• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Mediterranean Latin Love Affair
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Miscellaneous
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Mediterranean Food
  • Albanian Food
  • Latin Food
  • Bolivian Food
  • About
  • Follow Me:

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Recipes

    Baked Salmon and Onions Casserole

    Published: Feb 24, 2021 · Modified: Feb 25, 2021 by Sonila · This post may contain affiliate links · Leave a Comment

    • 21
    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe

    This Baked Salmon & Onions Casserole is an unusual Mediterranean casserole, but believe me when I say that everyone will be asking for seconds. It’s not an easy dish to cook but with few tips you can make this casserole like a pro. Plus, I added a short video to make it a little easier to explain:).

    This casserole is Mediterranean Diet friendly. My favorite quality is that it uses all fresh, not processed ingredients.

    A rectangle baking dish with salmon, onions and lemon. Dish is already baked.
    Baked Salmon and Onions Casserole

    Traditional Onions Casserole

    My home country of Albania has a rich culinary history. We bake onion casseroles in different regions of the country. However, the coastal areas tend to bake this dish with fish while the Northern regions make it with veal, beef or lamb. Each one is amazing on its own and hope to cook more versions of this dish to share with you all.

    Salmon is not the typical fish we use to cook this dish. Most typically if we are baking this onion casserole with fish, we use Carp fish (in Albanian we call this Krap) or Trout (trofta). In Albanian we would call this dish ‘Tave me qepe dhe salmon’!

    Cooking the Onions

    Onions are the key ingredient for this dish. First you need a lot of them, I used about 3 lbs onions. You might think that’s an insane amount 🙂 and yes maybe it is. But believe me you won’t regret it when you’re eating this dish!

    Onions need to be cooked thoroughly. It really makes or break the recipe!! I’m warning you that this dish requires patience:).

    When you’re cooking the onions, you just stir occasionally and let them sweat. It’s a slow process. It helps me to either keep a show running on TV or listen to music while I cook so I don’t rush. I tend to want to make this process faster and believe me, on this dish you need to slow down, not cut corners.

    Cook the onions until the volume has gone down to half. Then you can start adding ingredients as shown in the video. Then you let it cook some more:).

    • Cooking Onions
    • Volume Goes Down as Onions Cook

    Tips & Notes

    Here are some additional tips to help cook this onion casserole to perfection.

    • Marinate the salmon with olive oil, lemon and salt while you cook the onions. Place the container with salmon and marinate (covered in a plastic wrap) in the refrigerator for the duration of time it take to cook the onions.
    • When you are cutting the onions, chop them roughly. No need to be picky here. This is one of the steps where you can just go as fast as you can. Onions don’t need to be minced, just chopped in big slices.
    • I use a dutch oven to cook the onions, just a regular non stick pot would suffice.
    • Baking this dish takes about 45 minutes. Nestle the salmon into the onion mix before baking. This will help that the casserole cooks homogeneously and salmon doesn’t overcook.
    Ingredients for this salmon onion casserole. Onions, tomatoes, olive oil, lemon, bay leaves, oregano, salt and pepper.
    Ingredients

    How to Serve this Casserole?

    I usually serve this casserole with slices of bread and a simple salad. You don’t want complex flavors added in.

    Personally I enjoy this dish with a glass of either Chardonnay or Pinot Noir. Usually I don’t go for reds with salmon, but it really makes sense with this dish. Must be because of the onions.

    Baked dish with salmon and onions. Salmon is garnished with lemon.

    Baked Salmon & Onions Casserole

    This baked casserole with salmon and onions is a Mediterranean dish flavored with bay of leaves and oregano. It's the perfect Sunday meal for the whole family! Serve with salad and bread.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 15 mins
    Cook Time 1 hr 15 mins
    Baking Time 45 mins
    Total Time 2 hrs 15 mins
    Course Main Course
    Cuisine Albanian, Mediterranean
    Servings 4 servings
    Calories 531 kcal

    Equipment

    • 1 large pot
    • 1 baking tray
    • Wooden spoon

    Ingredients
      

    • 4 salmon fillets about 6 ounces each
    • 3 lbs onions (usually yellow large onions) ~ 1.4 kg
    • 3 tomatoes
    • 4 bay leaves
    • 1 lemon
    • 1 tbsp salt I prefer Mediterranean Sea Salt
    • 1 tbsp oregano
    • 1 tsp black pepper
    • 4 tbsps olive oil (divided)
    • 1 cup water

