Meal Prep Chipotle Salmon with Cauliflower Rice
Chipotle Salmon is so tasty you will LOVE it and so easy to make, you will prepare it for lunches time and again. Served with healthy, low carb cauliflower rice and a DIVINE creamy Chipotle Dressing, this lunch recipe for meal prep salmon is a complete win.
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When I get my act together and meal prep lunches for the week, I invariably go for salmon. Salmon keeps during the week, reheats so easily, and is SO tasty and satisfying. In the past, I usually put my meal prep salmon over brown rice, so for an even healthier twist I used cauliflower rice to up the fiber, vitamins, and all-around feel good of my lunch with this incredibly tasty Chipotle Salmon.
Why this recipe works
Chipotle salmon is my new lunch prep go-to because while salmon is always super satisfying to me in my lunch, I’m actually here for the creamy, dreamy, good Lord good Creamy Chipotle Dressing. I could sit and eat this stuff with a spoon – it is so tasty.
Side note: the Creamy Chipotle Dressing is spec-tac-u-lar over a fluffy hot baked potato, just saying. No butter needed.
The cauliflower rice is tasty – as tasty as cauliflower rice can be anyway. If cauliflower rice isn’t your thing, simply substitute brown rice (with or without quinoa) and add lime and cilantro to that as I did in my brown rice recipe here.
Really easy to make (honestly!), gluten-free, dairy-free, yum yum yum! The Chipotle Salmon sitting atop yummy cauliflower rice and finished with my Creamy Chipotle Dressing is the way to go.
About the ingredients
All of the ingredients I used are super easy to find, affordable, and approachable. They are also all healthy! Yes, even mayo and coconut cream are healthy in moderation and if you pick the right one.
For the Chipotle Salmon
- Salmon. I prefer salmon with the skin on, because I find it stays way juicier.
- Seasonings: salt-free taco or Mexican seasoning blend, Old Bay seafood seasoning, and chipotle chili powder. Note I specify salt-free taco seasoning or Mexican seasoning blend. If you can’t find salt-free, then opt for reduced sodium AND use reduced sodium Old Bay as well (regular Old Bay has quite a bit of salt). Regular taco seasoning is too salty.
For the Cauliflower Rice
- Avocado oil or extra virgin olive oil. I have been cooking with avocado oil more often these days since I can get it right in my Walmart grocery order. It has a nice, clean flavor I prefer with the cauliflower rice.
- Cauliflower rice. You can get a head of cauli and chop chop yourself. Or you can do what I do and just get big bags of cauliflower rice already chopped and store in the freezer to use at will.
- Juice of a lime. This is roughly a tablespoon. Just be sure to use fresh lime juice and not bottled.
- Fresh cilantro, but it cilantro isn’t your thing then substitute fresh flat-leaf parsley.
- Accompanying Veggies. This is were you can get creative and add veggies to your hearts content. I used cherry tomatoes because I love them and red cabbage for crunch. Steamed broccoli pairs as well. I recently saw air fryer zucchini and that sounds delicious too.
For the Creamy Chipotle Dressing
- Mayonnaise. I used Primal Kitchen mayonnaise, which is an avocado oil-based mayo. As a mayo for sandwiches and such, I don’t love it. I find it separates and just doesn’t have the flavor in a mayo that I love (like Duke’s, not gonna lie). That said, PK mayo works very well in this Chipotle Dressing, so I now get it just for this purpose since I’m currently putting this dressing on everything in my life.
- Coconut cream. You know when you open a can of coconut milk (without shaking it first) and the watery bit is separated from the firm fatty bit? Yeah, that fatty bit is the good stuff. That’s what we want. Or you can just used plain Greek yogurt.
- Fresh lime juice. Again, 1 lime yields about a tablespoon, so if you end up with one of those freakishly dry limes, use more to get enough juice.
- Apple cider vinegar. Note: apple cider vinegar. Not apple cider.
- Seasonings: garlic powder, chipotle chili powder, and onion powder.
How to prepare Chipotle Salmon for meal prep
Prepare the Chipotle Salmon
Making the salmon is the easiest part of this whole recipe. Just season the salmon and bake. See my FAQ section for tips to tell when the salmon is done.
