Many moons ago, Patty and I had a salmon dish at a local Boston restaurant that was topped with a simple, creamy, avocado-based sauce. I tried to recreate a similar sauce later at home with several variations of avocado, cream, yogurt, and ranch dressing, but nothing was quite right. It tasted artificial and gross—so I shelved the idea.
Fast forward nearly two years later when I stumbled upon a creamy avocado pasta that consisted of well, pasta, and a creamy sauce made with avocado, garlic, basil, lemon, and olive oil. The dish was fantastic, but the creamy avocado sauce? It was the answer to the equation I was looking for.
How to Make Creamy Avocado Sauce
Avocado sauce is the perfect simple sauce for salmon. It’s tastes like a combination of pesto and avocado sauce. The foundation of the sauce is fresh avocado, with added cream and olive oil to make the sauce a little thinner. The basil gives the sauce a pesto-like flare and carries a lot of freshness and flavor.
There are a few ways you can make the avocado sauce. I usually use a regular blender, but a Ninja single serve blender or NutriBullet will do the trick in a pinch.
What’s the Best Way to Cook Salmon?
I recommend pan searing the salmon (or grilling). Baking salmon is great, but pan searing offers a crispier seared edge. I think it better compliments the avocado sauce. A creamy sauce calls for crispier salmon.
Simply pan sear salmon in a little olive oil on medium-high heat for about 5-6 minutes per side in a nonstick or cast iron pan. it’s as easy as that. Top with creamy avocado sauce and serve with a lemon wedge. P.S. The more sauce, the better.
Now, for all of you who may be intimidated by cooking seafood. Fear not, salmon is one of the EASIEST entrees to cook. It’s good prepared medium-rare AND well done and flaky. I like a crispy outside and a medium center.
Prep Time:
Yield:
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PinIngredients
- 4 6-8 ounce salmon filets, skin removed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Fresh minced basil, for garnish
- Lemon wedges, for serving
Creamy Avocado Sauce
- 1 ripe avocado, halved, seeded and peeled
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
- 1 clove garlic
- half a lemon, juice squeezed
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup light cream or half & half
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine creamy avocado sauce ingredients in a blender, blend until smooth and creamy, set aside.
- Season salmon filets with salt and pepper on both sides. Coat the bottom of a skillet with olive oil, over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot, add salmon filets and sear for 5-6 minutes. Flip and sear for 5-6 additional minutes.
- Transfer salmon filets to a plate and top with creamy avocado sauce. Sprinkle with fresh basil and serve immediately with a lemon wedge.
Notes
If sauce is too thick you can add 1-2 tablespoons of water.
Adapted From: The Comfort of Cooking
Is there any nutritional info I can use for the sauce
To use in carb manager?
I don’t have any unfortunately I’m sorry about that.
Thanks for taking the time to find the avocado cream sauce recipe – we just enjoyed it for the first, and I am certain not the last, time and the wife and kids wiped their plates clean.
With a side salad and baby potatoes that meal was something else. Thank you.
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Can you leave the skin on ?! And do you leave the basil leaves whole or chop them up ?
Leave them whole – they will be blended anyway. You can absolutely leave the skin on. The salmon should easily slide off the skin after it’s cooked.
I made this last night with basil from my back yard, but I had to switch lime for lemon juice since that’s all I had, plus one family member is lactose intolerant so I used coconut milk. It was delicious! They loved it over salmon, and after dinner, ate all the leftover with tortilla chips! LOL Next time I will definately use a lemon because I think the lime is a bit mild. But thanks for the recipe!!
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Awesome Sally! The sauce would prob be good on everything!
This sauce is one of the best things I’ve ever made. I’m trying to be kinda sorta good, so I left out the cream, and it was excellent. I don’t think it could have been better.
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Omg it tasted incredible, I even used dried basil and a dash of almond milk instead of any cream. Thank you! Absolutely perfect dish!
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EXCELENT in the end I just add water to thinner up but otherwise spectacular
How many carbs are I this dish?
What is rice cream for cooking ?and where can I find it ? I would like to try the avocado sauce but for the dairy cream.
What side did you serve with this?
I like roasted brussel sprouts with salmon. Remove stems, toss with salt, pepper, garlic, olive oil, and a little balsamic vinaigrette and bake until soft and golden. Can’t go wrong.
For 2 filets s/I cut the recipe in 1/2?
This is absolutely delicious! The sauce would be good on so many different kinds of seafood. This is a keeper!
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Yes! I’m yet to experiment more with it but I totally agree.
We hav always eaten salmon alone but whem we saw this cream sauce recipe we decided to try it and…. its the BEST avocado cream ever! I just have one question, do we out half of an avocado or a whole avocado?
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Thanks Mabel – so glad you found this. You use the whole avocado!
Thanks! But for us it was very thick at first, should we add more cream or half and half?
Yes, exactly, or you could add more olive oil too
This was so good!!! I absolutely love the cream sauce!
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Does the avocado sauce get brown once it is refrigerated/ reheated?
If you cover very tightly with plastic wrap you will be okay for 1 day
Great recipe for salmon. Thanks!
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You’re welcome, Carrie!
Did you crisp the skin of the salmon or remove the skin? I’m going to try this recipe on egg plant croquettes, see how that works and may add capers. Yum!
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I remove before searing.
That’s 1/4 cup light cream? I don’t see the measurement on the printable instructions. It looks and sounds delicious. I think I’ll try making this for my husband next week.
Correct.
Very good I didn’t have fresh basil so I used my own basil pesto and used a cream replacement organic rice cream for cooking ( Isola bio) gluten and dairy free.
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Sounds like that would do the trick. Pesto is perfect substitute!
Thanks for this idea.. i don’t have fresh basil either.. but had home made pesto cubes in the Freezer!
Tasted delicious and didn’t have to add the garlic either,.. my pesto sauce had enough 🙂
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what cream? what kind?
Light cream or half and half will do.
Tried and true, great job! Thank you for a lovely dinner we had using your recipe!
PS Also works excellent with grilled sea bass!
Mirella and Panos
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Thank you! That’s a great idea. I love sea bass so I will have to give that a try.