Salmon Goujons – Low Calorie Tasty Mouthful.

Last Updated on March 9, 2024

Salmon Goujons for the 5:2 Diet  – Low Calorie and Full-Fat options!

Do you remember that poem about Jack Sprat and his wife? This recipe reminds me a little of that – a dish that will work if you happen to be on a low-calorie diet or even doing a 5:2 diet fast day like me, but that will also be tasty enough for the non-dieters in your household.  I live alone and I do sympathise with those who need to produce hearty meals for partners and children while they eat diet food.  I suspect for many the temptation is to buy a calorie counted ready meal.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that – but personally I’d yearn for ‘proper’ home cooked food.  I find it easier when I am on a 5:2 diet fast day to actually cook all the food I am eating from scratch – it keeps my mind occupied with how to make the most of my calories and also means I know that I am eating a balanced, healthy diet, even if the calorie count is very low.

I have to admit, I probably wouldn’t normally turn to salmon or mayonnaise on a fast day.  While white fish is generally low in calories (cod has about 90 calories for a small portion), Salmon is an oily fish – 160 calories for the same amount.  I wouldn’t classify it as high calorie but, with just 500 calories to use up on a 5:2 diet day I tend to look for the lowest possible calorie options.  And, mayonnaise is rich, creamy and definitely not a normal diet ingredient.  I’ve been testing a jar of Heinz Seriously Good and it would be easy to completely blow my diet attempts.  But, what happens when you have fresh salmon in the fridge which has been sent to you from DelishFish in Scotland?  what happens when you are cooking for a friend who isn’t dieting?  With a jar of good mayonnaise on hand, it’s very easy to ring the changes.  I served my Salmon Goujons with three different mayonnaise based dips – a reduced calorie lime and yoghurt dip for me, a simple dijonnaise and, because the mayonnaise was really very good, a tasty mouthful of unadulterated stuff from the jar for my friend to use to dip her goujons or to spoon over…

Actually, my favourite of the three was the lime and yoghurt version.  And, the good news is that by using zero fat yoghurt (12.5 calories for 2 teaspoons) with the mayonnaise (64 calories for 2 teaspoons), the end result actually gives a single portion of dip for under 40 calories.  That’s worth making an allowance for in my book.

Even the ‘full fat’ version of the dish isn’t too bad though – oven baking the goujons and using a low-calorie oil spray really helps a lot.  I’ve calculated the calories based on eating half of all the dips – you’ll save 50 calories if you stick to the lime and yoghurt version.  but you might think that just a spoonful of mayonnaise is worth it for that tasty mouthful.  If you substitute cod, monkfish or halibut for the salmon you can easily save another 50 calories.  Enough to indulge in some spicy sweet potato oven fries perhaps?  Whatever way you choose to cook these goujons they make the base for a perfect meal for two.

Print

Simple Salmon Goujons with Mayo three ways.

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

15 mins

Total Time

25 mins

 

easy lunch recipe

Course: Lunch

Cuisine: British

Servings: 2

Author: Fiona Maclean

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons Flour
• 1 Lime (you could make this with lemon if you preferred)
• 6 teaspoons Mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon Mustard
• 2 teaspoons Zero Fat Yoghurt
• 1 clove Garlic
• 250 g Salmon Fillet
• 30 g Dried Breadcrumbs
• 1 Egg White
• 1 clove Garlic
• 10 shots 1 cal olive oil spray

Instructions

1. Cut the salmon into 1cm fingers removing any skin
2. Zest the lime and mix half of the zest with the flour. Season the flour with salt and pepper
3. Dip each salmon finger into flour and coat well. Then dip quickly into the egg white. Finally, dip into the breadcrumbs, pressing down gently on the coating to help it fix
4. Spray a baking tin with 1 cal oil spray and lay the goujons out neatly. Spray lightly with more cooking oil
5. Bake in a hot oven at 185c for 15 - 20 minutes, turning once to help brown the goujons on all sides.
6. Meanwhile, make the dips. Crush a clove of garlic with a little salt Stir through 1 teaspoon of lime juice, 2 teaspoons of mayonnaise and 2 teaspoons of zero fat greek yoghurt.
7. Mix together 2 teaspoons of mustard with 2 teaspoons of mayonnaise for a dijonnaise. You can adjust the quantity of mustard to suit your own taste
8. Leave the final mayonnaise just as it is.
9. Serve the goujons on a bed of salad leaves with the dips on the side. For those doing the 5:2 diet, the lime and yoghurt mayonnaise is a low calorie option which is utterly delicious. Those not on a diet can indulge in dijonnaise or normal mayonnaise!

I’ve done a calorie analysis for the whole dish rather than for the low-calorie version.  If you choose to simply make up the lime, mayonnaise and yoghurt dip, the recipe comes in at just under 300 calories.

Thinking of making this dish?  It’s delicious and definitely worth a try

Why not pin it for later