Name: 5-Ingredient Keto Maple Salmon
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons sugar-free maple syrup (check the Tips for Variations section in the post for alternatives); 1 tablespoon gluten-free fermented soy sauce (tamari) OR coconut aminos; 1/2 teaspoon onion powder; 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder; 2 (preferably wild-caught) salmon medallions, about 1 lb (450 g)

Jump to Recipe

When you want to whip up quickly a super scrumptious supper, remember this easy 5-ingredient Keto Maple Salmon that is a cinch to make. A mouthwatering combination of sweet and salty flavors, this delicious whole-family dish pleases the palates of kids and adults alike.

How to make this Keto Maple Salmon

This dish is super simple and easy — yet super delicious! First, you’ll mix the sauce ingredients in a small cup, then spoon over the salmon, and bake. That’s it! It cannot get any easier, can it?

The most effortless way to prepare this dish is in the oven. Like that, you can do further dinner preparations while the fish is baking in the oven. Naturally, you can fry the fish in a skillet, but it needs more observing.

I prefer salmon medallions to this dish as they are so pretty, but you can use salmon filet instead. I also recommend wild-caught salmon, as industrially grown salmon contains quite questionable substances thanks to the weird stuff they are fed and the conditions they are farmed in.

So, let’s take a look at how to prepare this easy and delicious keto dish:

Take a small cup.

Add 2 tablespoons sugar-free maple syrup (check the Tips for Variations for alternatives).

Add also 1 tablespoon tamari (fermented gluten-free soy sauce) or coconut aminos…

…1/2 teaspoon onion powder…

…and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder.

Mix…

…until well combined.

Take 1 pound (450 g) preferably wild-caught salmon.

Place the salmon into a glass or ceramic baking dish.

Spoon over the sauce.

Here we go, ready to bake.

Bake at 350 °F (175 °C) for 20—30 minutes, or until you can flake the fish easily with a fork.

Remove from the oven.

Decorate with fresh herbs (like dill) and serve.

How I came up with this easy keto meal recipe

For some years, I’ve got an idea for Maple Salmon written in my list for keto recipe ideas. Most likely, I had seen a combination of maple syrup and salmon somewhere and wrote the idea down, planning to ketoize the recipe at some point. As my week was busy, I needed something extra simple. After taking a look at my idea list, I immediately knew this was the recipe I wanted to develop and post here on my blog this week.

I played with the idea of Keto Maple Salmon and thought choosing sugar-free maple syrup was the easiest way to go. I wanted to combine sweet and salty flavors in my recipe, and sugar-free maple syrup would work wonderfully, I thought.

For the salty part, I was naturally thinking of unrefined sea salt or Himalayan salt at first, but soon realized a liquid salty ingredient might work better as there are no problems in dissolving. Luckily, I had tamari in my pantry, so it sounded just like a perfect ingredient to provide the needed saltiness. I was also thinking of coconut aminos, but as they are a bit higher in carbs, I opted for the tamari. Actually, tamari is saltier than coconut aminos, and as there is also certain sweetness in coconut aminos, I didn’t want to add any more sweetness to my dish as the sugar-free maple syrup was already so sweet.

So, now I had salmon, sugar-free maple syrup, and tamari. There would still be room for two other ingredients. I thought crushed garlic would be a great addition, but I got lazy and decided to just grab garlic powder and not take the effort to crush any fresh garlic cloves.

For the fifth ingredient, I took onion powder. I think I have mentioned many times that onion powder is one of my all-time favorite seasonings as it’s a perfect natural flavor enhancer and so much easier to use than a regular onion with all that time-consuming chopping and a long cooking time.

Now, when I had my ingredients, it was time to calculate the amounts for the recipe. I chose 2 large salmon medallions that weighed about 1 lb (450 g) in total, 2 tablespoons sugar-free maple syrup, 1 tablespoon tamari, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder.

I combined all the sauce ingredients and poured over the salmon I had placed into a baking dish. Then, I baked the fish until it was just done, about 20 minutes.

Excitedly, I tasted the salmon. How unbelievably delicious it was! The combination of sweet and salty sauce with rich and fatty salmon was mouthwatering. The onion and garlic powders accompanied the sauce and amped up the flavor in an appetizing way. So simple — yet so delicious! I was super happy with the result, and I bet you are as well.

Here’s the recipe for you to enjoy:

5-Ingredient Keto Maple Salmon

Yield: 2-4

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

2 tablespoons sugar-free maple syrup (check the Tips for Variations section in the post for alternatives)
1 tablespoon gluten-free fermented soy sauce (tamari) OR coconut aminos
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 (preferably wild-caught) salmon medallions, about 1 lb (450 g)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
Mix the sugar-free maple syrup, tamari or coconut aminos, onion powder, and the garlic powder in a small bowl.
Place salmon in a glass or ceramic baking dish. Spoon over the maple syrup mixture.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20—30 minutes, or until you can flake the fish easily with a fork.
Remove from the oven and serve with a creamy side or green salad.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases - without any extra costs for you.

Nutrition information	In total	Per serving if 2 servings in total
Protein	85.3 g	42.7 g
Fat	61.0 g	30.5 g
Net carbs	2.3 g	1.2 g
kcal	893 kcal	447 kcal

Tips for variations

If you cannot find decent sugar-free maple syrup, there are several options to replace it. But first of all, what makes a decent sugar-free maple syrup? The answer is simple: it doesn’t contain anything artificial but only all-natural ingredients. It might be a bit difficult to find a decent one from brick-and-mortar stores, but you’ll definitely find good options from online stores. The syrup can contain natural sweeteners like erythritol, monk fruit, stevia, or allulose. There are also many brands with maltitol, but I encourage you to avoid them since maltitol might raise blood sugar and upset the stomach.

However, if you really don’t find any decent sugar-free maple syrup, you can make it yourself. I actually have a recipe in my Low Sugar, So Simple book. Another option is to use natural maple flavoring and regular (again decent one!) sugar-free syrup, or just maple flavoring.

If you don’t use any thick syrups but just maple flavoring, you can add a pinch of a keto-friendly thickener such as xanthan gum, glucomannan, or guar gum. So, mix the maple flavoring (go easy with it first and add more if needed!), tamari or coconut aminos, onion powder, and the garlic powder well together. Add a pinch (not more!) of the thickener of your choice while constantly whisking to prevent lumps. Set aside for an hour, or until the sauce has thickened. Use as directed. You can actually heat the sauce a bit to speed up the thickening process.

If you don’t find sugar-free maple syrup or decent natural maple flavoring, you can simply get some sweetness from a tiny pinch of stevia powder, or a few drops of liquid stevia. Oh yes, and there is all-natural maple-flavored stevia as well, so if you can get it, go for it!

Instead of garlic powder, you can use a clove or two crushed fresh garlic.

For more piquant taste and more heat, add some chili flakes or red pepper flakes to the sauce.

I prefer to serve my fish dishes with lemon wedges — especially fatty salmon cries for something sour and tangy. However, you can add a teaspoon of freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice to the sauce.

General prattling

You might remember that last week I was telling about the Wild Herb and Spinach Soup I was developing to be sold in the stores here in Finland. I was pretty happy with the result, so I let my Ketokamu colleagues taste it.

I also developed recipes for the October number of the Minä Olen magazine. If you remember, I’ve written several articles for that magazine and developed many recipes as well. One of the recipes was inspired by our Ketokamu Wild Herb and Spinach Soup.

And naturally, I’ve done my favorite hobby: baking. For example, I baked a keto version of a classic Finnish recipe Mocha Bars (“Mokkapalat” in Finnish).