Browned Butter Honey Garlic Salmon! Only 3 main ingredients in under 15 minutes.
Browned Butter Honey Garlic Salmon is a Cafe Delites original recipe! Salmon steaks pan fried in browned butter infused with garlic and honey, then grilled/broiled for an extra 6 minutes for extra golden, crispy and caramelised finish. The browned butter cooks right into this salmon and the honey and garlic give it such a beautiful flavour and charred finish in the oven.
Browned Butter Honey Garlic Salmon
When I hear browned butter…I hear complicated, but this recipe is simple and easy. Salmon broiled with a salty-sweet glaze. You’ll be licking the plate clean! Garlic butter has a taste to die for, however, when you take it that step further and brown that butter first, then add your garlic to infuse all of those flavours into your browned butter? WOW! The combination is incredible! I looked online everywhere for something like this and couldn’t BELIEVE it when I found out this flavour combo hadn’t been explored!
I do have a few tips though!
How to make Browned Butter Honey Garlic Salmon:
- The first step is to have all of your ingredients together and ready for you when you start cooking. This recipe moves fast.
- Adjust your oven shelf at least 8-inches away from the heat element in your oven to prevent burning.
- When browning butter, the heat needs to be on medium-high. After your butter melts, watch it continuously while it bubbles up, then foams and starts to give off a nutty aroma. At this point, stir it occasionally and swirl the pan carefully until the foam subsides. You’ll be left with a dark golden hue and some charred bits on the bottom of your pan. From here you need to act quick.
- Allow the honey to melt completely though the browned butter before adding garlic.
- When adding lemon juice, be careful of the butter splattering.
- Add the salmon with the top facing up (skin-side down) and baste it while it cooks in the skillet.
- Before broiling, you can add lemon wedges around your salmon if you like your sauces to take on more of a citrus flavour OR leave them out for a milder taste.
- While broiling, keep an eye on the salmon as it can easily go from slightly charred to burnt very quickly. Put your timer on for 3 minutes and keep watching from there.
This salmon takes on a whole new level of crispy and caramelised on the edges, while staying juicy on the inside. If you’ve never tried browning your butter with salmon…try it! Serve with greens and extra garlicky brown butter sauce…
WATCH US MAKE the Browned Butter Honey Garlic Salmon RIGHT HERE!
Browned Butter Honey Garlic Salmon
ORIGINAL RECIPE BY KARINA, CAFEDELITES ©
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter
- 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) honey
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced*
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice (or juice of half a lemon)
- 4 wild caught salmon fillets (about 1/2 pound or 250 grams each), skin off or on
- Lemon wedges (to serve)
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- Arrange oven shelf about 8-inches away from heat element in your oven. Preheat your oven to broil (or grill in Australia).
- Place butter in a cast iron skillet (or an oven-proof frying pan if you don't have a skillet). Cook over medium heat, stirring and swirling pan occasionally for about 3 minutes, or until the foam settles; the butter begins to change in colour to golden brown and has a nutty fragrance.
- Pour in the honey and let it dissolve into the butter. Then add in the garlic and sauté for about 1 minute until fragrant. Add in the lemon juice; stir well to combine all of the flavours together.
- Add the salmon steaks to the butter in the pan; cook each fillet (skin-side down if there's any skin) for 3-4 minutes or until golden, while basting the tops with the pan juices. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Add the lemon wedges around the salmon. Transfer the pan to your oven to broil / grill for a further 5-6 minutes, or until the tops of the salmon are nicely charred.
- To serve, drizzle with the reserved brown butter sauce. Serve with steamed vegetables; over rice or with a salad.
Notes
- Pre-heat oven to 410°F (210°C).
- Follow Steps 2-3 as above.
- At Step 4 when adding the fillets into the skillet, transfer to oven to bake for 4 minutes (depending on the size and thickness of your fillets).
- Broil (or grill) for 2 minutes to get nice charred edges.
