Easy Glazed Salmon

Glazed Salmon on the grill.

Honestly, I thought I had posted this recipe ages ago. It’s one of our favorites and incredibly easy.

Cooking fish doesn’t have to be difficult or frightening. Buy a good, fresh piece of fish and pair it with just a few simple ingredients.

Whole grain mustard, brown sugar and soy sauce make a quick and easy glaze. Grill, bake or broil the fish. If you use foil on the grill, you don’t even have to wash a pan!

Here’s what you need:

Salmon, Whole Grain Mustard, Brown Sugar, Soy Sauce, Pepper. Also Aluminum Foil.

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Look at this beautiful piece of salmon. I love to buy fresh, wild-caught salmon when it is in season — Sockeye, Coho, and Copper River are all fantastic varieties.

You can obviously buy farm raised salmon all year round in the store but when you have the chance to get the fresh varieties, you’ll be amazed at the difference in flavor.

When was the last time I had a recipe with only 5 ingredients?

Making the glaze is easy. In a small bowl, mix 3 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar with 2 Tablespoons of Whole Grain Mustard — the kind with the little mustard seeds.

Add 1 Tablespoon of Soy Sauce — I like the low-sodium variety because it has a little lighter taste in addition to less salt…

and some freshly ground black pepper.

Stir it all up. The brown sugar quickly dissolves into the mustard and soy sauce leaving you with a nice, soupy glaze.

Pour and smear the glaze over the fish.

I like to glaze the fish about 10 minutes before cooking just to let the flavor seep into the fish.

Regardless of the method that you’re going to use to cook this salmon, you absolutely want to cook it on a layer of aluminum foil. The glaze gets quite sticky when it heats up and makes cleaning the grill or pan a nightmare.

When I make this on the grill, I make myself a little aluminum foil pan. Take a long sheet of foil and fold it over to double the thickness. Then make it into a pan shape by folding up a small edge around the outside.

In order to get the heat from the grill up onto the fish I take a sharp knife and poke several small holes in the bottom of the foil pan.

Pre-heat your grill to high then turn the heat down just a bit so that it doesn’t directly burn the foil. Put the foil pan and fish on the grill and cook at medium high for 10-12 minutes.

If you cook with the lid closed, there is no need to turn the fish. The salmon is done when the color starts to lighten just a bit, the fish flakes easily with a fork, and the glaze on the top has caramelized.

Don’t be tempted to over cook the fish. Depending on the thickness of your fish and the heat of your grill, this should only take about 10 minutes to cook.

If you are cooking inside, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and cook the salmon on a baking pan covered with foil. The cook time should be the same – about 10 minutes. If you want extra caramelization on the glaze, turn on the broiler for the last minute or two of cooking time. Be sure to watch the fish carefully under the broiler so that it doesn’t burn.

If your salmon fillet has skin, you can gently lift the flesh of the fish right off the skin with your spatula when you take it off the grill or baking pan.

This makes lifting the fish intact much easier and also makes a nicer presentation.

Pretty good for 5 ingredients and 10 minutes.

Tangy from the mustard, slightly sweet from the sugar, a little salty from the soy sauce. This is my favorite way to cook salmon.

Serve with your favorite side dish and a nice green vegetable or salad. A little rice pilaf and grilled asparagus will do the trick for me.

Here’s the recipe:

Glazed Salmon