Lemon Butter Salmon Rice Muffins

These savory Salmon Rice Muffins with a lemon butter sauce are a healthy and delicious dinner recipe the whole family will enjoy. Use up your leftover salmon and rice and toss it with some feta cheese and herbs for an easy dinner in under 30 minutes that is also great for meal prep!

Buttery Salmon and Rice Cups

Fresh or canned salmon is combined with rice and topped with a savory lemon butter herb sauce for a bright and flavorful dinner that the whole family will devour! While the lemon butter sauce makes the dish, it is a small amount of butter, that results in a healthy and wholesome meal you will feel good about.

The combination of fish and rice combined into a muffin might not sound like your go-to dinner idea, but I promise you it is surprisingly delicious! We grew up loving these Tuna Rice Muffins my Mom made often and even as kids we enjoyed them. The proof is in the pudding. Check out the comments on those fish and rice muffins that have been shared tens of thousands of times with rave reviews.

• Tuna Rice Muffins

Leftover Salmon Recipe

If you made some delicious salmon fillets in your Air Fryer, oven or on the grill, but you have leftovers, these Salmon Rice Muffins are a fantastic recipe. Remove the skin from the salmon and flake the fish in a bowl.

Another favorite of ours when we have leftover salmon and rice are these Teriyaki Leftover Salmon Rice Lettuce Cups. You could have a fantastic week of meals by making salmon and rice for dinner one night and these two fantastic leftover recipes throughout the week for quick and easy weeknight meals.

• salmon fillets in your Air Fryer
• Teriyaki Leftover Salmon Rice Lettuce Cups

Canned Salmon Recipe

If you don’t have any leftover salmon on hand and still want to make this delicious recipe, then canned or pouch salmon is a fantastic option. It is often our go-to when making this recipe. You could also swap out the salmon for canned tuna or chicken.

How to Make Salmon Rice Cups

To the flaked salmon, add cooked and cooled rice, eggs, feta, dill, parsley, onion flakes, milk and seasoning salt. Mix it up and scoop 1/2 cup into 6 muffin tins. Bake at 375° for 16-18 minutes. Finish them off by broiling them or a couple minutes to caramelize the tops of the muffins.

Lemon Butter Sauce

While the salmon muffins are baking, combine melted butter, fresh lemon juice, seasoning salt and dried parsley in a small bowl. Serve the lemon butter over the salmon rice muffins. This part of the recipe is an absolute must. This really makes the dish and adds a fantastic pop of flavor. My mother actually likes to double the lemon butter sauce because it’s just that good!

Substitutions

Here are a few substitutions you can make if you want to customize this recipe to your own liking

Feta Cheese – Swap out any shredded cheese that you prefer for the feta. Gouda is a great option. If you prefer, you can just leave out the cheese altogether, but just be sure to add in a little extra salt to balance the flavor.

Rice – This recipe calls for white rice, but we often swap it out for brown rice for a healthier option. It adds a little bit more of a bite and tastes great.

Milk – While the recipe only calls for 2 Tablespoons of milk, it is necessary to keep the moisture just right. You can easily swap it for a milk alternative or broth if you don’t want to use cow’s milk.

Salmon Rice Casserole Cups

These easy Salmon Rice Muffins are basically little salmon casseroles made in muffin tins. You can make this recipe in a 1.5 quart casserole pan, but I prefer muffin tins because you get more of the caramelized outside with each bit. My mother prefers the casserole version because it means not cleaning muffin tins. LOL It’s totally a personal preference and you can try them either way.

Easy Meal Prep Recipe

One of my favorite parts of these Salmon Rice muffins is that they are a fantastic meal prep recipe. Store them in a microwave safe container in the refrigerator and reheat for 1-2 minutes. These bite sized casseroles reheat wonderfully well in the microwave and truly taste just as delicious reheated as they do fresh from the oven.

Notes

*Shredded gouda or cheddar are great alternatives to feta. You can also omit the cheese if that is your preference, but double the seasoned salt if you do. **Leftover flaked salmon or canned salmon both work well. Instead of making these into muffins, you can add all of the salmon mixture to a greased 1.5 quart casserole dish and bake for 30-40 minutes. Double the lemon butter sauce if you want them extra buttery!

Serving: 1 g | Calories: 220 kcal | Carbohydrates: 17 g | Protein: 11 g | Fat: 12 g | Saturated Fat: 6 g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5 g | Cholesterol: 101 mg | Sodium: 432 mg | Sugar: 1 g