Nutrition
If you love my original recipe, you’ll love THESE:
Browned Butter Honey Garlic Chicken
Browned Butter Honey Garlic Shrimp
Honey Garlic Salmon
Keelay says
Just made this for dinner and paired it with a spinach, tomato and garlic pasta. It taste amazing together.
I think I let it broil a little to long so I will be making this again very soon. I was so tired of eating regular salmon.
Nicole says
Absolute best salmon ever! This is my go-to recipe when cooking to impress. Love it! Thanks Karina.
DEBBIE says
I’m always scared of making fish! This recipe looked so easy and yummy, so I thought I might be able to pull it off. It was amazing! My hubby and I loved it. I will definitely be making it again. Since some people mentioned the sauce carmelizing too much, I added in a bit more of all liquids and it was perfect. Now on to the browned butter salmon,……! Thank you!!!
Tina says
Thank you so much, we love it! I cooked it today but i put a little bit of soy sauce on the glaze. I also made separate glaze coz my son loves gravy and he thought it is gravy. He loves the salmon with a lot of glaze even on his rice !! I partnered mine with quinoa salad. Will definitely make it again…soon!
Beth says
This is the first time I have ever rated a recipe I have gotten online. This cooked up in a matter of minutes, like ten minutes, start to finish. I made it for myself and my eleven year old son. He likes salmon as long as it doesn’t taste “fishy”. Neither do I. We have been eating filets cut from this one fish all week. I had been using the same recipe all week and was burned out on it. We were down to our last three filets. I used this recipe. The other nights there was a slight fish taste. With this recipe, from the same dish, the last servings of the week, the fish had no fishy taste. It was delicious. It was flaky with a carmelized crisp. It was subtley both sweet and tangy. It was not overpowering. It was amazing.
ngoc anh says
hi, it looks delicious. but since i don’t have lemon, can i use lime instead? hope forward to your answering. thank you!
a total amateur says
What makes this recipe great is how complex and delicious the flavors are, but how easy it is! I don’t think that I’ve ever managed to actually mess it up, which I can’t say for many other recipes. I think I must have made this like ten times by now. My whole family loves it. Sometimes we eat it with rice and seaweed like it’s sushi
And I always lick the spoon that I use to baste the salmon!
Kavitha says
Amazing! I was gifted a couple fillets of wild-caught chinook salmon a few days ago and by golly this was the way to cook them. I cut down the honey by half (I actually only had cinnamon honey, but that only made it better I think), and added fresh thyme and lemon zest in with the garlic, which was perfect for my taste — gave it kind of an herby sweetness that doesn’t go overboard.
I didn’t have a cast iron pan, so I just did the frying bit in a deep skillet and then quickly transferred the fillets to a glass dish lined with aluminum foil before sticking it into the oven. Worked great.
Village Bakery says
Love this recipe. Thanks so much for sharing it – Joe
Carisa M says
Oh my goodness! I just made this and let me say it was absolutely delicious! Thank you for sharing this! I love to cook in my cast iron, and I’ve been looking for a new flavor and way to cook salmon! PERFECTO!!! I served it on a bed of Garlic Quinoa Couscous, a side of garlic wilted spinach and sliced tomato. The color combination was fantastic! And the taste, delicious!
Carly says
My oven went out and I have my heart set on this recipe. Can I just do it all on the stove top? What would you recommend?
Karina says
Hi Carly, absolutely! Continue cooking it on the stove until fork tender.
Gwen McNeal says
Karina!!!
You are a cafe DELIGHT!!
I can’t EVEN COOK at all, but I made this and it’s ten stars DELICIOUS!!!!!!
Even my parents said, “ we don’t like salmon”
and
We ate all of it!!!!
So yummy!!!
Karina says
You are so, so sweet! I am so glad that everyone enjoyed everything! Thank you for sharing! XO
Gwen McNeal says
BEST SALMON RECIPE EVER!!
So easy!!
I’m not a good cook, but this time I AM!!!
