Seafood
Maple Glazed Salmon Balls with Nectarine Salsa
Prep
20 minutes
Cook
30 minutes
Yield
4 bowls
These Maple Glazed Salmon Balls with Nectarine Salsa are Asian-inspired and bursting with flavor, protein, and a freshness from the salsa that you're going to love!
These Maple Glazed Salmon Balls with Nectarine Salsa are loaded with flavor and can be made for a quick weeknight dinner, or impressive meal at a dinner party in under an hour. This dish is Asian-inspired and so good for you. Loaded with protein, flavor, and a kick of freshness from the Nectarine Salsa.
❤️ Why You’ll Love Maple Glazed Salmon Balls
- Asian-Inspired: These delicious Salmon Balls are inspired by Asian flavors such as warming spices, combined with fish sauce. They are so yummy when paired with the sweetness from the Nectarine Salsa. You’re going to love them!
- Healthy: Salmon is so good for you, loaded with omega-3’s and is a lean protein source. This dish is good for you and tastes great.
- Fresh: The nectarine salsa gives this recipe the perfect hint of sweetness and freshness. You can also swap the nectarines to make it into a peach or mango salsa if you prefer.
🍲 Ingredients
Nectarines – Nectarines are a cousin of peaches and are known for their juicy sweetness, and vibrant flavor. They’re perfect for a snack, or you can toss them into salads, grill them into summery desserts, and bonus points for them being packed with vitamins A and C.
Salmon – Salmon is a flavorful fish packed with omega-3 fatty acids that are great for heart and brain health. It’s so easy to add into your diet because you can bake it, grill it, pan-sear it, add it into pasta or salads, roll it into meatballs, and the list goes on.
👩🍳 How to Make Maple Glazed Salmon Balls with Nectarine Salsa
- Cook the rice according to package instructions and set aside.
- Make the plum salsa by combining all salsa ingredients with ½ tsp salt in a bowl and mixing together. Taste and adjust seasoning with ½ tsp more salt if desired. Set aside.
- Make the salmon balls: Add green onion and garlic to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add grated ginger, ground turmeric, chili flakes, white miso paste, kosher salt and ground pepper and pulse again to combine.
- Add cubed salmon and pulse just a quick 6-8 times until the salmon is just broken down into pea-sized pieces. Don’t over pulse or it will become more like a paste.
- Add the salmon mixture to a medium bowl with the egg and breadcrumbs and gently mix together to combine. Scoop out 2 tbsp per salmon ball and use your hands to form into balls. Place on a plate and when all balls are made, place in the fridge for 10 minutes to set.
- While the salmon balls sit in the fridge, prepare the maple-miso sauce: In a small bowl whisk together the sesame oil, pressed garlic, white miso paste, tamari, grated ginger, lime juice, brown sugar and whisk. Taste and adjust with ground pepper if desired.
- After 10 minutes remove the salmon balls from the fridge. Add 2 tbsp olive oil to a frying pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot turn to medium heat and then add the salmon balls and sear for 2 minutes per side for about 4-6 minutes total.
- Add the maple-miso sauce to the pan and cook, spooning the sauce over the salmon, for about 4-5 minutes, until the sauce is just slightly thickened and the salmon balls are cooked through to your desired temperature. Remove from the heat.
- Before assembling the bowls, stir lime zest and cilantro into the rice.
- Assemble the bowls: Divide the cooked rice, cooked salmon balls and plum salsa between 4 bowls and enjoy.
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- Keep Salmon Cold: Chill salmon before chopping or pulsing. Cold salmon holds its shape better and helps form firm, non-mushy balls.
- Don’t Over-Pulse Fish: Stop when the pieces are about pea-sized, this keeps the texture light and tender instead of dense like a fish cake.
- Chill the Salmon Balls: That quick 10-minute fridge time helps them firm up and prevents them from falling apart while cooking.
🗒 Variations
If you like these Maple Glazed Salmon Balls with Nectarine Salsa, you’ll love these other salmon recipes:
- One-Pot Salmon Meatballs and Rice
- Summer Salmon & Pasta
- Sheet Pan Salmon Tacos
- Honey-Glazed Salmon Bowls
🗒 Best served with
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Store leftovers in the fridge, in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Keep the nectarina salsa separate so you can easily reheat and enjoy!
🤔 Common Questions
If you are having a hard time rolling your meatballs without them sticking to your hands, just simply wet your hands between rolling each ball and that should solve your problem!
You can swap the nectarines for peaches or mango in this recipe. You can also skip the salsa all together and use whatever sauce or veggies you want. Pickled veggies would be great with these Maple Glazed Salmon Balls too!
Yes! You can freeze cooked or raw salmon balls. Freeze them on a tray and then once frozen, add them to a bag for easy storage and to prevent them from sticking together. Thaw them in the fridge before frying or baking.
Maple Glazed Salmon Balls with Nectarine Salsa
Ingredients
For the rice
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
- ⅓ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
For the nectarine salsa
- 2 large firm-ripe nectarines or peaches, diced
- 1 garlic clove pressed
- 2-3 tbsp lime juice about 1-2 limes
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp fish oil
- ¼ cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/4 cup diced red onion
- ½ tsp kosher salt
For the salmon balls
- 450-500 grams 1 lb salmon filet, skin removed, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 3 x small garlic cloves
- 3 green onions minced
- 1 inch piece of fresh ginger grated
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- ¼ tsp chili flakes
- 1 tbsp white miso paste
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ¾ tsp ground pepper
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 x egg
For the miso-maple glaze
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 garlic cloves pressed
- 2 tbsp white miso paste
- 1 tbsp tamari
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp fresh grated ginger
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- optional: add ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook the rice according to package instructions and set aside.
- Make the plum salsa by combining all salsa ingredients with ½ tsp salt in a bowl and mixing together. Taste and adjust seasoning with ½ tsp more salt if desired. Set aside.
- Make the salmon balls: Add green onion and garlic to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add grated ginger, ground turmeric, chili flakes, white miso paste, kosher salt and ground pepper and pulse again to combine.
- Add cubed salmon and pulse just a quick 6-8 times until the salmon is just broken down into pea-sized pieces. Don’t over pulse or it will become more like a paste.
- Add the salmon mixture to a medium bowl with the egg and breadcrumbs and gently mix together to combine. Scoop out 2 tbsp per salmon ball and use your hands to form into balls. Place on a plate and when all balls are made, place in the fridge for 10 minutes to set.
- While the salmon balls sit in the fridge, prepare the maple-miso sauce: In a small bowl whisk together the sesame oil, pressed garlic, white miso paste, tamari, grated ginger, lime juice, brown sugar and whisk. Taste and adjust with ground pepper if desired.
- After 10 minutes remove the salmon balls from the fridge. Add 2 tbsp olive oil to a frying pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot turn to medium heat and then add the salmon balls and sear for 2 minutes per side for about 4-6 minutes total.
- Add the maple-miso sauce to the pan and cook, spooning the sauce over the salmon, for about 4-5 minutes, until the sauce is just slightly thickened and the salmon balls are cooked through to your desired temperature. Remove from the heat.
- Before assembling the bowls, stir lime zest and cilantro into the rice.
- Assemble the bowls: Divide the cooked rice, cooked salmon balls and plum salsa between 4 bowls and enjoy.
Notes
- You can swap the nectarines for peaches or mango in this recipe. You can also skip the salsa all together and use whatever sauce or veggies you want. Pickled veggies would be great with these Maple Glazed Salmon Balls too!
- If you love this recipe, try our Honey Glazed Salmon Bowls
- These bowls are great to meal prep for lunch too!
