Honey Sriracha Salmon
This post contains links to affiliate websites, such as Amazon, and we receive an affiliate commission for any purchases made by you using these links. We appreciate your support!
This honey sriracha salmon is a super quick, easy, and healthy recipe for a weeknight meal! The salmon fillet is baked in foil, keeping it tender and moist with a hint of spicy heat from the honey sriracha sauce.
I love cooking fish for dinner and my whole family enjoys eating it, especially, for some reason, my 8-year-old son who is a certifiable fish fanatic. Fish is so versatile, and some of my favorite ways to serve it are with a grain like in these Salmon Quinoa Bowls, or an easy Sheet Pan Fish with Veggies, or this Easy Cajun Blackened Fish.
But when it comes to salmon, THIS recipe, where it’s doused in a simple honey sriracha sauce and baked in aluminum foil to moist and juicy perfection, is preeeetty near the top of the list.
The great thing about cooking fish is that it doesn’t take much time so it’s perfect for those busy weeknights when you don’t want to put in much effort, but still want to put a healthy easy dinner on the table.
Why You’ll Love this Honey Sriracha Salmon Recipe
- It requires simple ingredients. If you’ve got some fish in the freezer, and a lime or lemon in the fridge (or rice vinegar if you don’t!), there’s a good chance you can make this happen tonight.
- Not a lot of cooking time or prep. You only need to make a quick honey sriracha glaze in a pot, drizzle it over the salmon fillets and pop it in the oven. It goes perfectly with baked coconut rice, or plain white rice, and a side of your favorite veggies.
- It has the perfect balance of sweet, tangy, and spicy flavors from the combination of honey, lime, and sriracha in the sauce.
Ingredient Notes
Salmon
I use a whole salmon fillet for this recipe and I like to use wild-caught salmon over farm-raised salmon whenever I can, since it’s (arguably) more sustainable and has a slightly better nutritional profile, flavor, and texture. But it does come at a higher price point, so use what you like and what fits your budget.
Any type of salmon will work, including frozen salmon. Just thaw overnight in the fridge before using. I also like to keep the skin on but you can remove the skin or buy a skinless fillet.
Instead of a whole piece of salmon, you can use individually portioned salmon fillets instead if you like, or if that’s what you have on hand.
Butter
The butter is for the honey sriracha glaze and adds rich flavor to the cooked fish. I don’t recommend skipping it, but you can reduce it to 1 tablespoon if you prefer.
Honey
Honey adds the perfect sweet note to this salmon and compliments the heat of the sriracha sauce nicely. It also helps the salmon caramelize beautifully in the last few minutes of cooking. You can use maple syrup instead if you prefer.
Lime Juice
The acidity of the lime juice cuts through the sweetness of the honey and richness of the butter. Lemon works great too. Rice vinegar is also a good option if you have neither.
Sriracha
Another key ingredient – you can use sriracha from any brand you prefer. It adds just the right amount of heat and spice to the fish.
Sriracha has a distinct flavor that contributes to the overall flavor of this honey sriracha salmon, but you can experiment with a different hot sauce, like Frank’s Red Hot, or chili sauce like sambal oelek if you prefer.
Cilantro
I love cilantro, but it’s always optional as far as I’m concerned, since I know some people really dislike it. A sprinkle of sliced green onions, or chives will also work great in this recipe.
Don’t forget to watch the video!
Most of my recipes include a short step-by-step video tutorial. Just scroll down to the recipe card, or use the “Jump to Video” button at the top of the post!
Step by Step Instructions
- Line a baking sheet or pan with a large piece of aluminum foil and lightly brush the foil with olive oil.
- Place the salmon skin side down in the middle of the foil, and season it with salt and pepper. Then, fold up the foil’s edges around the salmon to create a container for the honey sriracha sauce.
- Heat a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter in it, and then mix in the honey, lime juice, and sriracha, letting it come to a boil. Let the sauce boil for a minute or so to thicken slightly.
- Drizzle the honey sriracha sauce over the whole salmon filet and cover it with an additional piece of foil and crimp the edges of the two foil pieces together to seal it, ensuring steam stays inside (but leave enough room for air to circulate within the packet).
- Bake the salmon for approximately 15 minutes before removing the top piece of foil. The salmon should begin to flake with a fork, even if it might not be completely cooked through at this stage. Spoon some of the sauce from the bottom of the foil over the salmon.
- Switch the oven to broil and broil the salmon for another 4-5 minutes until the edges become crispy and caramelized, and the salmon is fully cooked and flakes easily. Don’t over-cook it though, it should be moist and tender!
- After broiling, baste the salmon once more with the sauce, garnish with fresh chopped cilantro, and your honey sriracha salmon is ready to serve.
Recipe Variations & Tips
- You can adjust the spice level of the glaze to create your own perfect combination of flavors. If you’d like it sweeter, add a bit more honey, and if you’d like it spicier, add more sriracha, or even some red pepper flakes in the glaze.
- Before cooking the salmon, pat it dry with paper towels so that the honey sriracha sauce sticks well to the filet.
- Salmon cooks pretty quickly so you want to make sure that you’re not overcooking it. Test it to make sure it’s flaking easily with a fork, but is still moist and tender.
- Use good quality salmon! This honey sriracha salmon recipe is pretty simple and straightforward so the quality and freshness of your fish really makes a difference here. Wild-caught salmon is a great choice but comes at a higher price point.
- If you want to, you can also make air fryer honey sriracha salmon with this recipe. Just follow the same instructions and put your foil-wrapped salmon in the air fryer instead of the oven.