Jan says
Karina, I cannot believe I never left a review for this dish! It is by far the most perfect salmon we have ever eaten, and my husband is a foodie, but not a lover of salmon.
The blend of the butter, honey and lemon…and yes the garlic is beyond fabulous!
I’ve just read your bio on your blog. Bless you, honey and thank you for fantastic recipes.
Karina says
Oh wow! That is awesome to hear! I am so glad that you loved it so much! Thank you for sharing and following along with me! XO
Ileana says
Everyone loved it. ❤️Doing it again. Thanks!, ????????
Jamison says
My girlfriend and I cook a lot, we just made this and it’s the best salmon recipe we have ever tried, 10 / 10
Claudia Mais says
Been married to my husband for 27 years~ all that time he has flat out refused to eat salmon because of the fishy smell/taste. A few weeks ago I made this for dinner and put it in from of him. He liked it!!!!! Big moment when he asked me to make it again!!!! Woo Hoo!!!!!
Karina says
I’m so happy to hear this Claudia! Thank you so much for sharing your feedback!
Rosemary Urso says
First time cooking Salmon and it was fabulous! I will definitely make it again! Keep posting your recipes to Facebook…. I’m not a good cook and need all the help I can get! Thanks!
Karina says
Thanks! That is so sweet of you! I do love salmon! Thanks so much for following along with me!
Abi says
I don’t have an oven for broiling. Can the recipe work without the last part of broiling for 6 minutes? It looks so yummy 🙁
Tymeron Smith says
For the last 6 minutes of broiling I would recommend turning your heat temperature up and placing the oven rack to the highest rack. Keep eye on the salmon but that should still broil it for the remainder of time and have the same crispiness on top. Hope that helps!
Lauren says
I loved this recipe! I am not a big fan of salmon because of its strong taste but this was the best salmon I have ever had! Coooking salmon on the stove in the sauce completely masked its strong taste. Thank you so much! Looking forward to trying your other recipes.
Tymeron Smith says
That is awesome to hear! I am so glad that you were able to enjoy the salmon! Thanks so much for sharing!
Cyndi says
Made this following the recipe exactly. The sauce is very good and was delicious over the mixed grain rice we had with it. One of our sources for salmon tends to be dry and that is what we used. It was moist and flavorful for perhaps the first time. The technique could be used with other sauces as well, as long as they can handle the broiler. This sure was delicious!
Tymeron Smith says
That is great to hear! I am so glad that it turned out for you! Thanks so much for sharing!
Brianna says
Best recipe for salmon family loved it!
Karina says
Thanks Brianna!
Shrone Jackson Jr says
Just found this recipe and I have to say that I can’t think of any other way I’ll be eating salmon. I made this tonight with a lobster tail, rice, and creamed spinach. It was by far one of the best meals I have ever eaten. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Karina says
I’m so happy to hear that SHRONE! But with lobster tail?! My mouth is watering just thinking about that in this sauce! THANK YOU for that suggestion and sharing your feedback!
Cory says
This recipe was awesome. It was really easy to make and it tasted good. 🙂
Karina says
Thank so much Cory! So happy to hear that!
Celine says
Hi,
I find this recipe on Pinterest and HAD to try it ! I tried it once, and now we eat it at least once a week ! It is so delicious, thank you for this recipe !!
Gabe says
This was fantastic over indirect heat on the grill. I smoked it partially then finished it off with some direct flame adding more buttery sauce often. Thanks i will be making this often.
Staci says
I legit just ate he glaze with a spoon. Yummmmmm
Sherell says
I made this for dinner tonite. Not only did my family ???? the recipe, they sat at the dinner table and named a list of other foods this glaze can be put on ?? it was delicious!!! I didnt put it in the oven though, I just sauteed it on the stove turned the heat to low.
Melissa says
This was incredibly yummy!!! I made with Smart Balance dairy free butter… amazing!!!
