Broiled Salmon with a spicy brown sugar glaze is a quick 15 minute salmon recipe that yields high returns for very little effort! Beautiful caramelised surface, juicy salmon inside, this is a terrific way to cook salmon that’s far less messy than pan searing.
Like the Chilli Lime Baked Salmon, this can be made into a one tray dinner by adding vegetables that will cook at the same time!
An amazing Broiled Salmon
Dinner really doesn’t get any more simple than this, but it lacks nothing in the flavour department! Especially that glaze – it’s fantastic! And I really mean it when I say this is a 15 minute meal. It goes like this:
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Glaze: mix mustard, mayonnaise, brown sugar and cayenne pepper (1 minute)
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Slather onto salmon (1 minute)
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If you want, throw on asparagus, broccolini and cherry tomatoes, and drizzle with olive oil (2 minutes)
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Grill/broil for 8 minutes
Oh wait. I can’t do primary school maths. That’s 12 minutes. 😉
Brown sugar glaze for salmon
This recipe is inspired by this Roasted Salmon Glazed with Brown Sugar and Mustard that I found in New York Times last year. The first time I tried it, I found that roasting the salmon didn’t achieve the promised glaze, so I’ve fiddled with the recipe a wee bit. Firstly, I grill/broil the salmon instead of baking it so you’re guaranteed beautiful caramelisation.
And secondly, the NYT recipe only uses mustard and brown sugar which sometimes formed a skin rather than caramelising. I think it depends on how oily the salmon is. So to remove that problem, I add a bit of mayonnaise which adds oil so it ensures you always end up with a beautiful glaze on your salmon. 🙂
Oh wait. I made one other – ahem – little change. I added greens. Asparagus, broccolini and cherry tomatoes are perfect because they cook in the same time as the salmon.
To get a good caramelisation, it’s better to broil rather than roast salmon
Add a crusty bread roll, and dinner is complete.
With just one pan to clean up.
In fact, you could line the tray with foil to eliminate cleaning all together. The reason I don’t is because I like to scrape the juices off the tray and pour it over the Brown Sugar Salmon. Can’t do this with foil, I always end up scraping up bits of foil!!
Brown Sugar Broiled Salmon is one of those recipes that is a great base for adding your own touch. I added cayenne pepper to make the glaze spicy. Off the top of my head, here are some other ideas: lemon or lime zest (not juice), garlic and/or ginger powder, Chinese five spice, sriracha or other chilli paste, swap out the sugar with honey or maple syrup, sichuan pepper, add herbs of choice – fresh or dried.
Love to hear any other ideas you have to glam this up even more! I mean, remember, this only takes 12 minutes to make. So I’m sure you can spare an extra minute or two for some other touches!! 🙂 – Nagi x
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Brown Sugar Broiled Salmon
Ingredients
- 4 x 5-8 oz/ 150-180g salmon fillets , skin on or off (I use on)
- 2 bunches asparagus (Note 1)
- 1 bunch broccolini (Note 1)
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Glaze (Note 2)
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise (I use whole egg mayonnaise)
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Preheat broiler/griller on high. Place the oven shelf 6"/15cm from the heat source.
- Spray a baking tray with oil (I use olive oil, any is fine).
- Pile asparagus, broccolini and cherry tomatoes on the baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss with hands then spread out on the tray, mostly on one layer.
- Wedge salmon pieces on the tray between the vegetables. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Mix Glaze ingredients together. Slather on the salmon - tops and sides.
- Grill/broil for 8 minutes - don't flip. The salmon should be caramelised and the inside should be blushing pink.
- Rest for 2 minutes then serve with crusty bread rolls.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Made this last week and my husband love it so much. He ask me to do it again this week. Thank you so much for this recipe. It’s easy to make and the good part of it, is it doesn’t require a lot of ingredients and time when your a busy mom.
LOVE hearing that Jenn!!! So glad you enjoyed it! N x
oh wow, this is a seriously wonderful & easy dish. When hubby says “this is restaurant quality”, he doesn’t mean Macca’s, he means top end restaurant.
The glaze is AMAZING! Since following your recipes, I’ve never used so much dijon but the flavour it brings, I should have been using it way before now.
Thanks again Nagi for making life more simple and delish.
High praise!!! Thanks so much for the feedback Barb, so pleased hubby enjoyed it! N xx
So my new Smeg cooktop went pop yesterday and will be waiting about a month for a replacement so I’m looking for BBQ and/or oven recipes.
Made this baby again last night and once again MOTH praised it so highly. The glaze is totally different to anything else I’ve made and with such strong flavors you’d think it might overpower the salmon but no it doesn’t, it totally compliments it. A sneaky pinot grigio also adds to the palate.
No way I could keep it for lunch today, I’ve guzzled it down for breakfast.
It’s really, really good and of course desperately easy to make. One pan, that’s it = Perfect!
Thanks for another great recipe, Nagi! I didn’t have cherry toms so used a scummy zucchini from the bottom of the fridge instead … worked perfectly! Paired it with a quick spud salad – so fast, and so good!
That’s fantastic to hear Anna Thank you for letting me know – N xx
Just made this for dinner tonight and was so quick and delicious!!! I’ve been making many of your recipies and the boyfriend has been commenting on how much of a good cook I’m becoming all thanks to you! (Before your salmon recipies he claimed to hate samon) I told him I stalk your page daily for inspiration and he now wants to marry you ? hehe xx
You shouldn’t have told him you were using my recipes!!! TAKE ALL THE CREDIT!!! ?
Ok I have been on a recipetineats kick this week. I have to confess, I LOOOOVE every recipe I’ve tried on here!! I made this salmon dish the other night and it was SUPER EASY and DELICIOUS! The sweet to savory ratio on this dish is perfect. Thanks Nagi!