- Let your fish come to room temperature for 10-15 minutes after taking it out of the refrigerator, before baking it. This ensures that it cooks evenly and you get moist and flaky fish.
Serving Suggestions
- I like to serve this honey sriracha salmon with white rice like this flavorful baked coconut rice, but you can also do brown rice or cauliflower rice for a low-carb option.
- Add your favorite roasted veggies, or a salad on the side for a complete meal.
- Cut up the salmon fillets in squares and serve on top of rice and extra sauce to make salmon rice bowls for lunch or dinner.
- Serve with a side of mashed potatoes or these harissa potatoes.
Storage Instructions
Place the leftover salmon in a shallow airtight container to help maintain its moisture and flavor. You can store it in the refrigerator for 3-4 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To reheat, it’s best to do so gently to avoid drying out the salmon. You can use the oven, microwave, or even stovetop. If using an oven, place the salmon on a baking sheet, add a splash of water or extra sauce to help retain moisture, and cover it with foil.
Yes! It is perfectly fine to eat salmon skin. It tastes good when crisped up so you might want to give it a few minutes under the broiler skin side up.
Yes! Add some olive oil in a hot pan and place your salmon skin side down, then add the honey sriracha sauce on top. The cooking time may vary so keep an eye on it.
Yes, just cool it down and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Tell me what you think!
If you try this recipe, l’d be so grateful if you’d leave a comment and a rating in the recipe card. I love to hear your feedback, and your tips can help other readers too!
Honey Sriracha Salmon
Ingredients
Salmon with Sriracha Lime Butter
- 2 lbs salmon fillet* in one piece or in 4 portions of 6-8 oz each
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons lime juice from 1 lime
- 1-3 tablespoons sriracha one tablespoon makes a mild, kid-friendly sauce.
- 1 teaspoon salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Instructions
Salmon with Sriracha Lime Butter
- Line a baking sheet or pan with a large sheet of aluminum foil. Lightly grease the center of the foil with olive oil.
- Put the salmon in the center of the foil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pull the edges of the foil up around the fish to hold in the sauce.
- In a small saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter. Whisk in the honey, lime juice, and sriracha and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 1 minute to thicken slightly. Pour the sauce over the salmon.
- Add another sheet of foil on top of the salmon and roll the sides of the two pieces of foil together to seal, so that steam cannot escape (but not so tightly that air cannot circulate inside the packet).
- Bake the salmon for about 15 minutes, and remove the top sheet of foil. At this point the fish should just begin to flake when tested with a fork, but it's ok if it's not fully cooked through yet. Baste with the butter sauce from around the fish.
- Turn on the broiler and broil for 4-5 minutes until it starts to caramelize and get crispy around the edges, and is fully cooked, flaking easily with a fork.
- Baste again with the sticky sauce, sprinkle with chopped cilantro, and serve.
I love this idea! definitely considering it for tonight. do you use a special kind of pan to put in the over to prevent it from damaging or melting at all?
I just use a regular baking sheet! But honestly any oven-safe pan will work 🙂
This recipe is a real keeper! In fact, it’s now my favorite. I used 3 Tbs of the srirachi sauce, and it wasn’t too spicy. I used only a pound of salmon for two of us, so there was plenty of sauce to put on the rice. Delicious! So happy to have found your website, Ann! Thanks, I’ll be trying more of your great looking dishes.
Thank you so much Beverly!! 😉
What a huge compliment!!
Love all these flavors. I often make coconut rice by just sprinkling shredded coconut on the top of the rice as it cooks. The coconut flavor infuses into the rice as it steams. Just a low fat option for coconut rice. Using coconut milk is so rich and yummy too. Pinning for dinner!!
Ooooooh I love that idea! Can’t get enough coconut flavor!
Love the flavors of the sweet and hot sauce. Perfect with rice too!
Thank you Ginny 🙂
I love salmon and I love sriracha, I can’t believe I’ve never thought of putting the two together before! It looks absolutely delicious!
I’m always trying to think of new things to put sriracha on ;). Thanks Bintu!
I love meal planning. It makes shopping and preparing so much easier and ends up saving frustration and time. I do think a key is to not get too stressed out about it if something changes. This fish looks really good.
Agree! Flexibility is key. Thanks Ben 🙂
This is right up my alley!!! I love sriracha on pretty much everything!!!!
Haha me too!!
I usually meal plan and shop on Sunday, as well. Never for the full week, thought. I find by Thurs/Fri we have enough leftovers to use for a thrown together dinner. Salmon is a staple at our house most weeks and this looks delicious! I’ve pinned it for later ?
Thanks Natalie! I like your strategy! In our house any leftovers usually end up as work lunches, but it’s always great when we can cobble together something quick at the end of the week with whatever we have on hand.
Meal planning like this makes perfect sense! Your salmon looks great and is one of the fish’s my kids will eat! Yum!
Thanks Leslie!! Kids are definitely the toughest critics.
You had me at sriracha! I have been looking for new things to do with salmon- this is perfect. And I do need to get better at meal planning!
Thanks Terri!! Meal planning is such a challenge.
First off I love the idea of meal prepping like this, and is usually how I do my meal prep. It’s home most restaurants actually operate in theory. Do all your prep ahead of time, and then cook to order. my only problem is I never plan a week at a time! Looking forward to following along with this series! Delicious looking salmon by the way!
Thanks Markus!! I really struggle with planning ahead too, but honestly this made the week SO much easier. I’m going to try hard to keep it up!