous!

Magnificent Miso

Another key ingredient in this super quick 15 minute miso salmon with spinach recipe is, of course, the miso! This thick, rich paste is used in a wide variety of traditional Japanese dishes. It’s produced from fermented soybeans and has been used, in some form or another, for thousands of years.

There are many different varieties of miso available including white, red and brown types. Despite it’s rich and salty flavour, miso is actually surprisingly rich in protein and various vitamins & minerals which is a big bonus.

In this particular recipe, I’ve chosen to use white miso primarily because it has a sweeter and lighter flavour than some of the darker and richer types of miso. This means it pairs better with the delicate flavour of salmon than other types of miso do.

Also, white miso is more widely available in stores in my hometown than other varieties. Some types are quite tricky to find. This is unfortunate as I would very much like to expand my miso collection! But in my blog I also aim to create quick recipes that are accessible to everyone so this can sometimes exclude some more difficult-to-buy ingredients. So, white miso it is!

Glazed Goodness

The white miso paste forms the backbone of the rich, delicious miso glaze in this salmon recipe, however the flavours would be nothing without all the other glaze ingredients to elevate the flavours into the stratosphere!

For a start, sesame oil provides the rich base that the other ingredients melt into, mmm. It is quite a potent oil, so you need to be careful not to overuse it or it will drown out the other flavours. However, just a dash is absolutely perfect.

Japanese rice vinegar adds that all-important tangy acidity that cuts through the other flavours in such a refreshing way. Thankfully, this ingredient is pretty widely available in stores these days, however if you’re struggling to find it then it’s totally fine to use white wine vinegar or even apple cider vinegar as a replacement.

A touch of honey brings that crucial sweetness and a generous slug of dark soy sauce gives you the perfect amount of saltiness. (There’s no need to add extra salt to this salmon miso recipe because of this).

Finishing it all off, a generous sprinkling of black sesame seeds crowns your salmon with a beautiful, dark speckling and also serves to bring out the deliciously rich undertone of the sesame oil in the glaze. Now, I’ve sometimes struggled to find black sesame seeds in stores, so it’s totally fine to use the regular, paler coloured kind as a substitution instead if that’s what’s available to you locally.

A final word now on what to serve alongside this delicious 15 minute miso salmon with spinach. Many people would reach for some rice or noodles as an accompaniment and if you want to that is totally fine, but honestly, it doesn’t need it! I find the ingredients as they are perfectly filling and tasty enough. High protein, high fibre and high nutrient content will keep you going for a long time without the addition of carbs. Magic!

STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO MAKING THE PERFECT 15 MINUTE MISO SALMON WITH SPINACH

Now lets have a quick look at each of stage of making this delicious salmon miso recipe with useful pictures along the way. This makes 2 servings.

STEP 1;

To get started, grab yourself a medium sized frying pan and place it over medium/high heat on the hob.

STEP 2;

To the pan, add 1 level tablespoon of white miso paste, 2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and finally, 2 tablespoons of honey.

Stir all together over the heat until well combined, for about 1-2 minutes. It can take a bit of time for the miso paste to dissolve into the liquid (as it’s quite thick) but eventually, it’ll all blend together nicely. Also, don’t be concerned if the mixture looks rather watery at first – it’ll soon thicken up!

STEP 3;

Once the pan is nice and hot and little bubbles are forming, add two skinless salmon fillets to the pan (about 2.5cm / 1 inch thick). Cook each salmon fillet for 2 minutes before turning. You can turn them with a spatula if you want but I find this easier to do with tongs. Cook on the remaining three sides of each fillet for a further 2 minutes per side, turning as you go. (Total cooking time is therefore about 8 minutes). It’ll get coated in all that lovely glaze as it cooks.

Pop the cooked salmon on a plate and set it aside.

STEP 4;

Grab 200g (7 oz) of fresh spinach and add this to the pan with the glaze. Stir frequently over the heat until wilted and covered in the miso glaze. This only takes about a minute so watch it carefully.

Note that the spinach will release some fluid as it cooks and make the glaze more watery – but don’t worry about this, as it’ll get coated well enough in that lovely sauce as it cooks away. Any excess glaze can be discarded after the spinach is finally cooked.

STEP 5;

Removed the cooked spinach from the pan with serving tongs and divide it equally between two serving plates. Carefully place one salmon fillet on top of the bed of wilted spinach on each plate.

STEP 5;

Nearly done! Take 3 spring onions and finely chop them. Sprinkle these evenly on top of the salmon and spinach. Finally, sprinkle 1/2 tsp black sesame seeds atop the salmon fillets (so 1/4 tsp over each piece of fish). Serve!