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Honey Garlic Salmon Recipe
I love salmon and one of the best salmon recipes is Honey Garlic Salmon.
The delicious honey and garlic sauce makes this salmon recipe extremely juicy, moist and packed full of flavors.
This is one of the easiest salmon dishes to make at home. This salmon dinner takes only 15 minutes from start to finish.
Salmon
United States is a salmon powerhouse because nearly one-third of the world’s wild salmon supply comes from here.
As a result, there are many types of salmon available in the market.
To get the freshest and best salmon, here are my buying tips:
- Wild caught salmon. If you find wild salmon in your market, buy it. Wild salmon comes from the pristine waters of Pacific Northwest and Alaska and packed full of omega 3 fatty acids.
- Farmed salmon. If you are buying farmed salmon, choose those imported from Norway. Avoid the ones from China. Chinese farms use potentially carcinogenic (cancer-causing) chemicals to raise the fish.
- For the freshest fish, shop on the day when your grocery stores restock their fish.
- Wild salmon looks orange in color whereas farmed salmon is pale orange in color.
- Avoid salmon color that is bright orange or red. It means food dye has been added to the fish.
To learn more about the difference between wild caught vs farmed salmon, click here.
How to Cook Salmon?
How to cook salmon on the stove?
To make this Honey Garlic Salmon recipe, you will need the following ingredients:
- Salmon fillet.
- Minced garlic.
- Honey.
- Apple cider vinegar or lemon juice.
- Salt and pepper.
First, season the salmon fillets with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper.
Next, make the honey garlic sauce by mixing the ingredients together.
The final step is heating up a skillet or pan and cook the salmon with garlic and the sauce.
You can add an extra step of broiling the salmon fillets in the oven.
Broiling on high heat chars the surface of the fish, making this recipe extremely delicious and restaurant worthy.
Salmon Nutrition
Wild caught salmon is packed of nutrition. Here are the nutrition facts of raw, wild Atlantic Salmon, provided by USDA.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cooking Methods for Salmon Recipes
There are many ways to make this easy salmon recipe:
- You can cook the salmon in a skillet on the stove top, as shown in the recipe card.
- You can bake it in the oven at 400°F for 8 minutes, uncovered.
- You can also wrap the salmon with a sheet of aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
Can I Freeze Cooked Salmon?
I don’t recommend freezing cooked salmon because it will affect the texture of this salmon recipe. The flesh will become tough and rubbery after freezing.
You can certainly store cooked salmon in the refrigerator for a couple of days. Just wrap it tight with a sheet of plastic wrap.
To serve, just reheat the salmon in a microwave for 1 minute.
Do You Eat the Skin on Salmon?
When it comes to cooking salmon, one of the biggest questions is whether or not to cook with skin on or skin off.
Salmon skin is edible. Personally, I don’t eat salmon skin unless the salmon is deep-fried and the salmon skin becomes crispy.
For easy cooking, there is no need to remove the skin. Cook the salmon as is, with skin on, then discard the skin if you don’t want to eat it.
Just make sure that the skin is completely cleaned with no scales.
How Many Calories per Serving?
This salmon recipe is only 327 calories per serving.
What to Serve with This Salmon Recipe?
Salmon is best served with healthy side dishes. For a healthy meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Honey Garlic Salmon (The Best Recipe!)
Ingredients
- 12 oz. salmon (cut into 2-3 fillet strips)
- salt
- black pepper
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon warm water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1/2 lemon (sliced into wedges)
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Instructions
- Season the surface of the salmon with salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Set aside.
- Mix the honey, water, apple cider vinegar or lemon juice and a pinch of salt together. Stir to combine well.
- Heat up an oven-safe skillet (cast-iron skillet preferred) on high heat. Add the olive oil. Pan-fry the salmon, skin side down first, for about 1 minute. Turn the salmon over and cook for 1 minute. Turn it over again so the skin side is at the bottom.
- Add the garlic into the pan, saute until slightly browned. Add the honey mixture and lemon wedges into the skillet, reduce the sauce until it's sticky.
- Finish it off by broiling the salmon in the oven for 1 minute or until the surface becomes slightly charred (optional step).
- Top the salmon with parsley and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
I’m speechless.this was the first time i made salmon at home and it’s amazing.my parent love it.can’t wait to try again
Thanks!
Delish will definitely make again.
Thanks, Anna.
I’m a Chef, I’m also originally from Alaska so I’ve cooked and eaten more salmon than I could count.
This is by far the best salmon I’ve ever cooked, and ever eaten. Thank you for sharing this recipe
Awww, Chef Jaci, you have just made my day, coming from a chef and someone from Alaska! Thank you! :)
This was so good , even my farts smelled sweet that night!!
Thanks Petho.
This recipe was so easy. The results are delicious! My family loved it. We will definitely have this again. Thanks for a great recipe.
Awesome, thanks for trying!
I too had skinless salmon (only by chance as I do love the skin!). After the first bite I knew I’d be making this again! I will try to remember to add the water mix when I flip so it starts to reduce while finish cooking so as not to overcook it next time.
Awesome thanks for trying!
I love salmon. This recipe is tremendous and easy. The only problem is no one else in my family likes salmon. More for me but I can’t eat it all at once. I wonder if I can freeze leftovers and how can I reheat?
Yes you can freeze and then reheat.
Could I grill this?
Yes you can.
This recipe is amazing and so delicious!! I doubled the sauce and still wanted more so next time -there will definitely BE a next time- I will make 4X the sauce. It cooks up so quickly although I didn’t cook it on HIGH as the recipe says because my fillets were skinless. I took the fish out then thickened the sauce then put it back in the pan to get smothered in this delicious sauce!! This is company-worthy!
Awesome!
Should I spoon the reduction on top of the salmon, or is it meant to just be cooked sitting next to the reduction?
You can spoon over if you like. It doesn’t matter.
We just tried this tonight & our whole family loved it!! (That includes a 5 & 8 year old!) Thanks so much for sharing!