I’m really excited to share this recipe with you because it’s sooooo good. So good that it made me talk to myself after the photo shoot and once it was safe to eat it kinda good. And so good that the only thing I kept saying out loud was “Good, good, good!” Talking to myself like some crazed food blogger. Well my cats were there but I don’t know if that counts.
I took the flavor profile from slow cooker balsamic roast. And before you think “Ugh, balsamic vinegar…wouldn’t that be too sour?”, I’m here to let you know that mixing it in equal portions with brown sugar really balances out that sourness and makes a heavenly sauce. But if you know this already, just ignore me and go ahead and start cooking!
There’s really not much technique going on here for this recipe. You just mix a bunch of stuff for the sauce and divide it into three portions. One for the marinade, one for the basting and one for the drizzle.
The sauce is basically a mix of brown sugar and balsamic vinegar with some garlic, soy sauce, red pepper flakes and a teeny bit of Worcestershire sauce. You don’t need any salt because the soy sauce takes care of that. Mix it all together until the brown sugar dissolves and do a taste test. Then adjust if needed.
Then we marinate the salmon for 15-30 minutes, not too long. The acidic ingredient in balsamic vinegar will start to cook the fish if left too long, so a short marinade is just fine. I read somewhere that fish is sensitive to marinades so unlike chicken or beef, you can’t do it overnight.
You can choose to crisp and caramelize the top of the salmon before baking it by searing it for 1-2 minutes Two tablespoons of oil is enough for this. Or you could go straight to baking. Cooking time depends on the thickness of the salmon. A good rule to go by is to cook for 10 minutes per inch of thickness which is measured from the salmon’s thickest point.
Baste the salmon halfway through the cooking time with the other 1/3 of the sauce. Get your sides ready and serve hot. Then we use the remaining 1/3 sauce for a drizzle. You could use the sauce as is, or do a reduction. Bring the sauce to a boil over medium high heat then reduce the heat to low and simmer until most of the vinegar has reduced. This will take some time and patience though! But you should get a nice, thick balsamic sauce which you can make fancy squiggles with.
And that’s all there is to it! If you’re crazy about salmon and just can’t get enough, try out my honey garlic salmon recipe!
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Balsamic Glazed Salmon
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 2 1x
Ingredients
- 1 lb. salmon fillet
Sauce:
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Combine the sauce ingredients and divide into three batches
- Marinate the salmon with 1/3 of the sauce for 15-30 minutes. Discard the marinade
- Arrange the salmon on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness, basting the salmon with 1/3 of the sauce halfway through
- Dish and serve hot drizzled with the remaining 1/3 of the sauce
Notes
For a slightly crisp and caramelized top, sear the top of the salmon over medium high heat for 1-2 minutes before baking.
12 Comments
Dorothy Dunton
May 9, 2015 at 1:25 PMHi Farah! This is such a gorgeous dish! I love balsamic reduction sauces. And, my husband just picked a bunch of nice, fat purple asparagus from our garden AND I happen to have salmon fillets in the freezer! Win, win!! 🙂
The Cooking Jar
May 9, 2015 at 3:29 PMI’m jealous! Purple asparagus are so pretty and I haven’t tried them yet. And you grow them! 🙂
FoodGeekGraze
May 30, 2015 at 3:45 AMthe addition of worcestershire to the balsamic and soy sauce glaze? kinda awesome 🙂
The Cooking Jar
June 1, 2015 at 2:43 PMWorcestershire sauce is one of my favorite things. I liberally douse my steaks in it. I add it to every beef base I can find and when I discovered the English dish called ‘Welsh Rarebit’, you know I went crazy dipping it in Worcestershire sauce!
FoodGeekGraze
June 2, 2015 at 2:41 AMpreach sister, preach!!! 🙂
Thalia @ butter and brioche
June 3, 2015 at 12:05 AMThe images seriously have me drooling here. I just love the acidic tang of balsamic.. so I can imagine this tastes divine!
Sara
December 20, 2017 at 4:08 PMHi,
I want to try this recipe. any suggestions for replacing the Worcestershire sauce?
Thanks
The Cooking Jar
January 29, 2018 at 5:46 PMYou could try A1 steak sauce as a substitution. Otherwise, try it leaving the Worcestershire sauce out.
Casey
January 2, 2018 at 5:24 PMDo you leave the skin on the salmon when baking?
The Cooking Jar
January 29, 2018 at 5:47 PMYes I do. Bake it with the skin side down and you’re good to go. Good luck!
Billy Coleman
June 12, 2019 at 8:09 PMThis recipe was amazing! The salmon absorbed the flavor of the marinade and tasted so good! Searing it was a great suggestion too.
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
July 8, 2019 at 3:02 PMI’m glad it worked out for you! I love the crunch from seared salmon.