This honey garlic salmon baked in foil is a super simple dinner recipe! It uses only 5 ingredients and is ready in 20 minutes. Just whisk together the marinade, wrap everything in foil and bake it.
4clovesgarlicminced; see notes if you want to add even more flavor
saltto taste; I use flaky sea salt on the fish for serving
Instructions
Preheat oven to 410°F (210°C).
Place a large piece of aluminium foil in a shallow baking dish. Place salmon fillets on top of foil (lightly season salmon with salt, if desired).
Whisk remaining ingredients together in a small bowl and pour over salmon.
Wrap foil over salmon, making a loose packet.
Bake for 10-15 minutes or until salmon is cooked all the way through. (Depending on your oven and exact brand of foil you're using, this can take up to 10 minutes longer, make sure to check salmon with a food thermometer.) Serve immediately, sprinkled with sea salt flakes if you like.
Video
Notes
Ingredient notes
Salmon: I prefer using fillets vs a whole side, as they cook faster. I also prefer skin-on salmon because they tend to dry out less and are harder to overcook.
Oil: I used canola oil because it’s something I always have on hand and consider pretty universal in terms of accessibility. Feel free to use your favorite cooking oil. A toasted sesame oil actually tastes super nice here, so feel free to use it if you have it in your kitchen.
Soy sauce: I used a plain, regular soy sauce. There’s not that much variety available in my neck of the woods, but plain works perfectly. Feel free to use low sodium if you want to.
Honey: A mild, runny honey works best for this recipe. You could use brown sugar instead if you prefer that.
Garlic: I love fresh garlic here, but feel free to substitute ½ teaspoon dried garlic powder if you don’t have fresh on hand.
Extra flavor: This recipe I absolutely delicious with some minced fresh ginger added. I have young children so it’s way too intense for them and I don’t add it. Since I try to share family-friendly recipes here, I didn’t want to develop this recipe with the ginger as a must, and it really isn’t. But I’m just saying, if you don’t have babies and enjoy a lot of flavor… Add some minced ginger. And also, some red pepper flakes are nice, too.
Recipe tips
Use a heavy-duty aluminium foil, or double up on it. You don’t want all of your sauce to leak out!
You’ll notice I call for the wrapped salmon to be placed in a baking dish. I strongly recommend following this versus placing the salmon directly on the sheet pan. In case of a leak in the foil, you will only have to wash a baking dish and not an entire sheet pan.
The exact cooking time depends a lot on the exact size and thickness of your salmon fillets, and if you’re using individual fillets or a whole side of salmon. I always recommend checking the internal temperature with a food thermometer to be on the safe side.
According to the USDA’s food safety information, you need to cook salmon to 145°F to be safe for consumption. Get the full chart here.