Ronda says
I followed this recipe with no variations and it was a huge hit with the family, my husband (who prefers beef to fish) finished with a compliment- “Great Dinner!” So I knew the recipe was a keeper with his review. Thanks for sharing!
Sohini says
Hey there. Can I do the same without the oven? On the cooker instead?
Karina says
Yes
Emilee says
I just tried this and LOVED it! My family were big fans as well. My 1 year old ate her weight in it, ha!
I didn’t have honey so I substituted maple syrup. Thank you for this recipe. It’s now in my rotation!
Pj says
Wonderful, tasteful, beautiful and classic recipe! Thank you for sharing! My husbands Birthday is tonight and I made it for dinner! Easy peasy and super delish! Thank you for making our night even more special!
Taylor says
Ever tried this with chicken?
Karina says
No but I will be!
Cecilia says
Oh my goodness, it was delicious, not as pretty as yours but it was delicious. Next time I’ll leave it to brown a bit linger.
Renee says
Hi Karina, just some clarification. You sear the steaks skin-side down for 3-4 minutes and then you….flip & sear them skin-side up before flipping them again and putting them under the broiler? Or do they go under the broiler after the first sear, skin-side up? Your finished photos show them skin-side down and I’m just wondering if I’m missing a step, or if this was just for the benefit of the photos? Thanks in advance, looking forward to trying this!
Karina says
Hi Renee. Yes exactly what you’re thinking! I hope you like them!
Sarah says
Could this be baked instead of grilled?
Karina says
Yes definitely Sarah! Grilling is more for the crispy, golden tops but you can bake them until done to your liking 🙂
Lindsey says
Planning on trying this recipe tonight..looks fantastic! Do you remove the garlic from the pan as well when you remove half of the browned butter? Just curious how to ensure that the garlic doesn’t burn and create that bitter taste!
Thanks so much!
Karina says
Hi Lindsey! Yes you can remove the garlic from the pan if you like! I keep mine in as I love the contrast of flavours, but you can remove it 🙂 I hope you like it!
Maggie says
Made this last night for dinner and it was delicious! Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
Marabelle says
I made this for dinner tonight. It was delicious. Thanks for the recipe. It was a hit as usual!
Jason says
Looks wonderful! What are the green herbs in the pan with the salmon in the pictures?
Karina says
Hi Jason. I used parsley!
Ariele says
Awesome, easy to follow recipe with great flavor!
Karina says
That’s awesome to hear Ariele thank you!
kelsey says
do you take the skin off of the one side? or do you keep the skin on?
Karina says
Hi Kelsey! You can do either 🙂
Cindi J says
Just made and us made and enjoyed this for our supper tonight. Very easy directions to follow and love making something new with ingredients on hand! This was wonderful!! I served with my left over garlic mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli, snow peas, carrots and onions. Just perfect after a rough day. Pinot Grigio was delightful as well.
Marlena says
This was so tasty! We have mountains of salmon and this just went to the top of the pile for face recipes.
Karina says
Hey Marlena! That’s wonderful! I’m so happy to hear you liked it. Thank you so much for coming by and letting me know. I really appreciate it! Enjoy the rest of your week!
Jill Curry says
Do you put the filets in the oven skin-side up? It says to flip them …..seems counterintuitive?
Karina says
Hi Jill! I turn them in the butter to coat them before grilling in the oven to ensure the flavour coats the salmon. It’s a full 360 turn 🙂
Karina says
Thank you Mila!! It’s nice to see your comments!
Glassware says
Hey Karina, Your recipe is great with mixture of garlic and honey and looking very delicious and tasty. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Karina says
Thank you! I’m so glad you like it!
Giramuk's Kitchen says
oh wow Carina!! I never thought of combining browned butter and Salmon! Such a drool worthy idea! 😀 That salmon just looks so good, I wish I could lick the screen… This could become my favourite way to eat Salmon… for sure! 🙂
Karina says
Hey girl thank you! It really was incredible! I hope you do try it 🙂