Whole30 Salmon with Cream Sauce (GF/DF)

It’s HERE! Your new favorite dinner, this gluten free, dairy free, Whole30 friendly Seared Salmon with Cream Sauce. Cooked with sautéed mushrooms and spinach, I could eat this dairy free cream sauce by the gallon. Trust me when I say you’re going to want to make this one!!

Salmon with cream sauce recipe

For this recipe, I first make the cream sauce. You start by browning the onions and mushrooms in ghee (whole30 friendly), but you can also substitute olive oil to keep dairy-free. After both are cooked, you end up with browned food bits (official name is fond) on the pan, which is where you get a bunch of flavor for the sauce.

To use these browned bits, you deglaze the pan with vegetable broth, making sure to whisk up any dark spots left on the bottom of the pan. Next, add in the dairy free creamer and cream cheese, for which I personally use Nutpods Original Creamer along with Kite Hill Cream Cheese, which are both Whole30 friendly products. If you don’t have Nutpods available at your store, you could try substituting full fat coconut milk, you just might end up with a stronger coconut flavor in the sauce which would be just as delicious IMO 🙂

The last thing you do is stir in some nutritional yeast for extra cheesy flavor and season with salt & pepper before simmering for 5-10 minutes to thicken and let the flavors combine. Just before serving, stir in the spinach until wilted, and that’s it! Easy, creamy, delicious, and all ready in less than 30 minutes.

How to pan sear salmon

For this recipe, I find the easiest cooking method to be searing the salmon in a non-stick skillet or cast iron pan. Here are a few other tips and suggestions for ensuring crispy on the outside, yet tender, and juicy salmon filets.

• Buy salmon filets that are similar in size/thickness so they have a similar cook time in the pan.
• Remove salmon filets when you start the recipe so they can come closer to room temperature.
• Remove excess moisture from the salmon filets by patting dry before seasoning BOTH sides with salt & pepper.
• Use a non-stick pan, and ensure olive oil is hot before adding salmon filets.
• Sear flesh side down first (skin side up), and for 4-5 minutes each side until nicely browned and cooked through to your preference.

What to serve with this recipe

To keep Whole30 friendly, I would serve this recipe with roasted or mashed yellow or sweet potatoes. It would also be delicious with sautéed cauliflower rice or a cauliflower mash!

If you’re not doing Whole30, this would be a delicious salmon cream sauce for pasta. Serve with your favorite gluten free pasta (mine is Rummo brand) for a complete and delicious dinner.

If you like this recipe and are looking for other Whole30 friendly dinners I would checkout this Vegetarian Lasagna, Easy Shakshuka, or Homemade Vegan Hamburger Helper which you can make Whole30 by serving with sweet potatoes instead of GF pasta.

Thanks, as always, for checking out my recipes and would love to hear in a comment below if you give this recipe a try and what you think 🙂

Whole30 Salmon with Cream Sauce (GF/DF)

Prep: 5 minutes minutes

Cook: 20 minutes minutes

Total: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 people

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Your new favorite dinner is this gluten free, dairy free, and Whole30 friendly Seared Salmon with Cream Sauce. The sauce is cooked with browned onions, sautéed mushrooms, and spinach. I could eat this sauce by the gallon, but turns out it tastes even better with some pan seared, tender, and juicy salmon filets.

Ingredients

• 4, 5oz salmon filets room temperature and patted dry, skin on or off
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt & pepper
• 1 tbsp ghee sub olive oil to keep DF
• ½ ea yellow onion diced
• 1, 8oz pack mushrooms brushed, cut in half and sliced thin
• ½ cup vegetable broth
• 1 cup dairy free creamer*
• 4 oz dairy free cream cheese**
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• ½, 6oz bag spinach
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper

Instructions

• Bring large saucepan to medium heat and add ghee. Add in diced onion and cook for 2-3 minutes or until onions are translucent.
• Add sliced mushrooms and cook another 5-8 minutes or until mushrooms have started to brown.
• Whisk in vegetable broth, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Add DF creamer and cream cheese. Stir together and add nutritional yeast, salt & pepper. Simmer for 5-10 minutes on medium low until sauce thickens to desired consistency.
• While sauce is cooking, start on your salmon. Start by patting dry to remove moisture. Season both sides with salt & ground black pepper.
• Add olive oil to a non stick pan and bring to medium high heat. Once hot, add seasoned salmon filets flesh side down and cook for 4-5 minutes, depending on thickness of salmon. Flip and cook again for an additional 4-5 minutes, or until nicely browned and cooked to your liking. Remove from pan and set aside.
• Once sauce has reached desired consistency, stir in spinach and cook until wilted. Add salmon filets back to pan with sauce. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Notes

*I used Nutpods original, could sub full fat coconut milk but will have a stronger coconut flavor
**suggest using Kite Hill to keep Whole30, could also use Toffuti brand or Miyoko's vegan cream cheese.

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