Rice Free Paleo Lemon-Dill Salmon with Avocado Salsa
Bright, fresh, and deeply satisfying, this skillet salmon is the kind of weeknight dinner that feels far more impressive than the effort it takes. Crispy skin, a lemony herb crust, and a chunky avocado salsa loaded with cherry tomatoes, lime juice, and cilantro make every bite feel like something you'd order at a nice restaurant. Avoiding rice is genuinely effortless here — the entire dish is built around whole, unprocessed ingredients with zero grains in sight, so there's nothing to swap or skip. The avocado salsa does double duty as both a sauce and a side, bringing cool creaminess that plays beautifully against the warm, seared fish. A quick press of the spatula in the first 30 seconds of cooking is the small trick that gives you that perfectly flat, shatteringly crisp skin every time. Fresh dill scattered over the finished fillets adds an herby brightness that ties the lemon and lime notes together in the most satisfying way. This one is genuinely hard to mess up and even harder to stop eating.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the salmon
- 4 salmon fillets (6 oz each), skin-on
- 1 tsp lemon zest (from about 1 lemon)
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
For the avocado salsa
- 2 ripe avocados, pitted and diced into ½-inch pieces
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
- ¼ cup red onion, finely diced
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and finely diced (optional)
- 3 tbsp fresh lime juice (from about 2 limes)
- 2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
- ¼ tsp salt
For serving
- lemon wedges, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- 1
In a mixing bowl, combine the diced avocado, cherry tomatoes, red onion, jalapeño (if using), lime juice, cilantro, and 1/4 tsp salt. Toss gently until just combined, keeping the avocado pieces intact. Set aside.
- 2
Pat the salmon fillets dry with paper towels. In a small bowl, stir together the lemon zest, garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt, and black pepper, then press the mixture evenly onto the flesh side of each fillet. Drizzle the lemon juice over the flesh side.
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