Cook the cauliflower rice
This step only takes a couple minutes and is done while the salmon is in the oven. Just heat the oil in a large skillet, add the cauliflower rice, season, and give a sauté until the cauliflower rice is softened but not mushy. Then we just add the cilantro and lime juice and call it good.
Make the Creamy Chipotle Dressing
Just whisk these ingredients together ya’ll. Simple.
Put it together
Get out your snazzy meal prep containers, then split the cauliflower rice, salmon, Creamy Chipotle Dressing amongst them. On the side, add whatever other veggies you want. I used charry tomatoes and red cabbage.
FAQs
If you are totally put off by fish skin, then by all means have the fish monger (aka seafood counter guy) take it off for you. No big deal. I prefer to cook salmon with the skin on because I find I get much juicier, succulent salmon that isn’t overcooked.
You know why I never order salmon in a restaurant? Because restaurants a-l-w-a-y-s overcook salmon – either directly or under the warming lights. Salmon should be cooked to medium doneness, just like a burger – with the center of the salmon just a touch darker (less cooked) then the exterior. This is especially important for meal prep salmon, since we are going to reheat our Chipotle Salmon when we eat our yummy lunch.
So, to test for doneness, I take a fork and inset it into the meat, and give a very small, very gently little twist. If I feel significant resistance on the fork, then the salmon is not done yet. If the fork moves like butta, it’s done. It takes some practice to get this, but it is SO worth it to have soft, juicy, sultry salmon rather then dry, firm, overcooked salmon.
If you don’t like cilantro – leave it out and use parsley. Use flat-leaf parsley (aka Italian parsley) though and never ever ever curly parsley which is only ever a garnish.
I like to use meal prep containers that I get off Amazon. Recently, I switched to glass containers, so that I can heat up my lunches in the microwave and not worry about chemicals leaching into my food. Glass containers are more of a pain to store in my kitchen, but I’m willing to pay that price to deal with them. I have both single chamber and dual chamber 36oz containers. Just search “Meal prep glass containers” on Amazon and you will find a variety of options.
Want another easy low carb meal prep for lunch? Check out Chicken Pizzaiola over Spaghetti Squash.
Meal Prep Chipotle Salmon with Cauliflower Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Chipotle Salmon
- 20 oz salmon skin on, cut into 5 x 4oz portions
- ½ tsp salt-free taco or Mexican seasoning blend
- ½ tsp Old Bay seafood seasoning
- ⅛ tsp chipotle chili powder
For the Cauliflower Rice
- 1 Tbsp avocado oil or extra virgin olive oil
- 5 cups cauliflower rice thawed if frozen
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped see Notes
- Accompanying Veggies Suggestions: cherry tomatoes, shredded red cabbage, steamed broccoli
For the Creamy Chipotle Dressing
- ¼ cup mayonnaise see Notes
- 2 Tbsp coconut cream or plain Greek yogurt see Notes
- 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
- ½ Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp chipotle chili powder
- ¼ tsp onion powder
Instructions
Prepare the Chipotle Salmon
- Heat oven to 400°F.
- Lay the salmon, skin-side down, on a rimmed bake sheet. Lightly season with the taco seasoning, Old Bay, and chipotle chili powder.
- Bake salmon at 400°F for 15-20 minutes or just until light pink though and flakes with fork. Note that a touch underdone (i.e. darker pink in the center) is preferable to overcooking since fish will be reheated later.
Cook the cauliflower rice
- While the salmon is cooking, cook the cauliflower rice: Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cauliflower rice and season with a pinch of taco seasoning and Old Bay.
- Cook the rice, tossing in the olive oil, until softened and fragrant.
- Remove from the heat and add in the lime juice and cilantro. Set aside.
Make the Creamy Chipotle Dressing
- In a small bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the dressing.
Put it together
- Divide the cauliflower rice between 5 containers. Top with salmon and spoon Creamy Chipotle Dressing over. Add additional veggies on the side as desired.
- Store in the refrigerator until ready to eat. To reheat, loosen lid and microwave 30 seconds to 1 minute.
