A salmon traybake is the fastest way to get fish on the table on a weeknight: chickpeas, green beans and cherry tomatoes go into a hot oven first to crisp and blister, then four salmon fillets join them for the last 12 minutes. The whole thing takes about 30 minutes, makes four servings, and comes in at roughly 525 calories and 40 grams of protein each, with a good dose of omega-3 fat from the fish.
Ingredients
Serves 4. Prep 10 minutes. Cook 25 to 28 minutes.
| Ingredient | Metric | Imperial |
|---|---|---|
| Salmon fillets, skin on or off | 4 × 150 g | 4 × 5 oz |
| Chickpeas, drained, rinsed and patted dry | 1 can (540 ml), about 340 g drained | 1 can (19 oz) |
| Green beans, trimmed | 300 g | ⅔ lb |
| Cherry tomatoes | 300 g | 1 pint |
| Olive oil | 15 ml | 1 tbsp |
| Lemon | 1 | 1 |
| Garlic, sliced | 2 cloves | 2 cloves |
| Smoked paprika, ground cumin | 1 tsp each | 1 tsp each |
| Fresh dill or parsley, salt, pepper | to taste | to taste |
Method
- Heat the oven to 220°C (425°F). Line a large sheet pan with parchment.
- Dry the chickpeas well with a tea towel; wet chickpeas steam instead of crisping. Toss them on the pan with half the oil, the paprika, cumin and a pinch of salt. Roast 10 minutes.
- Add the green beans, tomatoes and garlic, drizzle with the rest of the oil, toss, and roast another 5 minutes.
- Make four gaps in the vegetables. Season the salmon with salt, pepper and lemon zest and set the fillets in the gaps.
- Roast 10 to 12 minutes, until the thickest fillet flakes and reads 70°C (158°F), the safe internal temperature for fish in Health Canada’s chart.
- Squeeze the lemon over the tray, scatter the herbs and serve straight from the pan.
Nutrition per serving, approximately
Based on standard per-100 g values for raw farmed Atlantic salmon, drained chickpeas, green beans and tomatoes from USDA FoodData Central, split four ways.
| Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|
| about 525 | about 40 g | about 32 g | about 26 g |
Fat is higher here than in a chicken tray, and that’s expected: farmed salmon has roughly 13 g of fat per 100 g raw, much of it omega-3. If you’re running a tight calorie deficit, use 120 g (4 oz) fillets and the serving drops to about 460 calories and 34 g protein.
Buying salmon in Canada without overspending
- Frozen fillets: bags of individually frozen portions at Costco, No Frills or Walmart usually cost less per kilogram than fresh fillets at the counter.
- Side of salmon: buying a whole side and cutting it into four portions at home is often cheaper than pre-cut pieces.
- Wild sockeye or coho: leaner and deeper in colour. They cook 2 to 3 minutes faster, so check early.
- Arctic char or trout: close relatives that cook the same way and are sometimes on sale when salmon isn’t.
Swaps
- No chickpeas: baby potatoes, halved and roasted 20 minutes before the green beans go in.
- Asparagus season: in May and June, swap the green beans for Ontario asparagus and cut the roasting time for the vegetables to 5 minutes before the fish.
- Sauce: stir chopped dill and lemon juice into 125 g (½ cup) of plain Greek yogurt for a quick sauce that adds about 3 g protein per serving.
For a chicken version of the same idea, see sheet pan chicken and vegetables. If cooking fish feels like too much on a weeknight, the tuna and bean salad gets fish into your week with no oven at all.
Fish twice a week without thinking about it
Fish is the food most men say they should eat more of and then don’t. Putting a traybake on the same night every week, say Monday, takes it off the list of decisions. If you want a coach to build a week of meals like this around your goals and budget, monthly 1:1 coaching includes nutrition planning and regular check-ins.
Questions people also ask
How do I know when salmon is cooked?
It flakes easily with a fork and the centre has turned from translucent to opaque. Health Canada's safe internal temperature for fish is 70°C (158°F); an instant-read thermometer in the thickest fillet removes the guesswork.
Can I use frozen salmon fillets?
Yes, and frozen fillets are often cheaper. Thaw them overnight in the fridge and pat them dry. Cooking from frozen works but takes about twice as long, and the vegetables will be overdone by then.
Is farmed salmon okay to eat?
Farmed Atlantic salmon is the most common option in Canadian grocery stores and is a good source of protein and omega-3 fats. Wild sockeye or coho is leaner, so the fat and calories per serving will come in lower.
Does salmon traybake reheat well?
Better than you'd expect. Reheat gently at 50% power in the microwave, or eat the salmon cold over greens the next day; cold salmon avoids the fishy smell that reheating can cause in an office kitchen.