This brown sugar baked salmon recipe is such a delicious and easy dinner. Our easy brown sugar rub caramelizes and turns into a sweet, smoky glaze in the oven.

My family loves this easy salmon recipe! It only takes a few minutes to prepare, and you’ll love the brown sugar glaze on top. This recipe is perfect for when you are busy or overwhelmed!

This is one of my favorite salmon recipes on our site, this recipe is easy to turn into a sheet pan dinner. Simply toss a handful of veggies onto the sheet pan and bake them alongside it! I love fast-cooking green beans, but you can substitute what you love. For more recipes like this, see our maple soy glazed salmon or this lemon dill baked salmon.

Key Ingredients

• Salmon: Any salmon fillet will work for this recipe. I especially love salmon with a higher fat content, like sockeye, king, and coho. Salmon with a higher fat content stays soft and moist after it is baked.
• Brown sugar: It adds sweetness, and it lightly caramelizes in the oven. You don’t need a lot — one tablespoon for four large fillets is plenty.
• Lemon: A bit of lemon zest adds a pop of flavor. We use our microplane to zest the lemon. Then, we use the zested lemon for serving. A squeeze of fresh lemon juice just before serving is a must.
• Smoked paprika: It adds a smoky-sweet flavor and color to the salmon spice rub. For a spicier rub, try a little chipotle powder or cayenne (1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon should do it).
• Veggies: Since we bake our salmon fillets on a large baking sheet, we have some space left for veggies. Choose a quick-cooking veggie, such as green beans, zucchini, asparagus, snap peas, broccolini, or cherry tomatoes.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

Tips for Making the Best Baked Salmon

Tip 1: Use our salmon rub. This salmon is tender, moist, and soft in the middle. Add our brown sugar spice rub, and the outside becomes lightly caramelized, sweet, and a bit smoky. We love it!

I use the same salmon rub when making cedar plank salmon and love its simplicity. All you need to do is mix brown sugar with lemon zest, salt, and smoked paprika. Then rub it all over your salmon fillets (I’m pretty generous with it).

Tip 2: Turn this recipe into a sheet pan dinner. Add your salmon to a sheet pan and bake it in the oven until done. I use a 400°F oven for this recipe, which means it usually takes between 15 and 20 minutes. Remember, you can turn this into a sheet pan dinner, and add your favorite veggies to the baking sheet. I’ve shared suggestions below.

Tip 3: How to tell when your salmon is done. When baking salmon, you can tell it’s ready to come out of the oven when the flesh is somewhat opaque and flakes easily when you insert a fork into it. If you have an internal thermometer, use it! I take my salmon out when it reads 125°F, which means it will be a slightly darker pink in the middle.

Serving Suggestions

Since we bake our salmon fillets on a large baking sheet, we have some space left for veggies. I love sheet pan dinners! This salmon recipe needs 15 to 20 minutes in the oven, perfect for green beans, asparagus, zucchini, snap peas, peppers, onions, broccolini, or cherry tomatoes.

If you prefer heartier vegetables, partially bake them first. Add the salmon for the last 15 to 20 minutes of cooking, adjusting the total baking time based on your chosen veggies. For example, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts take 20 to 25 minutes, while root vegetables and winter squash take 30 to 45 minutes.

More side dishes you’ll love include corn salad, mashed sweet potatoes, cilantro lime rice, and my favorite quinoa salad.

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Here’s my method for how to brown butter perfectly every time. It takes 5 minutes, and you can use this brown butter in your favorite baking and savory recipes.

Brown butter is regular butter cooked a bit longer than usual until the milk solids toast and turn brown. You’ll cook the butter just past the melting point.

Browning butter creates a magical toasty flavor you don’t get with regular melted butter. Brown butter (or beurre noisette in France) tastes nutty, toasted, and like toasted hazelnuts.

How to Use Brown Butter

Use brown butter in almost any recipe that calls for melted butter. Toss cooked pasta or noodles with browned butter, as we do for our brown butter pasta with egg and this kale pasta. I also love drizzling vegetables with brown butter before (or after) roasting them. It’s absolutely amazing when used to make mashed potatoes, and it makes the best popcorn!

For sweeter recipes, swap plain melted butter for brown butter in cookies, bars, and even buttercream (yes, you can chill the butter and whip it!). I love using brown butter to make chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cookies, and blondies. It also makes these easy sautéed apples extra delicious, and I love drizzling it over oatmeal.

Easy Brown Butter

It takes five minutes to make brown butter. You can use it almost anytime a recipe calls for melted butter (hello, brown butter chocolate chip cookies). For herb brown butter, add a handful of fresh sage leaves, rosemary sprigs, or fresh thyme to the pan while you make the brown butter.

3/4 cup

You Will Need

1 cup (227g) butter, salted or unsalted

Directions

1Add butter to a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-low heat. As the butter melts, continuously swirl it around the pan. The butter will quickly go from brown to burnt, so stay close to the pan when you do this.

2Continue swirling the butter over the heat. It will melt, get a little foamy, and finally start turning golden brown. Remove it from the heat when the butter is light brown and smells nutty.

3Store brown butter in the fridge for up to two weeks or freeze for up to three months.

Adam and Joanne’s Tips

• Storing: Homemade brown butter lasts in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to 3 months. The butter will solidify again, but you can warm it over low heat when needed. To freeze brown butter, pour it into a clean ice cube tray, freeze, and then transfer the frozen cubes to a freezer-safe container or bag.
• How to freeze brown butter: Pour it into a clean ice cube tray, freeze, and then transfer the frozen cubes to a freezer-safe container or bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Gently reheat in a pan over low heat.
• Nutrition facts are estimates. We assumed unsalted butter.

Nutrition Per Serving
Serving Size
About 1 tablespoon
/
Calories
136
/
Total Fat
15.3g
/
Saturated Fat
9.6g
/
Cholesterol
40.7mg
/
Sodium
2.1mg
/
Carbohydrate
0g
/
Dietary Fiber
0g
/
Total Sugars
0g
/
Protein
0.2g

AUTHOR:

Adam Gallagher

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