This miso glazed salmon is a perfect weeknight meal because it’s packed with flavor, heaps of valuable nutrients, and it’s really easy to make!
Miso Glazed Salmon Recipe
Salmon is such a great fish to cook with. It’s readily available year round, it’s really high in protein (and plenty of healthy fats) and it’s so versatile. You can cook salmon in a very wide variety of styles and get consistently good results. This miso salmon recipe, however, might just be our favorite.
Salmon fillets in this recipe are marinated in an aromatic mixture of miso, coconut aminos, garlic, red chili flakes and coconut sugar. Then, we’ll bake the fillets until flaky. This recipe is a surefire hit, and you can serve your salmon on a bed of rice with some crisp green veggies on the side.
Miso in Japanese Recipes
Primarily, the Japanese make miso by fermenting soybeans and sometimes rice or barley. This could take six months, or up to five years. Miso is a very common condiment in Japanese cuisine, often used in soups, salad dressing, and in seasonings and sauce. It has a sweet, salty flavor that makes it a very potent flavor enhancer and a welcome ingredient in many recipes. As a marinade, it pairs very well with fatty, oceangoing fish like cod and salmon.
The aim here is a tender, juicy fish, packed with flavor, for everyone to enjoy.
You’ll Need
You’ll need a few key ingredients to make your miso glazed salmon. We’ve listed them below for you.
- Salmon: We suggest wild-caught king salmon for its greater size and heavier fat content. That makes it perfect for high-heat cooking, into which category baking definitely falls. That’s because the fish won’t dry out as fast as leaner, smaller fillets.
- Miso: We recommend white or yellow miso in this recipe. First and foremost, that’s because they are readily available at most Japanese and Asian supermarkets, and you can often find them in the Asian section of your grocery store. Second, their flavor profile is just perfect for salmon. Of course, you can substitute another type of miso for this if that’s all you have, but you should bear in mind that different types of miso have different salt levels. You might want to adjust your amounts accordingly.
- Coconut aminos: For this recipe, we’re using organic coconut animos. You can use soy sauce too. Soy sauces from different parts of Asia taste very different. Chinese and Korean soy sauces have very different flavor profiles, for example. If you’re planning on cooking more Japanese food in future, we’d recommend that you get some Japanese soy sauce.
- Coconut sugar: Brown or white sugar will work too.
- Garlic
- Red Chili flakes
- Sesame seeds, cilantro leaves and green onions
How to Make Miso Glazed Salmon
- Make your miso marinade and allow your salmon to marinate while the oven comes to temperature or up to two hours.
- Remove the salmon from the marinade, arrange on the baking sheet and bake.
Should I Bake or Broil the Fish?
What’s better, baking or broiling fish? We recommend baking salmon, mostly because in this recipe we’re using freshly marinated fillets with plenty of thickness. You can use the broiler right at the very end to get a beautiful crispy skin. Think of the broiling as a “reverse sear”, brought on at the last minute to lock in the moisture.
Miso Glazed Salmon Cooking Tips
- Be sure to remove as many small bones and scales from the fish as you can. It’s no fun finding fish bones and scales in your dinner. Make sure any bones and scales are completely removed before you start cooking your beautiful salmon.
- Use an instant read meat thermometer to get perfectly cooked salmon every time. You want to bake your salmon until it reaches an internal temperature of 125-130 F (that’s 52-54 C) at the thickest part of the fillet. It’s OK to remove the salmon from heat at about 130 F because the residual heat in the flesh will continue to heat it up, allowing it to reach the recommended serving temperature of 145 F.
Serving
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If you make this recipe be sure to leave a comment or give this recipe a rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐! I will be happy to hear from you!
Miso Glazed Salmon
Ingredients
- 4 6-ounce| 170 grams skin-on or off salmon fillets, about 1-inch thick
- 1/4 cup coconut aminos/ soy sauce or tamari
- 1/3 cup coconut or brown sugar
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon white or yellow miso paste
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes, optional
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro leaves
- 4 lime wedges for serving
- 2 tablespoons green onions, sliced
- White sesame seeds, as needed
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F | 200°C. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
- In a small bowl, whisk together coconut aminos, coconut sugar, garlic, miso and red chili flakes.
- Place salmon in a large shallow bowl and pour the the mixture over the salmon. Massage the marinade all over the salmon. Allow to marinate while the oven comes to temperature.
- Arrange salmon fillets on the sheet ( skin side down). Bake until salmon is opaque and cooked through, about 12 -14 minutes.
- Garnish with cilantro and green onions. Scatter with a good squeeze of lime and sprinkle with sesame seeds right before serving.
- Serve with rice and bok choy, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This salmon was incredible! The miso glaze gave it the perfect balance of sweet and savory. Restaurant-quality at home!
Love hearing that, Olivia! That miso glaze is magic, right? Thanks for your review!