Use leftover baked salmon to make this easy entree salad using summer's best produce: fresh blueberries, ripe tomatoes, and crisp lettuce greens. Drizzle the easy fresh basil salad dressing over the top and toss. If you've got leftover wild rice, it adds a wonderful heartiness to the dish.
Our family loves salmon but since we prefer fresh over frozen fillets, it doesn't appear on our menu often.
On a whim, I picked up a very large salmon during a recent Costco trip. I normally avoid buying fish there since the quantity is way more than we would eat during one meal and I'd rather not freeze the leftovers.
Lucky me, this time I had a plan for that entire package of fish! This salad was created with leftover cooked salmon in mind.
It has a crazy long list of ingredients that are so fresh and delicious together.
Jump to:
Ingredients
This salad recipe has lots of room for variations but to give you a suggested place to start, I recommend this combination:
- Mixed spring greens
- Fresh blueberries
- Cherry tomatoes
- Cooked wild rice (from leftovers)
- Fresh green onions
- Leftover baked salmon
- Lemon salad dressing: You can use the recommended lemon basil dressing below or this easy 3-ingredient lemon parmesan vinaigrette.
How to Cook Salmon
I love how this salad recipe uses leftover salmon so I don't have to cook anything before serving the meal.
However, if your salmon hasn't been cooked yet, it only takes 12 - 15 minutes to cook in the oven or in your air fryer.
Baking the salmon fresh will give your salad a lovely hot + cold texture.
Variations
If you wanted to mix and match your salad toppings, these fresh ingredients would also taste amazing in addition to or in place of any of the original ingredients.
- Various grains including quinoa, wild or brown rice
- Fresh cantaloupe cubes
- A small zucchini cut lengthwise in narrow ribbons
- Fresh sugar snap peas
- Walnut pieces
- Fresh herbs over the top: dill, basil, mint
Meal Planning Tips
Day 1: We had baked salmon with wild rice for dinner. I made enough of the wild rice so that there would be plenty of leftovers for the salad.
Day 2: I flaked the leftover salmon and warmed up the wild rice for building our dinner salads.
More Dinner Salads
Looking for more ideas for working dinner salads into your meal rotations? My family loves these easy salad recipes:
📖 Recipe
Summer Salad with Leftover Salmon
This refreshingly easy summer salad has seasonal fruit and tomatoes mixed together with a fresh basil dressing. Top with wild rice and leftover baked salmon for a simple meal.
Ingredients
- 4 cups mixed spring greens
- 2 cups blueberries
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 cup wild rice, cooked and cooled (leftovers are perfect)
- ½ cup green onions, chopped
- 4 oz. leftover baked salmon, flaked
For the Dressing
- 1 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 4 teaspoon minced garlic
Instructions
1. For the basil dressing, in a blender or small food processor combine the 1 cup basil, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Cover and blend or process until nearly smooth, stopping to scrape down sides as needed; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl stir together the cooked rice and green onions. Stir in about 2 tablespoons of the basil dressing to coat.
3. For the salad, line a large bowl with greens. Top greens with remaining ingredients presented in clusters. Drizzle with half the remaining basil dressing; toss gently.
Tiffany
Our container is so old, I am not sure where you could find it locally. My mother purchased it for us and found it right in the seafood department of her grocery store. (As opposed to the spices section.) I would start by asking for it with the seafood counter! Definitely worth hunting down, especially if you enjoy mustard as a flavor ingredient. It complements the salmon beautifully.
Kristina
Do you have to order the seasoning on-line or can you find it locally? Sounds and looks yummy!