Honey Garlic Salmon is the best stove top salmon recipe for busy weeknights. Juicy salmon, crispy skin and caramelized sweet and sticky sauce make this 30-minute dinner crazy good!
Love fish? Try our teriyaki salmon, peanut butter salmon, or Thai broiled salmon.
Honey Garlic Salmon Recipe
Honey garlic salmon is a super simple recipe that will guide you to perfectly cooked salmon in 30 minutes. It is all you need to convert even the non-fish lovers! Kids love it too (and if they don’t, I also have delicious honey garlic chicken!)
Recently I’ve surprised my family with cedar plank salmon (so smoky!), grilled salmon (char marks add flavor!), and a healthy tuna salad – it must be the month of fish appreciated. Lots of omegas!
Juicy salmon fillets with caramelized honey crust with a hint of garlic, then topped with green onion. Salmon is already a flavorful fish, but what really takes this meal up a notch, is the sweet, sticky, garlicky sauce with just a hint of citrus.
It’s a quick, healthy dish high in protein and Omega 3s. Marinate for 15 minutes and then cook for another 10 minutes. Perfect for serving alongside rice, quinoa, noodles, or even a leafy green salad!
Ingredients for Honey Garlic Salmon
- Salmon: Wild salmon like sockeye, coho, spring, and king salmon is more healthy choice than farmed salmon (source). Trout or more affordable variety pink salmon work too.
- Honey: If you have solidified honey, warm it up in a microwave or on the stove to make runny.
- Lemon or lime juice: Freshly squeezed lemon juice and not from the bottle is the best!
- Freshly grated garlic: Fresh garlic is the best for maximum flavor. You can replace it with about 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder if you absolutely have to.
- Salt and pepper.
- Oil: Any oil for high heat cooking like avocado oil or grapeseed oil. Can also use light olive oil or coconut oil.
- Garnish: Optional finely chopped green onions. So good!
How to Make Honey Garlic Salmon
- Prep fish and marinade: Slice salmon fillet into 6 slices about 3 oz each. In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, lemon/lime juice, salt, and pepper.
- Marinate: Place the salmon fillets in a large resealable Ziploc bag, add marinade and seal. With your hands, gently move salmon around to get a nice even coat of marinade on each piece. Flip the pieces inside the bag so that they are all facing the same direction. Place the entire bag with the pieces flesh side down and allow to marinate for 15 minutes in the fridge.
- Prep the skillet: Towards the end of your marinating time, preheat a large non-stick skillet on low-medium heat. Enough to give it a bit of a sear but not too high to burn it. You may need to work in batches if your pan isn’t big enough. You want each piece to have enough room between them for even cooking.
- Cook: Add the oil, coating the entire bottom of the pan evenly. Add the fish to the pan flesh side down. Cover with a lid and cook for a few minutes. Then, remove the lid and continue cooking for a minute before flipping over. Repeat these steps on the reverse side of the fish.
More Tips and FAQs
- Can I eat the skin? Whether you eat the skin is a personal preference. The skin does have massive amounts of nutrients in it. It also helps keep the moisture in the salmon itself throughout the cooking process. If you don’t like skin, remove it after cooking.
- Can I use cast iron skillet? It might be tempting to use a cast iron pan for a good sear and more crispy skin. I find salmon sticks really badly to cast iron, especially the skin, unless you use a lot of oil.
- Can I marinate salmon overnight? You can marinate salmon overnight and up to 12 hours. I do not recommend longer as citrus can start the cooking process (think ceviche).
- Can I bake honey garlic salmon? Yes. Bake it in the oven uncovered at 400 degrees F for 8 minutes. You can also cook whole fillet in foil as per baked salmon in foil recipe. And you can also make it a healthy one pot meal – check out my one pan salmon and veggies (same honey garlic sauce!).
- Can I grill it? Yes. You can cook fillets directly on the grill by following this grilled salmon recipe or on a cedar plank.
- If you don’t like fishy taste: Skin contains most of the fishy taste. Removing it after cooking helps to eliminate part of it.
- Can I use other fish? Yes, halibut would be good.
- Add heat: To add a little spice to your sweet and sticky sauce, drizzle in a little Sriracha.
Serving, Storing and Reheating
Serving: Serve honey garlic salmon on a bed of quinoa or brown rice (or even cauliflower fried rice). Once the flavor has permeated the salmon overnight, enjoy again the next day. You could even use the leftovers for a salmon stir fry or even leave it cold and chop some up into leafy green salad at lunch like arugula salad.
