Tomato Pesto Salmon and Rice Recipe Baked in Foil
Feb 21, 2016, Updated Jul 26, 2022
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Tomato Pesto Salmon and Rice Recipe Baked in Foil – Incredibly flavorful, quick, 30-minute healthy fish dinner recipe with tomato pesto, salmon and rice baked in foil.
Get out your forks, people, this is going to be a great one!
Hey-ya! Happy Sunday! It’s one of those days for me, where I can barely keep my eyes open because I decided to play it up like a 21-year-old last night and went to bed so super late that now I’m regretting it. All of it. The wine and shots, too.
What was that saying? Wine before liquor never sicker? Well, I got it wrong and twisted and did the opposite. Ditz.
Also? I downloaded this Grammarly app the other day and now, with every word I type, it tells me that I know diddly squat about grammar. Pink and blue underlines all over the place! My English teachers need to come forward and fix their mistakes.
IN other news! I know that I always tell you about favorite recipes. BUT.
This really IS a favorite recipe. A huge favorite. A serious favorite! I’m not exaggerating.
Guess what we are putting in our foils? Salmon AND rice ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Tomato Pesto, too. All of the flavors, really!
If you have followed me long enough, then you know that I mucho-mucho-LOVE tomato pesto. Mucho.
Salmon, too. I make salmon just about every Friday, then eat the leftovers for a day or two.
Sidenote. Did you know that February is American Heart Month? If you’re worried about heart disease, eating one to two servings of fish a week, like I do, could reduce your risk of a heart attack. No, really, it can! The omega-3 fatty acids in fish are good for your heart.
On the same note, nutritionists have long talked about the heart-healthy benefits of extra-virgin olive oil. It helps lower your cholesterol and control insulin levels in the body. Thus, when you put salmon and EVOO together, you have a powerhouse of monounsaturated fats and you’ll live to eternity!
And if you’re really awesome and want to make excellent life decisions, you’ll go grab your bottle of EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL, some salmon, and rice, and throw it all on foil. Simple, yes, but packed with loads of flavor and an awesome option for a busy week, even a romantic dinner. Makes me feel like I have my stuff together. And I don’t. So that has to count for something.
ENJOY!
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Tomato Pesto Salmon and Rice Recipe Baked in Foil
Ingredients
- 6 heavy duty foil sheets
- 2 cups instant rice, (you can use brown rice)
- 2 cups warm water
- 6 (about 4 to 5 ounces each) Salmon Fillets, skins removed
- salt and fresh ground pepper, , to taste
- STAR Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/2- cup Sundried Tomato Pesto
- 2 garlic cloves, , minced
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Place rice and water in a small bowl and stir to combine.
- Lay out the foil sheets and divide the rice mixture evenly over each foil, squeezing the water out as much as possible. I just spoon out some rice, then hold the spoon to the side of the bowl and tilt the spoon a bit to drain out the excess water.
- Top rice with salmon fillets; season with salt and pepper, and rub with a drizzle of olive oil.
- Add a tablespoon of tomato pesto on top and spread it over each fillet.
- Sprinkle some garlic over fillets.
- Place a sprig of fresh thyme over each fillet.
- Fold the sides of the foil over the fish, covering completely; seal the packets closed.
- Transfer fillets to a jelly roll pan or large baking sheet.
- Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until salmon is cooked through.
- Transfer foil packets to plates.
- Carefully open up the foil packets and serve.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
FOIL PACK RECIPES:
This looks delicious! Is it possible for me to make this in an air fryer?
I think it should be okay, but do check your manual and see if you can use foil in the Air Fryer that you have. Mine is the Instant Pot Vortex and I do use foil.
Hi, i was wondering could you freeze the packets to eat at a later date? If so, what would be the best way to reheat/thaw?
This recipe sounds amazing! Going to try it tomorrow but was wondering if you could substitute quinoa for the rice? And if so, would you follow the same directions as the rice?
Thanks!!
Hi Leah! I have not tried it with quinoa, and I don’t think it would work since this only works with instant rice. Unless there’s instant quinoa that I don’t know about. If there is such a thing, I’d love to know!! 🙂
I actually found some 90second quinoa and quinoa blends at the store when getting ingredients to try this recipe. They are the microwave packs, but I’m hoping they aren’t terribly different. I’m trying a quinoa, red rice, brown rice blend with flax seeds tonight and will let you know how it goes!
The 90 sec quinoa-rice mix was amazing with the salmon! I’m totally in love this recipe. It was so easy and delicious with virtually no clean up. I will definitely be making it again.
Hi!! That is awesome! Very happy you liked it! And I am SO going to get one of these quinoa mixes. I had no idea that they even exist! 😀
I found mine at whole foods. It was the Seeds of Change brand instant rice. I love the texture of whole grain blends. I had to cut open a microwave pouch but it was totally worth it.
I don’t have instant rice. Can I cook regular rice first and use? Or will it turn to mush?
Quick ?, is the rice cooked. Thank you so much hope to make this today:))))
Hi Cecilia! No, it’s not precooked; it will cook together with the salmon inside the foil packet. Per the recipe instructions, you just have to let it sit in water. I hope you’ll like it! 🙂 Thank you!
This looks amazing…just wondering if you could do it on the grill? Love you your site. Making the BBQ chicken foil packets tonight.
Hi Jill!!
Thank you sooooo much for the kind words!! Means so much to me!
Yes, you can absolutely make these on the grill. Just place the closed-up foil packets on the grill over medium-low heat. Cover the grill and cook for around 15 minutes, flipping packets over around the 7 minute mark… when salmon flakes easily with a fork, it’s done. I hope that helps!
This looks amazing! I just want to go at it in my individual serving of fish.
What a great recipe. Love the combo of ingredients especially the fact that cleaning for this seems like a matter of seconds. Love the foil idea!