The 4-Ingredient Dinner I Make At Least Once a Week

When I ask clients, friends, and family what type of recipes they like to make when time is tight, 90% of them say sheet pan meals. If you’ve made them, then you know why they’re a weeknight staple. Throwing everything on a sheet pan and letting your oven do all the work is as easy as it gets. 

Since you won’t need to be stationed at the stove, you’ve now got time to do other important stuff like mediating sibling arguments, taking out the trash, or, if you’re one of the lucky ones, pouring a glass of wine or sparkling water and relaxing. 

I’ve made many sheet pan meals over the years, but my sheet pan salmon with potatoes and pesto is the simplest and most delicious. You just need four ingredients (plus oil and salt and pepper), one sheet pan, and about 30 minutes to make it. That's why I make this at least once a week.

Sheet Pan for the Win

The great thing about sheet pan meals is that many don’t require much in the way of prep. Yes, you’ll have to trim some green beans and wash a few potatoes for this recipe, but that’s it. Skipping tasks like chopping multiple vegetables and simmering and sautéing different components shortens the time spent tending to your dinner. That’s pretty great.

A big bonus: The clean-up is a breeze. Since you don’t need much in the way of dishes and utensils, you won't end up with a sink full of things to clean once dinner has commenced. That’s a huge benefit for people like me who like to cook but don’t like cleaning up the aftermath.

Tips for Making This Sheet Pan Salmon

• Purchase center-cut fillets: Choose center-cut pieces of salmon to ensure the fillets cook at an even rate. The tail end of the fish is thin and will end up over-cooked if used in this recipe.
• Choose baby potatoes: Little baby potatoes are perfect for this recipe. They’re small size means you won’t have to cut them. A simple scrub underwater is all the prep you’ll need.
• Select your green beans: French green beans are long and slender and are a pretty and delicious choice for this recipe. If you can’t find them fresh, look for them in the freezer section of the grocery store. Other green beans can also be used in their place.

Customizing This Recipe

Besides requiring minimal prep and being easy to serve and clean up, the recipe can be doubled to feed a crowd and customized to accommodate anyone at the table. To double the recipe, use two sheet pans and position one rack in the middle of the oven and one towards the top. Halfway through cook time, rotate the pans so that everything cooks evenly. 

As for customization, you can easily swap pesto for other sauces or allow people to add their own toppings to the salmon. Try garlic butter with herbs, a swipe of hummus and a drizzle of olive oil, or a bit of Dijon mustard and dill. You can even stick with seasoning simply with salt and pepper then serve with lemon wedges.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. 

Line a large-rimmed sheet pan with parchment.

Start cooking the potatoes:

Toss the potatoes with 1 tablespoon of oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. 

Spread out onto the prepared sheet pan and roast for 15 minutes.

Prepare the green beans:

Meanwhile, toss the green beans with 1/4 teaspoon salt in the same bowl as the potatoes and set aside.

Add the remaining ingredients:

Once the potatoes have roasted for 15 minutes, add the green beans to the pan and toss with the potatoes. Push the vegetables to the sides of the sheet pan and add the salmon, skin-side down, to the center. Season the salmon with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Spread 2 tablespoons of the pesto on top of the fillets.

Roast:

Roast until the potatoes are beginning to brown and are fork-tender and the salmon flakes easily with a fork, 12 to 14 minutes. 

Mix the remaining oil and prepared pesto. Drizzle over everything before serving. Garnish with basil, if using, and serve with more pesto on the side.

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