Last Updated on January 4, 2026
Skip straight to my recipe for Baked Salmon with Za'atar and Spring Greens
If necessity is the mother of invention, then this easy, frugal, and very quick dinner springs from the need to put a meal on the table in very little time indeed. A cold night, a bare, post-festive fridge requiring a sortie to the supermarket at 7.30 pm. Hungry mouths at home await the return of the mother bird with shopping bags for worms. A quick reconnoitre down the fish aisle – having rejected ready spiced spatchcocked poussins due to a suggested cooking time of 40 minutes. Wild keta salmon on special at three packs for £10. A bag of spring greens reduced from 90p to 39p. Who could refuse? A bag of wholemeal couscous. That should balance out the meal.
Home now, oven on, sprinkle the salmon fillets with za’atar – my quick go-to salmon seasoning – and into the oven for 20 minutes at 200C. Kettle on to boil water for the couscous. As the water heats up, I open the food cupboard and a bag of egg noodles catches my eye. Boiling water is diverted to a pot followed by a yellow tangle of noodles. While they bubble away, I wash and roughly chop the spring greens. I have no time for mincing garlic and ginger – although that would have been a great addition – and pop the greens in a pan with a few glugs of olive oil. Root around the fridge for mirin and soy sauce and a few drops of toasted sesame oil. Now the meal has taken off in a Far Eastern direction while the za’atar is more Middle Eastern. No harm. In the fridge I find a half-eaten jar of butter beans. Now I peel a garlic clove which I crush and add to a smidgen of olive oil, warmed gently, then add the meaty butter beans. Smelling good.
Greens wilted to a vibrant grassy hue, the sesame oil wafting about. Noodles lifted with tongs straight from the boiling water to the large pan with greens, topped with salmon, flaked into bite-sized chunks, and topped with garlicky butter beans.
Dinner is served 20 minutes after I walked in the door. Baked salmon with za’atar and spring greens is delicious, healthy, cheap, colourful, and nutritious. I might just make it again.
Baked za'atar salmon with egg noodles and spring greens
Ingredients
- 4 fillets salmon
- 2 tsp za'atar
- 1 packet medium egg noodles or 4 skeins
- 3 bunches spring greens
- 1 tin butter beans
- 1 large clove garlic
- olive oil
- 2 tsp soy sauce or as desired to your taste
- 1 tsp mirin
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
Instructions
- Heat oven to 200 C
- Place salmon fillets in a baking dish and sprinkle with za'atar.
- Place salmon in hot oven for 20 minutes
- Cook egg noodles as per packet instructions
- Chop spring greens into bite sized chunks and wilt in large, lidded saucepan with a tablespoon of olive oil. Place lid on pan so the greens steam and wilt. Now add the mirin, soy sauce and toasted sesame oil to taste.
- In a small pan, gently heat a tablespoon of olive oil with a crushed clove of garlic. Add the butter beans and heat through.
- When the salmon is cooked you can assemble the dish. Drain the noodles and place them on top of the wilted greens in the saucepan. Add another teaspoon of soy sauce. Now add the salmon fillets flaked into bite sized pieces. Top with the garlicky butter beans for the perfect baked za'atar salmon
Nutrition
This recipe for baked salmon with za’atar is one to experiment with. Use the basic idea of salmon liberally seasoned with za’atar and see what you can do!
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This looks delicious!