Salmon Soup

My Smoked Salmon Chowder recipe is one of my very favorites, but what do you do if you don’t have any smoked salmon but lots of regular salmon? You research recipes and find Salmon Soup!

I researched a few recipe ideas for inspiration and landed on a very simple soup, pretty similar to a chowder but without the bacon and a little less cream. The research was fun though, I found one idea for making your own fish broth, throw the whole fish carcass in with fresh herbs and simmer for hours, what a cool idea, but I wasn’t up for that 😆. I used my homemade vegetable stock (thank you Instant Pot!), added some vegetables and herbs, and found my stock to be quite nice!

INGREDIENTS -

1 1/2 pounds salmon fillet
4 cups vegetable stock
2 carrots, chopped, about 2 cups
1 cup onion, diced
3/4 cup parsley, chopped (reserve a little for garnish)
1/2 cup dill, chopped (reserve a little for garnish)
2 bay leaves
1 Tbsp avocado oil
2 Tbsp butter
3-4 cups potatoes, diced
3/4 cup milk, oat milk, or almond milk
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Add one tablespoon of butter and 1/2 tablespoon of avocado oil to a heavy pot or dutch oven. Bring to medium heat, then stir in the onion and carrot. Reduce heat to medium low and continuing stirring and cooking the vegetables until the onions are translucent and the carrots are soft.

Add the vegetable broth, parsley, dill, and bay leaves, reserving a little parsley and dill for garnish. Do a taste test for salt and pepper, my homemade broth always needs more salt, but if you are using store bought broth it may have plenty already. Add in the potatoes and then let this simmer for 20-30 minutes.

While the stock is simmering, prepare a frying pan for the salmon by adding a tablespoon of butter and 1/2 tablespoon of avocado oil to the pan. Bring to medium high heat. Generously season the salmon with salt and pepper, and/or any other of your favorite seasonings.

Place the salmon, meat side down in the fry pan and allow it to cook for about 5 minutes. Watch the color change on the side and when it is not quite halfway, flip the salmon to the skin side down, cook for about another 5 minutes or until the color change is almost halfway again.

Remove salmon from the heat and allow it to rest for a few minutes. Then remove meat from the skin and bones and tear into bite size pieces.

Turn the stock to low and add the salmon to the soup base. Gently stir in the 3/4 cup milk, I use oat milk, this adds just a touch of creaminess to the texture.

Place in your favorite bowl, sprinkle the top with some parsley and dill, and enjoy!