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These delicious 3 ingredient recipes make life easy! Whether it’s for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack, these simple concepts make cooking a breeze.

3 ingredient recipes
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Cooking doesn’t have to be rocket science. In fact, simple combinations can make the most stellar flavors! Here’s a list of 3 ingredient recipes that proves you don’t have to buy loads of ingredients to make delicious and nourishing food. There are ideas for every time of the day: breakfast, lunch, dinner and even snack time. Nosh on tasty 3-ingredient bean dip, whip up a pot of pasta with emerald green pesto sauce, and even sear a fancy ahi tuna into buttery strips of deliciousness. We’re getting hungry, so…

Caveat: The recipes below do not count salt in the ingredient count, since it’s a staple in all kitchens.

And now…the best 3 ingredient recipes to make life easy!

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3 Ingredient Pesto Salmon

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Bright green basil pesto is a natural fit with baked fish! This pesto salmon is an easy 3 ingredient dinner recipe that also works to impress guests.

  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Main Dish
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: Seafood
  • Diet: Gluten Free

Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets or a large 1 ½ pound fillet, wild caught if possible
  • ½ teaspoon each kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 tablespoons basil pesto

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Brine the salmon: While the oven preheats, in a shallow dish stir together 4 cups room temperature water and 3 tablespoons kosher salt until it dissolves. Place the salmon in the water and wait for 15 minutes (this should be about the time it takes to preheat).
  3. Bake*: Rub the bottom of a baking dish with oil. Pat each piece of salmon dry and place it on the pan. Sprinkle the salmon with ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt for each of the 4 fillets and fresh ground pepper. Cover pan with foil and bake the salmon for 10 minutes. Then remove the foil bake again for 3 to 6 minutes, depending on thickness, until just tender and pink at the center (the internal temperature should be between 125 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit in the center). A 1-inch thick fillet should cook in about 15 minutes total.
  4. Serve: When the salmon is done, spoon the pesto over the salmon. Sprinkle it with chopped pine nuts and if desired, a bit of lemon zest. Serve immediately. (Leftovers can be stored refrigerated for 3 to 4 days.)

Notes

*You can also pan sear or broiled the salmon to make a quicker recipe. Go to Pan Seared Salmon or Broiled Salmon.

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About the authors

Alex & Sonja

Hi there! We’re Alex & Sonja Overhiser, authors of two cookbooks, busy parents, and a real life couple who cooks together. We founded the A Couple Cooks website in 2010 to share simple, seasonal recipes and the joy of cooking. We now offer thousands of original recipes, cooking tips, and meal planning ideas—all written and photographed by the two of us (and tested on our kids!).

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