Salmon Curry in a Hurry (Just 15 Minutes!)

This Salmon Curry in Hurry takes just 15 minutes to make, uses one pan, and bursts with green Thai curry flavor. Plus, it's an all-in-one meal that's low in carbs!

This 15-minute, one-pan green curry salmon and bok choy, adapted from Anna Stockwell at Epicurious, is a weeknight winner. The salmon cooks fast and turns wonderfully tender and flavorful since it's steamed by the green curry sauce. It's truly salmon curry in a hurry!

More than that, the combination of flavors in this dish — like the green curry, coconut milk, salmon, bok choy and cashews — make it a real winner.

It's important to use a good, quality Thai green curry paste like Mae Ploy (and not Thai Kitchen) since it's more flavorful and spicy, which means you don't need to use as much. A good curry paste also simplifies the recipe since you don't need to add ginger, garlic or other flavor ingredients.

Bok choy is a perfect accompaniment since it cooks up fast and absorbs the curry flavors. That said, you could replace with spinach if need be.

You can serve as is or over riced cauliflower or regular rice if you're not not watching your carbs.

Key Ingredients

Just a few notes on key ingredients:

• Wild salmon: We recommend getting fresh or previously frozen wild sockeye or coho salmon, which are leaner types of salmon. If you can't get salmon, you could use steelhead trout which is similar in flavor.
• Thai green curry paste: We use Mae Ploy curry paste since it's one of the best out there. By using a high-quality curry paste (like Mae Ploy), you typically use less paste (unlike Thai Kitchen) since it's more flavorful and spicy. If you can't find Mae Ploy, another good brand is Maesri. You may replace the green curry paste with red curry paste if desired (it's just as delicious!).
• Full-fat coconut milk: We recommend using Aroy-D coconut milk since it's one of the better coconut milks on the market. We've tried many other brands and weren't as happy with the results.
• Reduced-sodium chicken broth: We recommend using reduced-sodium broth to prevent this dish from becoming too salty.
• Bok choy: we use baby bok choy here, but you could also use a larger, mature bok choy since you'll be chopping into smaller chunks. If you can't find bok choy at your grocery store, you can replace it with spinach.
• Roasted cashews: If you don't have cashews on hands, you could swap with peanuts. The nuts really add to the overall flavor and texture of the dish!
• Lime juice: Lime juice is important since it adds some acidity to the curry sauce.

Step-by-Step Instructions

STEP 1: Rinse and dry bok choy leaves. Cut leaves into 2-inch pieces and stems into ½-inch chunks. Remove skin from salmon if needed (or desired).

STEP 2: In a large skillet over medium heat, stir in coconut milk, curry paste, chicken broth and fish sauce.

STEP 3: After it begins to simmer, put in salmon fillets and surround with bok choy in an even layer.

STEP 4: Cover pan and steam salmon low to medium heat until cooked (or thermometer indicates 145 degrees F), about 7 to 8 minutes. Remove pan from heat and drizzle with lime juice. Plate and garnish with cashews and cilantro if desired.

Expert Tips

• Start with a ½ tablespoon of curry paste and stir it with the coconut milk, broth and fish sauce over heat. Taste the sauce and add another ½ tablespoon of paste if you prefer it spicier. If you are not using Mae Ploy or Maesri, then you'll likely need to add more than a tablespoon of green curry paste.
• We recommend using a quality, full-fat coconut milk like Aroy-D coconut for best results.
• Use reduced-sodium chicken broth to prevent the dish from becoming too salty.
• If you prefer a saltier flavor, add a touch more fish sauce (to taste).
• If you can't get bok choy, you can use fresh spinach (not frozen).
• Be sure not to overcook salmon by checking the internal temperate with a digital thermometer

How to Serve

Although you can serve this as an all-in-one dish, it's great to serve over cauliflower or broccoli rice. If you don't follow a keto diet, you could consider serving over regular rice. Both options will soak up the leftover curry sauce!

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If you try this recipe, we would love to hear your feedback! Leave a comment, rate it, and tag @lowcarbsimplified on your photo of this recipe on Instagram or Facebook. We hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!

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