5-Ingredient Honey Garlic Glazed Salmon
Five ingredients and 20 minutes are all you need to make incredibly tender, flaky salmon fillets coated in a super-flavorful, sweet-and-savory sauce.
Serves4
Prep10 minutes
Cook10 minutes to 12 minutes
If you ever thought salmon was too fussy or takes too much time to cook on a weeknight, this honey garlic salmon proves otherwise. This saucy stovetop dinner is the ultimate weeknight win. With just five ingredients and 20 minutes on the clock from start to finish, you’ll have the most incredibly tender, flaky salmon and a super-flavorful, sweet-and-savory sauce to boot. It doesn’t get any better than this.
Ingredients in Honey Garlic Salmon
- Skin-on salmon fillets. You can use fresh or frozen fillets. If starting with frozen, just make sure to fully thaw first.
- Honey. Now’s a great time to break out that good jar of honey you’ve been saving. Because it’s the main ingredient in the sauce, the flavor shines through. It’s fun to change up the sauce a little bit by trying different types of honey. And if spicy is your jam, definitely try hot honey here.
- Lemon juice. Just a tablespoon of lemon juice adds a touch of acidity to balance the sweetness of the sauce.
- Soy sauce or tamari. A couple of spoonfuls of salty, savory soy sauce (or tamari if you prefer to keep it gluten-free) also work to keep the sweetness in check.
- Garlic. To really pull in a mellow yet full garlic flavor, you’ll add the minced cloves to the hot skillet to cook very briefly before pouring in the sauce.
How to Make Honey Garlic Salmon
- Stir together sauce. Whisk together this simple sauce with honey, lemon juice, soy sauce (or tamari), and salt until the honey is dissolved.
- Sear the salmon. Once the oil-slicked pan is hot, add the salmon skin-side up and cook until the bottom is golden-brown, then flip and cook about 2 minutes more.
- Add garlic. Cooking the garlic until it’s fragrant (but without getting any color) will really bring out the flavor.
- Pour in sauce and finish. This is when the real magic happens. The salmon finishes cooking while it simmers in a pool of sauce. The heat from the stovetop also thickens the sauce. It’s a good idea to baste the fillets with sauce in these final few minutes of cooking — they’ll get a nice glossy sheen and pick up some extra flavor.
What to Serve with Honey Garlic Salmon
There are so many different sides that work with this weeknight salmon dish. I personally love quicking-cooking stovetop, air fryer, or microwave sides (basically something that doesn’t require turning the oven on) that can be ready in about the same amount of time it takes the salmon to cook.
- Rice, quinoa, couscous, roasted potatoes, or even crusty bread are always great ideas so you have something to mop all the sticky sauce.
- Steamed asparagus, air fryer asparagus, garlic green beans, easy Broccolini, and sautéed spinach pair well with honey garlic salmon.
Honey Garlic Salmon Recipe
Five ingredients and 20 minutes are all you need to make incredibly tender, flaky salmon fillets coated in a super-flavorful, sweet-and-savory sauce.
Prep time 10 minutes
Cook time 10 minutes to 12 minutes
Serves 4
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
- 4
(6-ounce) skin-on salmon fillets
- 1 1/4 teaspoons
kosher salt, divided
- 1/2
medium lemon
- 1/4 cup
honey
- 2 tablespoons
soy sauce or tamari
- 4 cloves
garlic
- 1 tablespoon
olive oil
Thinly sliced scallions, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
Pat 4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets dry with paper towels. Season the flesh with 3/4 teaspoon of the kosher salt.
Juice 1/2 medium lemon until you have 1 tablespoon and place in a small bowl. Add 1/4 cup honey, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Whisk until the honey is dissolved.
Mince 4 garlic cloves.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Place the salmon skin-side up the skillet, then press down on them with a flat spatula so that there’s a lot of contact with the pan and it browns evenly. Cook without moving, gently pressing down on fish every so often, until the bottom is golden-brown, about 5 minutes.
Flip the salmon and cook for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant but not browned, about 15 seconds. Pour the sauce over the salmon. Cook, spooning some of the sauce over salmon as it cooks, until the sauce is thickened and reduced by about half, and the salmon is just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. An instant-read thermometer into the center of the thickest fillet should register 120°F to 130°F for medium-rare, or 135°F to 145°F for more well-done. Garnish with thinly sliced scallions if desired.
Recipe Notes
Storage: Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2 days.