Cashew Coconut Salmon Curry
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Cashew Coconut Salmon Curry is an easy to make and crazy delicious fish curry recipe. The salmon is poached in a simple coconut Thai curry sauce that begs to be poured over steamed rice or cauliflower rice. It's a 20-minute dinner recipe everyone will love!
This coconut salmon curry recipe was updated in February 2020.
Remember those 7 Staple Whole30 Sauces? This salmon curry is based on one of those tasty sauces. Thai coconut curries are my idea of the perfect comfort food. This one, made with tender poached salmon, has been on heavy repeat here for the past few weeks. Guests rave about it and my three-year-old girl devours an adult-sized portion every time I make it. This one is a real winner!
Why you'll love this salmon curry
- Creamy coconut sauces are THE BEST! ā fully deserving of all caps.
- The extra creamy sauce thickens just right with the addition of cashew butter.
- The flavorful sauce begs to be sopped up with rice or cauliflower rice.
- You can easily make the sauce ahead of time. (Coming home to a nearly made dinner is awesome.)
- Salmon that stays nice and tender from being gently poached in the sauce.
- 20 minutes from start to finish.
- So delicious that you'd never guess this recipe is so good for you.
Salmon is my favorite fish to eat, but it can be a little tricky to cook as it becomes dry if overcooked even a little. The easiest way to make sure this doesn't happen is to gently poach the salmon. In this case, we poach it in Thai coconut curry.
Many years ago, I shared the post Perfect Poached Fish with you. Poached fish sounds tasteless, BUT it is a great way to make sure the fish you're cooking stays nice and tender.
The trick is to cook it over very low heat. I've given more detailed instructions in the Perfect Poached Fish post, but basically, you want only a few small bubbles rising in the cooking liquid. If the pan is boiling, turn down the heat!
The other option is to use Steelhead Trout, which is a lot like salmon only fattier. Fattier fish are easier to cook as they don't dry out as quickly as their lean cousins.
What makes this salmon curry sauce special
One thing you need to know is that this salmon curry is EASY. The curry sauce is a simple, coconut-based curry that is unbelievably flavorful. We start with Thai red curry paste and coconut milk then spice it up with garlic, ginger, lime juice, fish sauce, and coco aminos or soy sauce. We also sneak in some cashew butter.
I've used a little cashew butter in this curry for three reasons:
- It makes the salmon curry extra creamy.
- Adds extra healthy fats.
- When the sauce cooks, the cashew butter helps to thicken the sauce.
How to make this salmon curry recipe
Once you have your coconut curry, dinner is so close to being ready.
Now all you have to do is sear the salmon in a hot pan then pour the curry sauce over the top. Then simmer the salmon gently over medium heat for a couple of minutes to finish cooking it.
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Healthy Salmon Recipes
Cashew Coconut Salmon Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 4 salmon fillets (skin removed)
- Toasted or spicy cashews and some cilantro (to serve)
Cashew Coconut Curry Sauce
- Ā¾ cup water
- Ā½ cup canned coconut milk
- 4 tablespoons cashew butter
- Juice from Ā½ lime
- 2 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1 tablespoon each: fish sauce and coco aminos (can sub soy sauce)
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger
- Ā¼ teaspoon salt (omit if using soy sauce)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- Optional: 1 tablespoon honey (omit for Whole30)
Instructions
- Begin by whisking the cashew coconut curry sauce ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl.Ā¾ cup water, Ā½ cup canned coconut milk, 4 tablespoons cashew butter, Juice from Ā½ lime, 2 tablespoons red curry paste, 1 tablespoon each: fish sauce and coco aminos, 2 teaspoons grated ginger, Ā¼ teaspoon salt, 2 cloves garlic, Optional: 1 tablespoon honey
- Heat the coconut oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Dry the salmon fillets well with paper towels then add them to the pan skinless side down. Let them cook for 5 minutes.1 tablespoon coconut oil, 4 salmon fillets
- Reduce the heat to medium then pour the curry sauce into the pan and cover the pan and let it cook for 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and carefully stir the thickened sauce. Serve topped with cashews and cilantro.Toasted or spicy cashews and some cilantro
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Notes
Nutrition
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For more inspiration, check out all of our fish recipes!
It was great. So easy and simple! Love it!
The best salmon recipe that is very quick and easy to make mid week. I added broccoli and asparagus. Delicious! The family loved it.
Kristen,
I am not a fan of salmon, any suggestions for a substitute fish choice?
Thanks!
You can use any thicker white fish!
I just made this for the second time. It is so delicious and easy to cook. Plus I love cashews. I’m going to serve my leftovers over thin Thai noodles as a change from rice. Thanks for the recipe.
This was absolutely delicious! One of my favorite salmon recipes ever!!! Thank you so much for sharing. I used cashew cream sauce instead of cashew butter (just thinner consistency is main difference I guess, and went pretty heavy on the red curry paste, definitely spicy!) Delicious š
Made this for dinner last night and it was delicious! Ā I only made two salmon fillets for me and my husband but I made the whole sauce recipe and boy am I glad I did. Ā It was so tasty. Ā We served ours over cauliflower rice. Ā Didn’t add the optional honey or the salt (since we used low sodium soy sauce and it was plenty).
This was the perfect Sunday dinner recipe. Easy to make and turned out great!!
This was so delicious! Thank you for sharing!
I added pumpkin to the recipe for added sweetness but I loved the added cashews in this recipe for added creaminess too!
Unbelievably good, my kids still ask for it!
My family loves salmon so Iām always looking for new unique delicious ways to make it. This recipe was amazing & did not disappoint. It was packed with SO much flavour & was a huge hit. Thanks for this, itās a keeper!