You'll love the warming flavours of ras el hanout in this Moroccan spiced salmon recipe with couscous flavoured with onions, tomatoes and mint. It's perfect for a spicy midweek meal!

What is Hello Fresh?

Hello Fresh is a weekly recipe box subscription service. All the ingredients plus clear step by step instructions are then delivered in the exact quantities you need. This makes the recipes easy to prepare and is great for home cooks who also want to experiment a bit.

This Moroccan Spiced salmon is one of the recipes on the Hello Fresh site and trust me, it is definitely one to try. There are lots more easy recipes too making it a great resource for easy midweek meal ideas.

Moroccan spiced salmon with ras el hanout on top of couscous

How does the salmon get its North African flavour?

The salmon gets its delicious spiciness from a coating of olive oil and ras el hanout. If you haven't tried ras el hanout I would definitely recommend you get some. It's a beautiful blend of North African spices including rose petals which make it both warming and aromatic.

How do you prepare the Moroccan salmon?

The salmon is so easy to prepare. Just put it in a bowl with ras el hanout and olive oil. Rub the ras el hanout in to the salmon and it's ready to cook. If you have time then leave the flavours to marinate but you can cook it straightaway.

How do you cook the Moroccan Salmon?

Put a little oil in a frying pan. When the oil is hot then add the salmon skin side down. Leave it for 4 minutes. This will really help the skin to crisp up.

Then put the frying pan under the grill (broiler) for about 4 minutes so it cooks through.

salmon in a frying pan coated in ras el hanout spice blend

What to serve with the spiced salmon

The salmon is served with a delicious minty couscous with tomatoes and onions. It makes a great side dish and can be served with lots of other grilled meats too such as these Spanish chicken skewers.

To make the couscous, cook the onions gently for about 20 minutes in a little oil until they are very soft.

Take the pan off the heat and add the couscous and stock. Put the lid on and leave for 5 minutes.

The couscous will absorb the stock. Dice the tomatoes and mint leaves and stir them into the couscous along with some lemon zest.

couscous in a pan with tomatoes, mint and lemon zest

Can you serve it hot or cold?

This meal is great served hot. However, I had leftovers and it was amazing cold too. Salmon is a great fish for a buffet and can handle strong spicy flavours. I can imagine that coating a side of salmon in the ras el hanout and olive oil would be a fantastic for a cold buffet.

The fact it tastes great cold too means that if you have leftovers you can eat them as they are for lunch the next day. You could even make enough for 2 meals just so you can have such great leftovers to look forward to!

Can you reheat this Moroccan spiced salmon?

If you don't want to eat cold leftovers then of course you can reheat it. I prefer to reheat it in the microwave. However, you could put it in a preheated oven for 5 minutes at 200C. Just be aware that fish can go a little bit dry when it is reheated.

Did the children like it?

My 7 year old daughter loved this salmon. She does like spicy foods so it wasn't a surprise. Master Spice is not so keen on salmon but did try about 3 small pieces just to be sure!

Can you adapt this Moroccan Spiced salmon recipe?

This is a really easy recipe but you could vary it a little bit. Why not add a few more vegetables to the couscous? You could gently fry some diced peppers with the onions. Why not add a bit of parsley as well as the mint? If you have olives then you could stir them in as well.

If you are not a big fan of salmon but love North African flavours then why not try it with a white fish? I'm sure Moroccan spiced cod would be great! Alternatively, I know it would be great with chicken!

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