I’m super flattered Stephanie!!! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it, thanks for letting me know! N xx
I wanted to use the salmon and broccolini in my fridge for an easy dinner so I thought I’d check if you had a recipe I could use and this was perfect! I didn’t have asparagus and couldn’t be bothered going to the shops, but I will definitely add it next time and there will be a next time with this recipe! Usually when a recipe says it takes 15 minutes it still takes me 2 hours, but this really was 15 minutes! And it was so yum, thanks! 😀
Happy to hear you enjoyed this Sarah! Thank you for letting me know! N xx PS And SUPER glad this didn’t take 2 hours – ha ha ha!!! 😉 N xx
Can this be cooked n the oven and if so what temp and time? Thank you
Hi Terri! This is an oven baked recipe 🙂
Hi Nagi,
I just discovered your blog this week and your recipes are a life saver! I loved this one. Because I’m not a chilli fan I substituted 1 tsp of smoked paprika for the cayenne pepper and this also tasted very nice. I had to stop myself eating all of the glaze out of the bowl it was so yummy and leave some for the salmon.
Josie.
Yay! So glad you loved it Josie! And welcome to RecipeTin Eats – love hearing from fellow Sydney-siders! N x
This was delicious, Nagi!! My husband and little boy are both sick and this dinner saved my life!! It was wonderful to have an incredible homecooked meal after we we’d had an exhausting day. Thank you so much!
Fantastic to hear Jessica! Though I’m sorry to hear your husband and little boys are not well. I hope they are feeling better?? N x
My husband is feeling 100% better, thank goodness! My poor little guy is still sick, but he’s improving. In the meantime we are eating lots of meals from your 15 Minute Meals cookbook!! Seriously, Nagi, we love your food!!
I’m glad to hear your husband is feeling better and keeping my fingers cross your little one gets better soon! 🙂
Can’t wait to try this recipe! If I’m using salmon with skin on, should the skin be facing up or down? I’d have thought it would crisp up better if it’s facing up towards the griller, but you mention you use salmon with skin on and the skin’s not visible in your photos.
Hi Libby! This does not cook long enough under the broiler for the skin to go crispy 🙂 If you want crispy skin, you can cook it on the stove, but don’t put the paste on the skin otherwise it will burn!
Hooray!! Another masterpiece Nagi! Some wild coho salmon with veggies is exactly what I needed tonight. The family LOVED it…well except for the tomatoes. I live with backward folk who refuse to eat cooked tomatoes. No matter, tomatoes are my favorite fruit & I’ll eat them ALL!
Aww JOSIE!!! Thank you for trying this and I’m SO GLAD you and the fam enjoyed it! (Tomatoes aside!!) <3 N x
Just popped back to let you know I made this tonight for the hubs and I and it went down very well indeed!
We added a few par-boiled baby potatoes to the tray as well as we didn’t have any bread and that worked really well.
That glaze is incredible. Mmmm… definitely going to be making this one again! 🙂
Awwwww Helen! Thank you so much for trying this, I’m SO GLAD you and hubs enjoyed it!!! <3 N x
That looks easy, healthy and delicious! Can’t wait to give it a go!
I hope you do Sarah!! It really is tasty! 🙂
Made this for the first time last night for guests. It was superb. It was quick and easy so I wasn’t spending time in the kitchen away from guests. Didn’t lack in taste and the choice of veg went well with the fish.
Thank you so much for letting me know you enjoyed it Angie!! I’m SO GLAD you liked it! N x
12 minutes and just 1 pan? I’m sold! What else do I need? Oh probably use that extra time to get on netflix 🙂
Yes, use the extra time to fluff up the cushions and prep to settle in for a couch dinner!!! 🙂
This seriously gives meaning to healthy fast food! Can’t believe it is only 12 minutes start to finish, and the glaze sounds amazing. And one tray!! So little cleaning up… definitely going to have to give this a go on a busy uni night.
I know, right?? Crazy! 🙂
Hi Nagi! It’s hard to say how much asparagus we grow and it differs each year. Usually we can eat asparagus every day for about six weeks. Our patch is about 30′ X 20′ and we put in 30 new roots last year. Most of ours is the fat sweet purple asparagus. It is so sweet! We like it steamed lightly, roasted or deep fried with a light tempura batter – it also is pretty good in stir fries! And if we have a really abundant crop we can garlic dilled asparagus spears which are really good with bloody marys! 🙂
Oh yum! We don’t see much purple asparagus as I’d like to see!! And as for tempura asparagus – you know you got me! PS Guess what cake I’m making today….?? To share here on Friday!!!
Hi Nagi! Girl, you made my day when you posted the Reese’s bars and now my cake! I feel so honored that you like recipes from and old woman in TN! 🙂 I can’t wait for Friday’s post!!
Oh Dorothy, I keep hearing feedback from family and friends about the cake!! Even my family – the toughest panel of all – said they LOVED IT and they aren’t cake people at all. And I didn’t tell them it was yours, they said it totally unprompted!!!
Nagi, are we psychic or what? (or ‘physic’ as the hubs says) I just posted a salmon recipe too – and I even quoted one of your previous salmon tips! Sometimes I think we must pop over (yeah right!!) to each others’ houses and peek through the window at what’s cooking.
What I love about this is that you grill it – genius! Also genius to add mayo to that glaze. I would never have thought of that. 🙂
High five girlfriend! 😉
We always need a good salmon recipe and this is perfect!!! Pinned! 🙂
I know what you mean, I can’t get enough!!
This recipe is getting forwarded to my mom. She’s addicted to salmon and loves the one-pan meal concept. Thanks for a great one! 🙂
ooh, I hope she likes the look of this! 🙂