In our household, we have been enjoying this Thai salmon recipe with sweet chili sauce for 14 years now. In winter, I bake it in the oven and in summer months we turn it into cedar plank salmon on the grill. Second version is unbelievably tasty but oven method is just as good minus the smoky flavour.
In case you are cooking for a family, know my kids didn’t find this Thai style salmon spicy at all and they are picky with spices. It was a perfect amount of a heat kick and nobody complained about sweetness.:) I would omit green onions for kids and a must for adults!
What Thai Sauce (Marinade) for Salmon to You Use
For years, we have been using Thai Kitchen bottled sweet chili sauce as Thai salmon marinade. Nowadays, we try to eat as healthy as possible, so I came up with homemade Thai sweet chili sauce recipe. It can be refrigerated for a few weeks. You can use leftovers in traditional Thai cooking or, for example, with slow cooker Thai chicken thighs.
If you are a fan of Thai Kitchen sauce, you gotta try mine – exact copy but healthy.
How to Cook Thai Glazed Salmon in the Oven
I love broiling vs. baking because salmon is such delicate meat it desn’t need long cooking time and is easy to overcook. And because we are using pieces of salmon vs. whole fillet for maximum flavour penetration a blast of heat on the outside is enough. You want the fish to retain its natural juices and moisture.
How to Avoid Buying “Bad” Salmon
- Read labels: Today manufacturers are very marketing savvy. They have departments working 24/7 on how to sell you their farmed salmon. See below.
- Don’t buy Farmed: Obviously, it is farmed in closed off area, artificially coloured, fed antibiotics and exposed to pesticides. It is also high in Omega 6s and is devastating for wild marine life.
- Don’t buy Atlantic: Atlantic salmon is same farmed salmon, just different name. Surprised? I was too!
- Don’t buy Organic: Organic salmon is same farmed, just fed organic feed. It’s not much better and so expensive!
Source: David Suzuki
What Is “Healthy” Salmon and How to Save Money Buying It
- Buy These Species: Wild salmon like sockeye, coho, spring or even pink salmon. I know it’s expensive, I know. However, pink salmon is cheap – I made Thai pink salmon, was good!
- Fillet Yourself: You will pay twice less money if you buy whole fish and fillet it yourself in 10 minutes.
- Buy Trout: It’s often cheaper but be careful not to buy farmed trout – saw such thing at Costco, it’s huge and expensive.
Other Healthy Salmon Recipes
How to Make Thai Salmon Recipe (Video)
- Make Thai sweet chili sauce.
- In a large baking dish, add salmon in a single layer. Each fillet: sprinkle with a pinch of salt and top with 1 tbsp of Thai sweet chili sauce. Brush or rub with your fingers to coat fish with sauce evenly on top, bottom and sides. Cover and let marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight is the best (up to 24 hours).
- Turn on oven’s broiler on High and position top oven rack 5″ – 6″ below the heat source. Line large baking sheet with foil or silicone mat, spray with cooking spray and place salmon fillets skin side down (if any). Coat with remaining marinade from the dish (if any).
- Broil for 8 minutes, rotating baking sheet once. Remove from the oven and brush top of each fillet with 2 tsp of Thai sweet chili sauce. Return to the oven and broil for another 5 minutes or until salmon has caramelized.
Enjoy Thai sweet chili salmon and know where your food comes from!
PrintThai Salmon
Thai Salmon Recipe with easy healthy sweet chili sauce oven baked in winter or grilled on cedar plank in summer. Read rave reader reviews yourself.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 28 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 6 x 6 oz wild salmon fillets, skin on/off
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp Thai sweet chili sauce, divided
- 2 – 3 tbsp green onions, finely chopped
- Cooking spray (I use Misto)
Instructions
- Make Thai sweet chili sauce.
- In a large baking dish, add salmon in a single layer. Each fillet: sprinkle with a pinch of salt and top with 1 tbsp of Thai sweet chili sauce. Brush or rub with your fingers to coat fish with sauce evenly on top, bottom and sides. Cover and let marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight is the best (up to 24 hours).
- Turn on oven’s broiler on High and position top oven rack 5″ – 6″ below the heat source. Line large baking sheet with foil or silicone mat, spray with cooking spray and place salmon fillets skin side down (if any). Coat with remaining marinade from the dish (if any).
- Broil for 8 minutes, rotating baking sheet once. Remove from the oven and brush top of each fillet with 2 tsp of Thai sweet chili sauce. Return to the oven and broil for another 5 minutes or until salmon has caramelized.
- Serve hot garnished with green onions, extra sauce (if desired) and brown rice or quinoa + any salad.
Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Notes
About parchment paper.
I have been broiling Thai salmon on a sheet lined with parchment paper for years. It is exactly same paper you see in the photos, I do not swap it. Mine never caught on fire. However, some readers have reported that theirs almost did. Not sure whether it’s a type of parchment paper or stove, or maybe temperature of the broiler, or maybe even distance from the broiler to the shelf. I don’t know. So for safety reasons, use silicone baking mat or foil. 🙂
Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating in the comments.
