Quick and easy honey garlic salmon baked and ready in under 30 minutes. With a sweet and savory marinade and sauce of garlic, ginger, honey and soy sauce.
Lately I’ve been getting lots of honest comments from people who want to cook my stuff and have general questions or people who have cooked my stuff and came back to leave reviews. These comments make my day. It tells me there are actually people out there that trust me enough to spend money on ingredients and time in the kitchen. So keep them coming! I love it! I’ll be honest and let you all know if I don’t have the answer to things and do my best to make cooking and eating at home fun.
That being said, with the recent popularity of crispy honey garlic chicken and me being totally knocked off-guard by the deceptively humble sauce that just rocks that recipe, I’ve decided to make a baked salmon version. It’s simple, it has FIVE ingredients and it’s tasty.
So my old recipes with salmon used measurements based on salmon fillets. ‘2 salmon fillets’ etc. And while that sounds simple, I was basing this off individually sealed frozen salmon fillets. It wasn’t till we renewed our Sam’s Club membership and I saw fresh gigantic slabs of salmon that I had the sinking realization that not everyone buys salmon the budget way like I do. Size does matter in this case. Ooops! I need to go back and fix those recipes. In the meantime, this salmon recipe will actually have weight measurements so the sauce is proportionate.
If you’re talented at eyeballing the weight of salmon, then great! If not, maybe a kitchen scale will help. I got mine awhile back around the one year timeline since starting a blog. About the time I realized “Oh hey, maybe I need to measure stuff”. Growing pains.
Back to the salmon, here’s how it’s done. Marinate it, bake it and then serve drizzled with the sauce. It’s that easy. Yum.
I did sear the top of the salmon over medium high heat for 1-2 minutes to caramelize it a little before baking. This step is purely optional though. Also, if you want more sauce but want it thicker without reduction, you can add 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water. Use it once the sauce has come to a boil and stir to mix until the whiteness of the cornstarch disappears into the sauce. This is when you know the cornstarch has worked and the sauce is as thick as it can get.
Baking time will vary depending on how thick your fillet is. The standard rule of thumb is to cook for 10 minutes per inch of thickness which is measured from the salmon’s thickest point. That’s about it! What you’ll get is savory and sweet moist, flaky salmon. Not too shabby for dinner!
More Honey Garlic Recipes
Honey Garlic Salmon
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 2 1x
Description
Quick and easy honey garlic salmon baked and ready in under 30 minutes. With a sweet and savory marinade and sauce of garlic, ginger, honey and soy sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. salmon fillet
Sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger, minced
- 4 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
Instructions
- Combine the sauce ingredients and marinate the salmon in the sauce for 15-30 minutes
- Arrange salmon on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes depending on thickness, basting the salmon with the leftover marinade halfway through
- Over medium high heat, bring the leftover marinade sauce to a boil and simmer for 3-5 minutes until reduced *
- Dish and serve the salmon hot drizzled with reduced 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.
*If you are uncomfortable reducing the marinade to use as a drizzle, you can divide the sauce into half; half for marinade/basting and half to reduce for a drizzle. If you want even more sauce, double the sauce ingredients before diving it into half.
130 Comments
Molly
September 20, 2015 at 10:11 PMso delicious! just made this tonight for myself, fiancé, and my 5 year old son. we all loved it! I served the salmon and sauce over a bed of brown rice, and sautéed asparagus w/ parmesan on the side. I just wish I would have tripled the salmon recipe instead of doubled – I want more! thank you! just stumbled upon your site though google searching, you have gained a faithful follower! I’m excited to browse the rest of your site 🙂
The Cooking Jar
September 23, 2015 at 1:19 PMThanks, Molly! All those sides sound amazing paired with salmon. Salmon and asparagus are such good food partners. Adding Parmesan to it makes it even more delicious! I wonder why I never thought of that. Ooh and paired with some lemon rind would be great! Have fun trying out the other recipes and I hope they work out for you 🙂
Addie
September 23, 2015 at 10:50 PMI made this tonight and it was delicious!!! I think I reduced the sauce a little too much, but it was good regardless! And everyone ate it! My 3 boys loved it! The youngest (3 years) loved it so much, he tried to eat the salmon on his brothers plate! Lol! I paired it with some rice, and a simple spinach walnut Apple salad. Delicious! I will be making it again for sure 🙂 and only 5 ingredients, so easy! Thank you!
The Cooking Jar
September 24, 2015 at 12:35 PMIt’s always a success when people start stealing food! That’s when you start beaming with pride over your dining table. 😀 The salad sounds wonderful, I do love walnuts!
Ann
October 15, 2015 at 5:52 PMI’m sorry. I plan on making this tonight. Are you supposed to marinate it for 15 to 30 minutes prior to ever putting it in the oven?
The Cooking Jar
October 15, 2015 at 9:00 PMI sent you an email with the answer since I was on the go but I’ll reply here as well! Yup, you marinate it in the fridge for that amount of time prior to baking it. Good luck, Ann!
