Honey Lemon Salmon

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Honey Lemon Salmon is a great easy weeknight recipe that’s on the table in 20 minutes. Made with four ingredients, this healthy fish dish can be served with a hearty salad or potato side dish. A quick and easy family recipe full of flavor.

If you’re like most home cooks, you stay away from cooking fish at home for fear of making it too dry or getting a fishy taste. But this Honey Lemon Salmon recipe might be just what you need. It’s pretty much a fool proof method of cooking salmon on the stovetop with only a handful of ingredients.

This method works with as little ingredients as salmon, salt, pepper and olive oil. But I’ve added a sweet and tangy honey lemon sauce to make it a little more special. Still, the technique is the same and adaptable for any other sauces or seasonings you’d like. Once you cook the salmon, serve it with any sides or on top of a salad like I did.

Ingredients to make honey lemon salmon

You’ll need salmon, honey, lemons, salt and pepper. I’ve also included the ingredients I used to make the salad which are kale, quinoa, feta cheese and pitted cherries. Then I toss it simply with lemon juice and olive oil to serve with the honey lemon salmon.

You can also serve this salmon with Greek Pasta Salad, Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice or Air Fryer Potatoes.

How to make honey lime salmon

• To start, dry the salmon really well and heat a pan with coconut oil for a few minutes. You want the pan to be hot so that the oil is shimmering, but not smoking.
• Place the salmon skin side down on the hot pan and cook it for 5-7 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillets. When the salmon is golden brown and the skin is crispy, it will release on its own, and you’ll know it’s time to flip the salmon.
• When you flip the salmon, that’s the time to add the honey and lemon juice mixture. The sauce will thicken and you can use it to baste the salmon in the pan. Leave the salmon only for a couple more minutes and then it’s fully cooked.

When you’re ready to serve it, you can garnish it with lemon slices and parsley and then add it to a side salad or serve it with rice, veggies or any other side dish you prefer.

Tips for making honey lemon salmon

• Dry the salmon with a paper towel. There is a lot of moisture in salmon so you want to make sure to pat it dry and only add salt once it’s on the pan. That will ensure that the salmon doesn’t release too much liquid that could steam the honey lemon salmon instead of sear it.
• Make sure the pan is hot before adding the salmon. When you heat the coconut oil in the pan, you want to make sure it’s shimmering but not smoking. I recommend heating the oil on medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes. If you hear a sizzle when that skin hits the pan, you know it was heated well!
• Don’t crowd the pan. This tip goes hand-in-hand with the dry salmon. If the skillet is crowded with salmon, there will inherently be a lot of moisture in the pan, which could affect the salmon skin getting crispy. To avoid that, cook in batches or use an extra large skillet so that the salmon fillets are not touching in the pan.
• Cook mostly on the skin side. I used to think salmon or any protein needed to be cooked equally on both sides. But you’re cooking skin-on salmon, the bulk of the cooking time should be on the skin side. This way the seared skin helps to gently cook the salmon flesh underneath without drying it out.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you cook the salmon skin side up or down

Always cook salmon with the skin side on and skin side down first. The skin creates a barrier between the high heat and the flaky salmon flesh, keeping everything in tact. It also allows you to cook the salmon on higher heat to get the salmon skin to be crispy without drying out the salmon. Plus when you flip it, you’re much more likely to keep in tact if it’s skin-side down.

How do you reheat leftover salmon

You can simply reheat it in the microwave. If you have more time, I recommend heating it on a skillet with the skin side down. When the skin gets crispy, then flip it for just a minute to warm the top.

Can you use frozen salmon

I’m all about the shortcuts especially when baking salmon. But when you pan fry it, I suggest you thaw the salmon first before cooking it. You can thaw salmon or any seafood in large bowl of cold water.

This Honey Lemon Salmon recipe is so easy for quick weeknight meals, but also fancy enough to serve guests or family on special occasions. I love how versatile the recipe is to be used with any sauce or any seasoning. And the best part is the crispy salmon skin that gives all the flavor to this salmon recipe. It’s simple, healthy and hella-packed with a sweet and tangy flavor!

More Salmon recipes:

• Salmon Burgers
• Harissa Glazed Salmon
• Panko Crusted Salmon
• Sheet Pan Lemon Garlic Salmon
• Garlic Cilantro Oven Baked Salmon
• Baked Salmon with Feta
• Pan Seared Salmon
• Pesto Salmon
• Greek Salmon
• Asian Salmon Bites
• Baked Butter Salmon

If you’ve tried this healthy-ish feel good Honey Lemon Salmon recipe or any other recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!