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Looking for an easy way to meet your protein goals and still thrill your taste buds? Say hello to Brown Butter Salmon. With only three main ingredients and about 15 minutes on the clock, you get nutty, caramel notes from browned butter, sweet garlic, and a glossy finish that tastes like a night out.
A Cafe Delites original, this brown butter honey garlic salmon starts with salmon steaks pan fried in browned butter, then kissed under the grill or broiler for about 6 minutes until golden, crispy, and caramelised. The browned butter sinks into every flake, while the honey and garlic create a rich, sticky glaze. If you have been hunting for a weeknight-easy brown butter salmon recipe, this honey brown butter salmon is the one to save.
What Makes This Recipe Work
Brown butter builds deep, nutty flavor in minutes. This Brown Butter Salmon sears in one pan, then finishes under the broiler for a golden, caramelised crust. With only three main ingredients and about 15 minutes, the method is quick, reliable, and easy to clean up.
Honey and garlic reduce into a glossy glaze that clings to the fish, giving crispy edges and a tender, flaky center. The technique works with fillets or steaks, so this brown butter honey garlic salmon fits busy weeknights yet tastes restaurant quality. If you want a brown butter salmon recipe you can count on, this honey brown butter salmon delivers every time.
What Goes Into Brown Butter Salmon
A handful of pantry staples make this Brown Butter Salmon shine. We brown the butter first, then let honey and garlic glaze the fish before a quick broil.
- Salmon Fillets: Four wild caught fillets, about 250 grams each, skin on or off. Thick enough to sear and stay juicy.
- Unsalted Butter: ¼ cup that browns to a nutty, toasty base for the sauce.
- Honey: ¼ cup for gentle sweetness that caramelises under the broiler.
- Garlic: Three cloves, minced, bloomed in the hot brown butter for mellow depth.
Note: Please see recipe card at the bottom for a full list of ingredients with measurements.
How To Make Brown Butter Salmon
- Position And Preheat: Set the oven shelf about 8 inches from the heat element. Preheat to broil (grill) while you start the pan.
- Brown The Butter: Melt butter in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Swirl and cook until the foam settles and it smells nutty.
- Build The Sauce: Pour in honey to dissolve. Add garlic and sauté about 1 minute, then stir in lemon juice to balance the sweetness.
- Sear The Salmon: Add salmon to the skillet, skin side down if using skin. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, basting the tops with the pan butter.
- Season Generously: Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Keep basting as the underside turns golden and the edges start to look opaque.
- Add The Citrus: Tuck wedges around the salmon in the skillet. The heat will help them release juice and perfume the sauce.
- Broil To Finish: Transfer the skillet to the oven. Broil 5 to 6 minutes until the tops are charred at the edges and just cooked through.
- Rest And Serve: Let the salmon rest briefly. Drizzle with the brown butter sauce and serve with steamed vegetables, rice, or a crisp salad.
Swap in Crispy Broccoli Parmesan Fritters for a crunchy, cheesy bite that soaks up the honey brown butter without feeling heavy, and add Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice for a light, citrusy base that echoes the lemon on the fish and keeps the plate bright. Keep Zucchini (Zettuccine) Carbonara for silky ribbons that mirror the salmon’s rich browned butter vibes while staying lighter than pasta.
Recipe FAQ’s
Both work. Skin-on helps protect the flesh and gets crispy in the pan. If using skinless, be gentle when flipping and baste often so it stays moist.
A light-colored stainless or cast iron skillet lets you see the milk solids turn golden. Nonstick works, but watch closely so the butter does not go from brown to burnt.
Brown the butter first, then add garlic for only 20 to 30 seconds. If it darkens too quickly, pull the pan off heat, stir in honey and lemon, then return to low heat.
Browned Butter Honey Garlic Salmon
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 cloves garlic, minced*
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice or juice of half a lemon
- 4 fillets wild caught salmon – about 1/2 pound or 250 grams each skin off or on
- 1 large Lemon cut into wedges to serve
- 2 pinches 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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Another recipe that surely my family would like. This butter honey garlic looks really awesome! Thank you for this. Cannot wait to try it!
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.
Absolute best salmon ever! This is my go-to recipe when cooking to impress. Love it! Thanks Karina.
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!!!
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!
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.
hi, it looks delicious. but since i don’t have lemon, can i use lime instead? hope forward to your answering. thank you!
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!
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.
Love this recipe. Thanks so much for sharing it – Joe