Ann-Marie
October 18, 2015 at 4:46 PMThis turned out sooooo yummy! Thanks for posting…I will def be making this one again 🙂
The Cooking Jar
October 19, 2015 at 10:10 AMI’m glad it turned out great for you, Ann! You’re absolutely welcome 🙂
Alexandra
October 18, 2015 at 7:52 PMSo easy and so good! I’m not a super confident cooker, but this was perfect! Thanks so much!
The Cooking Jar
October 19, 2015 at 10:13 AMYay! Always happy when it turns out good for people, especially new/kinda new cooks!
Jazmin Solano
December 24, 2015 at 4:15 PMcan i substitute the soy sauce for something else?
The Cooking Jar
December 24, 2015 at 6:46 PMIf you’re gluten free, you can use tamari instead of soy sauce. If you’re worried about the sodium content of soy sauce, there are low sodium types out there. If you just don’t like soy sauce in general, try and look for something that is salty to balance off the sweetness of the honey.
Gwyneth Hobson
January 16, 2016 at 8:01 PMDo you wear before putting the marinade on it or after it marinates?
The Cooking Jar
January 16, 2016 at 10:11 PMSear it after marinating the salmon!
Karen
February 12, 2016 at 2:10 PMWhat a wonderful recipe ! This is now the only way I cook salmon and it comes out perfectly every time. If you’re trying to introduce more fish into your family’s diet, this will be your go to recipe. When I’m not in a hurry, I do sear the salmon but I’ve made it the other way too. Searing is my preferred method because the carmelization adds another layer of flavor. I also double the amount of fresh ginger because we enjoy the taste and I always double the amount of sauce because it’s so delicious !
The Cooking Jar
February 16, 2016 at 2:33 PMThanks for the comment and trying it out, Karen!
Abdulla Yousif
February 19, 2016 at 2:26 PMHi
I just wanted to say that i’ve tried your recipe and it turned out realllllllly good!!
Definitely doing it again.
Thanks again
The Cooking Jar
March 3, 2016 at 1:53 PMHey thanks for trying it out, Abdulla! I’m glad to hear you liked it.
Hannah
February 26, 2016 at 6:16 AMDidn’t notice if this has been asked before but what do we do of we don’t have ginger at all? Can we substitute it for nutmeg or cinnamon or we just eliminate it from the recipe? Thank you!
The Cooking Jar
March 3, 2016 at 1:59 PMIf you don’t have ginger, just leave it out. The ginger pairs well with the sauce to add a little depth to the flavor but it can work without. If you have problems stocking up fresh ginger as a staple, I use ginger paste in squeezy bottles under the brand ‘Gourmet Garden’, which can be found in the vegetable aisle near the fresh herbs. These can keep for a long time and are reusable.
Stephanie
March 14, 2016 at 1:13 PMCould the ginger be substituted for something else like cinnamon, or even just left out all together?
The Cooking Jar
March 20, 2016 at 5:26 PMHeya Stephanie! Best to leave out ginger altogether if you don’t have it. The ginger element is to add a savoryness to the salmon, not the holiday sweetness that most folks are used to!
Laurie
March 23, 2016 at 6:58 PMI just made this tonight and it was delicious!! The sauce was so flavorful! I think it could probably marinate a little longer, but other than that I have no criticisms! I made sautéed asparagus to go with it, and drizzled the sauce over them too, and the flavor was amazing! Will definitely make again!
The Cooking Jar
March 29, 2016 at 4:51 PMThanks for trying it out, Laurie. Asparagus is perfect for it!
Sigan
July 8, 2016 at 3:17 PMHey There, Thanks for this glorious recipe.
Just want to ask is it possible to grill the salmon for a little while for the grill marks and then marinate and bake it
or marinate the salmon and grill it for the grill marks , then later on bake it ?
just wanna present it as a grilled salmon :p
The Cooking Jar
July 12, 2016 at 1:59 PMYou’re welcome, Sigan! I suggest either marinating and grilling in place of searing then finish it off with baking if you want to go the baking route. Or you could grill it the entire way after marination and baste it with the other half of the sauce while doing so. Eyeball the salmon after 5 minutes each side to see if it’s done when grilling, depending on the heat of your grill. If you want more sauce to drizzle later, you could double the sauce in the beginning and use 1/3 for marination, 1/3 for basting and 1/3 for drizzling. Hope this helps!
Kerri
August 23, 2016 at 3:22 PMThis Salmon is delicious! I used half the marinade to….. Ummmmm…. Marinate (lol) the fish, I used the other half over the top at the end. So I split the recipe and used half to marinate, used that half over the fish about halfway through, and without reducing I poured the rest over the top at the end. I also baked the fish on a bed spinach and kale, served it with loaded mashed potatoes and garlic green beans, it was amazing! I can’t wait to have it again.
The Cooking Jar
August 29, 2016 at 8:13 PMYou marinated the salmon with the marinade? How marinating! (couldn’t resist) 😉 Glad you enjoyed it, Kerri!
Gary C
January 8, 2017 at 1:01 AMLooks delicious….beautiful photos too.
Love the music….thanks.
Agnes Obel
The Cooking Jar
February 20, 2017 at 1:46 PMThanks, Gary. Riverside by Agnes Obel is such a beautiful song. I’m guessing you got it from my ‘About’ page!