Sheet Pan Honey Garlic Salmon
Salmon fillets glazed in honey, soy, garlic, and ginger, broiled alongside sesame broccoli on one sheet pan.
Prep: 10 min · Cook: 15 min · Total: 25 min · Serves: 4 · Difficulty: Easy · Rating: 4.8/5 (472 reviews)
INSPIRED BY
Sheet pan dinners are the unofficial currency of busy weeknights, and salmon takes a honey-soy glaze better than almost anything. Cooking the broccoli alongside under the broiler means one pan, one cleanup, and dinner in the time it takes to make a pot of rice.
Story
This is my Thursday salmon, the one I make when the week has worn me down and I still want to put something real on the table. Last Thursday I forgot the salmon was in the freezer until 5pm, which is a recurring theme in my house, and ran it under cold water in a bowl while I made the glaze. It thawed enough in twenty minutes. Not ideal, but it worked, and dinner was still done before 6:30. The glaze is four things I always have: honey, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. I grate the ginger on a microplane straight into the bowl because peeling and mincing it felt like too much for a weeknight. The first few times I made this I poured the glaze on and walked away, and it just sat there pale and runny. The fix was the broiler. High heat, close to the element, and a second brush of glaze halfway through. That's what turns it sticky and caramelized instead of wet. My big mistake early on was not drying the salmon. I'd pull it from the package and glaze it straight away, and the surface was so wet the glaze slid right off into a puddle. Now I press it with paper towels first, hard. The glaze grips, and you get that lacquered top that my four-year-old, who claims to hate fish, will actually eat if I call it "the sticky chicken from the ocean." I don't fully understand it. I don't question it. The broccoli goes on the same pan tossed in sesame oil, and the edges char a little under the broiler, which is the only way my kids will touch broccoli. Watch it though; the broiler is fast and the broccoli can go from charred to scorched in about ninety seconds. I've burned a batch. Serve it all over rice with the pan juices spooned on top. One pan, one pot, and a Thursday that felt slightly less like a Thursday.
By Casey
Ingredients
- 4 fillets salmon (6 oz each)
- 1 lb broccoli, cut into florets
- 3 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 2 tbsp sesame oil, divided
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 stalks scallions, sliced
Instructions
- Set an oven rack 6 inches below the broiler and heat the broiler to high. Line a sheet pan with foil.
- Whisk honey, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, 1 tbsp sesame oil, and rice vinegar into a glaze.
- Toss broccoli with the remaining 1 tbsp sesame oil and a pinch of salt; spread on one side of the pan.
- Pat salmon dry, place skin-side down on the other side, and brush generously with the glaze.
- Broil 8 to 10 minutes until the glaze caramelizes and the salmon flakes; brush with more glaze halfway through.
- Finish with sesame seeds and scallions. Serve over rice.
Chef Tips
- Pat the salmon bone-dry before glazing. A wet surface steams under the broiler and the glaze slides off instead of caramelizing into that sticky lacquer you're after. Brush a second coat halfway through for the deepest color.
Cook's Notes
- **Soy substitute:** Use tamari or coconut aminos for gluten-free; coconut aminos is sweeter, so cut the honey slightly.
- **Make-ahead:** Mix the glaze up to 3 days ahead and refrigerate; it thickens, so let it sit out a few minutes before brushing.
- **Storage:** Cooked salmon keeps 3 days refrigerated; reheat gently at 300°F so it doesn't dry out.
- **Equipment:** A foil-lined sheet pan makes cleanup easy and a broiler gives the best caramelization.
- **Common mistake:** Glazing wet salmon makes the glaze slide off; pat it bone-dry first.
- **Doneness cue:** Salmon is done when it flakes with light pressure and reaches 125 to 130°F at the thickest part.
- **Broiler tip:** Watch the broccoli closely; it can scorch in under 2 minutes under high heat.