    Instructions
     

    • Peel the onions and place them in a big bowl with water. Puree the tomatoes using a food processor.
    • Cut lemon in half. Drizzle salmon with lemon juice (from half a lemon), 1 tbsp of olive oil and some salt. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator.
    • Chop the onions roughly, no mincing, they have to be big slices.
    • Add 3 tbsps of olive oil to a large pot in medium heat (I prefer a dutch oven 6 qt but if you don't have a dutch oven, a large pot is perfect too).
    • Add onions to the pot. Stir slowly to turn them from bottom to top occasionally. Slowly the onions will become translucent and release their own liquid. Continue stirring.
    • Onions' volume will be reduced in half at about half hour mark in the cooking process. Add salt, oregano, black pepper and bay leaves. Mix well and let cook some more. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon to ensure that the bottom doesn't get burned.
    • Once you see that the mix is getting dry and can start sticking to the bottom add the tomato puree and 1 cup of water. Mix well and cover the pot. Let cook for another half an hour or so.
    • Slice the left over half lemon.
    • Once the onion mix is cooked thoroughly and become a homogenous mass, then pour it into the baking tray. Add salmon pieces on top and push them down a little bit into the mix so they don't burn while baking. Garnish with lemon pieces on top of salmon.
    • Bake at 400 degrees F (~ 200 degrees C) for about 45 minutes. Salmon will be soft and tasty on the inside and have a crust on the outside. Serve with salad and bread! Enjoy:)

    Video

    Notes

    • Some onions take longer to cook. Cook them longer if needed to achieve the right taste. The onions have to be soft.

    Nutrition Label

    Nutrition Facts
    Baked Salmon & Onions Casserole
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 531 Calories from Fat 225
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 25g38%
    Saturated Fat 4g25%
    Cholesterol 94mg31%
    Sodium 1841mg80%
    Potassium 1609mg46%
    Carbohydrates 39g13%
    Fiber 8g33%
    Sugar 18g20%
    Protein 39g78%
    Vitamin A 879IU18%
    Vitamin C 52mg63%
    Calcium 141mg14%
    Iron 3mg17%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 531kcalCarbohydrates: 39gProtein: 39gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 94mgSodium: 1841mgPotassium: 1609mgFiber: 8gSugar: 18gVitamin A: 879IUVitamin C: 52mgCalcium: 141mgIron: 3mg
    Keyword baked salmon with onions, salmon casserole, tave me qepe
    Tried this recipe?Mention @mediterranean_latin_love or tag #mediterraneanlatinloveaffair!

    If you would like to save. this recipe for later, please save it in your boards in Pinterest. Feel free to tag me in social media with your version of this recipe:). Or ask questions in the comments below. I try to answer everyone same day!

    Instagram: mediterranean_latin_love or Twitter: MediterrLatin or Facebook: Mediterranean Latin Love Affair.

    An image prepared for Pinterest that shows the baked salmon onions casserole. On top there's a title bar and bottom the website link.
    Baked Salmon Onions Casserole

    More recipes?

    I have several more seafood recipes, feel free to check them out.

    • Baked Branzino
    • Salmon Salad Bowl
    • Shrimp Pasta
    • Smoked Salmon Crostini
    • 21

    Filed Under: Albanian, Main Dishes, Mediterranean Food, Recipes Tagged With: Casserole

    About Sonila

    Mom of 2, wife, engineer, food blogger & recipe creator! Sonila was born in Albania, her heritage inspires her Mediterranean recipes while that of her husband the Latin ones. Sonila has 2 degrees in Engineering from University of Miami.

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Sonila Zarate
    Sonila Zarate

    Mom of 2, wife, engineer, food blogger & recipe creator! Sonila was born in Albania, her heritage inspires her Mediterranean recipes while that of her husband the Latin ones. Sonila has 2 degrees in Engineering from University of Miami.

    More about me →

    Trending Recipes

    • Baked Chicken & Rice
    • Creamy Spinach and Mushrooms Chicken
    • Cast Iron Grilled Lamb Chops
    • Mediterranean Potato Salad

    Featured In

    As Seen In collage as of Fed 2021

    My Web Stories

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    Contact

    Privacy & Disclaimer Policies

    CCPA

    Do Not Sell My Information

    Weekly Newsletter!

    Please Sign Up for our weekly Newsletter for recipes and more:)

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.

    Copyright © 2022 MediterraneanLatinLoveAffair