Best vegetable side dishes: There are so many options to have as a side to cooked salmon. Below are just some of the many possibilities.
- Cauliflower mashed potatoes
- Roasted brussels sprouts
- Instant Pot broccoli
- Roasted cauliflower
- Roasted asparagus
- Roasted turnips
Reheating: I recommend to reheat leftovers in a microwave for a minute or so. I would not recommend to bake or saute cooked fish to avoid over drying. Also highly recommend to try salmon cold – so good!
Freezing: I do not recommend to freeze cooked salmon because its flesh will become tough and rubbery once thawed.
More Healthy Seafood Recipes
- Lime ginger salmon
- Salmon burgers
- Canned salmon cakes
- Fish tacos recipe
- Easy shrimp tacos with slaw
- CIlantro tomato salmon soup
You might also enjoy this compiled list of 15 healthy salmon recipes!
Honey Garlic Salmon {Crispy Salmon Recipe}
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp lemon or lime juice freshly squeezed
- 2 - 3 large garlic cloves grated
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 6 x 3 oz each salmon fillets skin on
- 1 - 2 tsp oil for frying I use avocado oil
- 2 green onions finely chopped
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together honey, lemon/lime juice, garlic, salt and pepper.
- Place salmon fillets in a large resealable Ziploc bag and pour marinade over. Squeeze as much air out as possible and seal the bag. Gently move fillets around inside the bag to make sure they are all evenly coated. Place flesh side down and let marinate 15 minutes in the fridge.
- Preheat large non-stick skillet on low - medium heat and add oil, making sure it coats the bottom of the skillet evenly. Place salmon fillets flesh side down leaving enough space in between them. Cover with a lid and cook for 3 minutes.
- Remove the lid, cook another minute and flip over. Repeat: cover, cook for 3 minutes, remove the lid and cook for another minute. If your skillet is not large enough, I recommend cooking in two batches. If you over crowd the skillet, cooking time increases by a few minutes for each step.
- Serve hot garnished with green onions, alongside quinoa and steamed broccoli - my favourite.
Serving: Serve honey garlic salmon on a bed of quinoa or brown rice. Once the flavor has permeated the salmon overnight, enjoy again the next day. You could even use the leftovers for a salmon stir fry or even leave it cold and chop some up into leafy green salad at lunch like arugula salad.
Reheating: I recommend to reheat leftovers in a microwave for a minute or so. I would not recommend to bake or saute cooked fish to avoid over drying. Also highly recommend to try salmon cold - so good!
Freezing: I do not recommend to freeze cooked salmon because its flesh will become tough and rubbery once thawed.
Video
Notes
- Can I eat the skin? Whether you eat the skin is a personal preference. The skin does have massive amounts of nutrients in it. It also helps keep the nutrients and moisture in the salmon itself throughout the cooking process. If you don't like skin, remove it after cooking.
- Can I use cast iron skillet? It might be tempting to use a cast iron pan for a good sear more crispy skin. I find salmon sticks really badly to cast iron, especially the skin, unless you use a lot of oil.
- Can I marinate salmon overnight? You can marinate overnight and up to 12 hours. I do not recommend longer as citrus can start the cooking process (think ceviche).
- Can I bake honey garlic salmon? Yes. Bake it in the oven uncovered at 400 degrees F for 8 minutes. You can also cook whole fillet in foil as per baked salmon in foil recipe. And you can also make it a healthy one pot meal - check out my one pan salmon and veggies (same honey garlic sauce!).
- Can I grill it? Yes. You can cook fillets directly on the grill by following this grilled salmon recipe or on a cedar plank.
- If you don't like fishy taste: Skin contains most of the fishy taste. Removing it after cooking helps to eliminate part of it.
- Can I use other fish? Yes, halibut would be good.
- Add heat: To add a little spice to your sweet and sticky sauce, drizzle in a little Sriracha.
Nutrition
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My name is Olena Osipov. I'm a mom to 2 boys, a wife to Alex and we reside on magical Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. This is our healthy family recipes blog. Originally from Ukraine, I grew up on real food. As an adult, I struggled with diets for years because none worked long-term. Now for over 10 years, I cook easy healthy meals for my family. I can help you with “What’s for dinner?” too.