What to serve with Salmon Wellington? Consider the uniquely sweet umami taste of salmon with spinach and Parmesan cheese all baked in a thick, buttery, flaky crust. Some of the best side dishes include roasted or sautéed vegetables, lemon garlic broccoli, chick pea tabbouleh, smashed or scalloped potatoes and different salads.
Also called by its French name Salmon en Croute, the dish is most delicious when plated with other mildly flavored but distinct dishes that echo its ingredients and textures without competing. As if anything could compete with Salmon Wellington!
The Best Salmon Wellington Sides
Roasted Vegetables
Roasting brings out the natural sweetness of vegetables along with a deliciously charred crispness that augments the flavors of the Salmon Wellington.
Choose a fresh vegetable such as asparagus, broccoli, or Brussels sprouts. Preheat the oven to 400-425 degrees while you cut the vegetables into bite-sized pieces and toss them with olive oil. Many experienced chefs like to use their hands to rub the oil into the plant tissues to ensure even coating.
Toss again with salt and any other seasonings such as pepper. The secret to successful roasting is spreading the pieces out on the baking sheet so the dry heat reaches all surfaces. When the pieces are crammed together, they cook each other by steaming.
Roast until they toast: keep roasting until you see blackened corners and bits, which can take 15-60 minutes. Small pieces cook faster than large ones, and soft veggies cook faster than hard ones.
Add shredded Parmesan cheese or a mix of Parmesan and Panko crumbs during the last ten 10 minutes.
Sautéed Vegetables
Choose a fresh vegetable such as asparagus, broccoli, green peas, leeks, or mushrooms.
Melt real butter or pour olive oil into a skillet set at medium-high heat. Add your vegetable of choice and continue stirring or tossing for several minutes until the outside is well-browned.
Season as desired with salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, garlic, or gravlax sauce (see last section).
Lemon Garlic Broccoli
Choose broccoli florets because they soak up the delicious juices in this recipe.
While you steam the florets, brown some chopped garlic in olive oil. You can also sautee the broccoli along with the garlic instead of steaming it separately. Toss with lemon juice and lemon zest.
Lemon Pepper Green Peas
Cook fresh green peas until tender. Serve along with garlic butter and lemon pepper.
The green spheres will provide a visual feast for the eyes next to the dense pink meat of the salmon and the golden flakes of crispy crust.
Chickpea Tabbouleh
Tabbouleh is usually made with bulghur wheat but chickpeas (garbanzos) are a delicious and nutritious variation.
To a bowl of cooked chickpeas, add finely chopped cucumber, tomato, spring onions, mint, and parsley. Toss and dress with lemon juice mixed with olive oil and sea salt.
Smashed Potatoes
While you boil small Yukon gold potatoes until they’re fork-tender, preheat the oven to 400-425 degrees.
Brush a baking pan with olive oil and add the drained potatoes. The fun part is smashing them with the bottom of a cup, then drizzling more olive oil. Add salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.
Roast about half an hour or until crispy around the edges. Add more toppings such as shredded Parmesan cheese, dill, or one of the sauces listed in the section below.
Scalloped Potatoes
Cut Yukon gold potatoes into 1/4 inch slices to ensure even cooking. Sautee onion and garlic in butter and then create a roux by stirring in flour.
Pour in chicken or vegetable stock, milk, and add salt, pepper, and thyme. Pour over potatoes layered in a baking dish. Add cheese and repeat.
Cover with foil, bake for half an hour or until bubbly, then remove the foil and bake another half hour. Remove and add more cheese to melt on top while the dish cools on a rack.
Simple Green Salad
You can’t ever go wrong serving a side dish to your salmon wellington like a fresh green salad with a mix of greens such as baby spinach, arugula (rocket), endive, radicchio, and lettuces such as Romaine and Bibb.
Cucumber Tomato Salad
Another type of salad that enhances the Salmon Wellington experience with its parallel combination of tastes and textures is made with cucumbers, tomatoes, avocados, and feta cheese.
Cucumber Fennel Salad
You can also mix thinly sliced cucumber and crisp fennel root with heavy cream, white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt to taste, and lots of fresh dill. Complete the meal with buttered brown bread.
Brussels Sprouts and Kale Salad
Consider fresh, shaved Brussels sprouts tossed with thinly sliced young kale leaves, toasted walnuts, and chunks of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, all topped off with a whisked dressing of mustard, olive oil, lemon juice, sliced shallots, chopped garlic, salt, and pepper.
Spinach Pomegranate Salad
This is an excellent choice often served with Salmon Wellington.
The salad contains arugula, baby spinach, Fuji apple, red onion, pomegranate seeds, feta cheese, and optional chopped walnuts or candied pecans.
To make the dressing, whisk olive oil with balsamic vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper.
The Best Wine Pairings for Salmon Wellington
To ensure the best wine pairing, your goal is to create a balance with an aroma bridge. You’ll want to seek out a wine with a flavor intensity similar to that of the meat but with more sweetness and acidity.
You can go for a congruent pairing to enhance the flavor of the main dish, or you can go for a contrasting pairing to highlight the differences in flavor.
Reds that go well with the bold flavor of Salmon Wellington include Argentine Malbec and Pinot Noir, both somewhat dry and medium-bodied with a slight note of bitterness balancing the oil in the fish.
Whites that present a medium-dry complement to Salmon Wellington include Chardonnay and Burgundy Chardonnay, German Riesling, Chenin Blanc, White Bordeaux, Sauvignon Blanc, and Beaujolais.
The Best Sauces for Salmon Wellington
Although Salmon Wellington offers a symphony of aromas and textures that are notably delicious on their own, you might enjoy adding an extra layer of flavor to enhance the complexity of the dish.
White Wine Cream Sauce
This is a timeless classic that showcases the Salmon Wellington.
Simple enough to prepare, you boil unsalted butter, chopped eschalot, and white wine until it reduces by a third.
Add chicken or fish stock and cream, and bring the mixture back to a boil, allowing it to simmer until thickened. Whisk in small cubes of cold butter, continuing to whisk until emulsified. Stir in chopped chives and parsley, then season with salt and pepper.
Drizzle over Salmon Wellington slices with rocket (arugula) leaves.
Dijon Dill Whipped Cream Sauce
Dill has long been a standard pairing with salmon because the two flavors harmonize so beautifully.
You can substitute tarragon if you prefer. In a cold metal bowl, whisk whipping cream or heavy cream until soft peaks form.
Add Dijon mustard, fresh dill, and kosher salt. Continue to whip until the peaks become stiff, then refrigerate until serving alongside the salmon.
Dill Cream Sauce
Melt butter and add chopped garlic, cooking for a few seconds. Add heavy cream or whipping cream and fresh chopped dill. Simmer for five minutes. Add salt, pepper, and lemon juice, and then serve hot and fresh with the Salmon Wellington.
Gravadlax Sauce
This sauce is popular in Sweden and traditionally served with gravlax (Gravadlax), which is salmon cured with dill, lemon, and vodka.
Mix Swedish and/or Dijon mustard with caster sugar, white wine vinegar or malt vinegar, salt, and pepper in a food processor. Without turning it off, pour in vegetable oil such as sunflower, rapeseed, or olive oil.
Decant the sauce into a serving bowl, add fresh chopped dill, and allow to chill 24-36 hours to mature.