Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon

5 from 27 votes

This brown sugar glazed salmon recipe is pan-seared to perfection with a mouthwatering sweet and savory sticky sauce. It's an easy 30-minute meal that picky eaters love!

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon, Brown Sugar Salmon, Brown Sugar Soy Sauce Salmon

Servings:

Author: Natasha Bull

Ingredients

1 pound fresh salmon
Salt & pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter divided

Sauce:

3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger grated
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons chicken broth or water
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Instructions

Take the salmon out of the fridge 15-20 minutes prior to starting the recipe if possible. Cut the salmon into 4 equal pieces and pat it dry with paper towel. Season with salt & pepper.
Add the sauce ingredients to a bowl and whisk together.
Add the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter to a skillet over medium-high heat. Heat the pan for a few minutes.
Cook the salmon (skin-side down) for 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium and flip the salmon over and cook for another 2-3 minutes (should be almost cooked through).
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter to the skillet and let it melt, then pour in the sauce (just pour it in between the salmon pieces). Let it bubble/thicken for 20-30 seconds or so, and then take the pan off the heat (the pan will still be hot and the sauce will continue to thicken, but this avoids burning it). Flip the salmon over & spoon the sauce over top.
Serve immediately. The salmon skin will be nice and crispy and is delicious when you eat it right away, but feel free to peel it off it you prefer.

Notes

The salmon I used in this recipe was approx. 1" thick. If your salmon is thicker or thinner, you may need to adjust cooking time a bit (see blog post for tips).
It's fine if you've got a bit more than a pound of salmon, just make sure it's not too much over or the salmon pieces will be crowded in the pan and not cook properly (then sear it in two batches).
Pro tip: the ginger is much easier to grate if it's frozen. I always keep some fresh ginger in the freezer and I use my Microplane grater/zester to quickly grate it.

Nutrition