Hot Honey Salmon (Easy 20-Minute Dinner!)
Hot honey salmon is what happens when a perfectly respectable salmon dinner gets a little more interesting! Flaky salmon gets covered in a sticky, sweet-and-spicy glaze with garlic, Dijon and lemon, then baked until the edges get beautifully caramelized.
It looks suspiciously impressive for something requiring about five minutes of actual effort. And yes, we’re using store-bought hot honey. We have absolutely nothing to prove here 😉
Ingredients
- 4 salmon fillets, about 5–6 oz each
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 cup hot honey
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- Red pepper flakes, optional
- Lemon wedges, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Because baked-on honey is delicious on salmon and considerably less charming on a sheet pan 😉
- Pat the salmon dry and place it skin-side down on the prepared pan.
- Rub the salmon lightly with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, smoked paprika and garlic powder.
- Stir together the hot honey, Dijon, minced garlic, lemon juice and melted butter.
- Spoon or brush about two-thirds of the glaze generously over the salmon. We want this stuff everywhere!
- Bake for 10–12 minutes, depending on the thickness of your fillets.
- Brush the salmon with the remaining glaze and broil for 1–2 minutes until the top is glossy, bubbling and starting to caramelize around the edges. Keep an eye on it. Honey can go from gorgeous to tiny kitchen bonfire with remarkable efficiency.
- Serve immediately with lemon wedges and another little drizzle of hot honey if you’re feeling spicy 😉
Tips & Variations
- Don’t overcook the salmon. Salmon cooks RIDICULOUSLY fast, which is fabulous until we wander away for six minutes and come back to fish drywall. The USDA food-safety recommendation for fish is 145°F.
- Skin-on or skinless both work! If yours has skin, bake it skin-side down and let it do its thing.
- Control the heat. Hot honey varies quite a bit.. Add red pepper flakes if yours is behaving more like mildly opinionated honey.
- Want a simple hot honey? Use regular honey with a generous pinch of red pepper flakes.
- Want more caramelization? That final minute or two under the broiler is where things get fabulous. Just don’t wander off to unload the dishwasher or your smoke detector will 100% be your dinner bell!
- Make it a full dinner. Rice, these fun crispy smashed potatoes, risotto, crispy oven roasted potatoes, broccoli, asparagus or a giant pile of buttery vegetables are all excellent choices.
- Try lime instead! Swap the lemon for lime and add a little cilantro for a completely different flavor direction!
- Make extra glaze. If you’re serving this over rice, doubling the glaze is a very solid life decision. Let the rice soak up the extra and double high-five yourself!
- Already love our Easy Baked Salmon? Think of this as its slightly sassier cousin. Same wonderfully low-maintenance fish, considerably more sticky fabulousness!
- And if seafood sounds good but salmon doesn’t, head over to our Easy Shrimp Linguine for another fast dinner that tastes like we put considerably more effort into it than we actually did 😉
Want an easy and delicious dessert to make with this dinner? Try our Easy Strawberry Shortcake recipe that’s ready to go in minutes, or our viral Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding Copy Cat recipe – it’s creamy, no-bake and ALWAYS a hit!
