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Today I’m excited to share one of my recent favorite dinners – sweet and spicy orange salmon. It’s a healthy dinner idea that is quick and easy.
Hi everyone! I’m Alyssa, and I’m popping over from My Sequined Life where I share food and drink recipes that are on the easier and customizable side.
There’s nothing worse than coming in the door a little bit hungry after a busy day and having no clue what to prepare for dinner, right? That’s a surefire way to become hangry…and/or reach for the take-out menu.
Sweet and Spicy Orange Salmon
That’s where this sweet and spicy salmon comes in. It’s on the table in about 45 minutes, including the time it takes for a quick marinade! It’s a healthier main dish recipe that fits in wonderfully with any healthy eating intentions you may or may not have made after ringing in the new year. Plus it’s packed full of flavor!
Spicy Marinade for Salmon
The marinade/sauce is made with ingredients that very well may already be in your cabinets and fridge, or you may need to purchase just one or two items. What I love about a few of these ingredients (like sesame oil and sriracha) is that after you buy them once, you’re then ready to go for a ton of recipes that incorporate Asian-inspired flavors. I love the uniqueness they bring to a dish!
Sriracha
The level of spiciness is customizable here, so feel free to increase or decrease the sriracha in line with your preferences. The sauce calls for three tablespoons, but since some is discarded with the marinade it isn’t a super spicy dish. As I’m mixing up the marinade ingredients I take a little taste and add more as I go if I’m feeling like something on the spicier side.
What to Serve with Salmon
As this sweet and spicy orange salmon was cooking, I made spicy stovetop asparagus as a side dish, which I’ve been pairing with everything lately, but you can serve this salmon with a side salad, on mashed potatoes or rice, etc. This Dill pea and cucumber salad would be especially light and fresh!
More Asian Recipes:
- Tasty Orange Chicken
- Korean Asian Braised Short Ribs
- Quick and Easy 15-Minute Chicken Stir Fry
- One Pan Simple Asian Shrimp Noodles
- Teriyaki Chicken Casserole
- Thai Peanut Steak Salad
- Asian Chicken Skewers with Honey Garlic Sauce
- Pork Dumplings
- Quick and Easy Cashew Chicken
- Teriyaki Chicken Noodles
- Grilled Sweet and Sour Chicken
- …All of Our Asian Recipes!
Spicy Tuna Cake Salad with Orange Balsamic Vinaigrette
Have you had tuna cakes? Wait until you try this recipe!
Sweet and Spicy Orange Salmon
Sweet and Spicy Orange Salmon
Ingredients
- 1 Juiced Orange, about 1/4 cup
- 1 Zest Orange
- 1/4 Cup Reduced-Sodium Soy Sauce
- 1/4 Cup Honey
- 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
- 3 Tablespoon Sriracha, more or less to taste
- 2 lbs Salmon Fillet, between 1 1/2 – 2 lbs total
Instructions
- Whisk together orange juice, orange zest, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, and sriracha in a bowl.1 Juiced Orange, 1 Zest Orange, 1/4 Cup Reduced-Sodium Soy Sauce, 1/4 Cup Honey, 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil, 3 Tablespoon Sriracha
- Reserve about 1/4 cup of the sauce in a separate bowl for glazing later on.
- Add remaining sauce to a shallow dish (or a plastic bag) and place the salmon in it to marinate for about 20 minutes, flipping the salmon over halfway through.2 lbs Salmon Fillet
- As the salmon is marinating, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. You’ll want a rack to be situated in the middle of the oven, as well as one near the top.
- Line a baking sheet with foil and spray it with cooking spray.
- Once the salmon has finished marinating, place the salmon on the prepared sheet, skin side down, and bake on the middle rack for about 18 minutes.
- After 18 minutes, remove the sheet from the oven and brush the reserved 1/4 cup of sauce over the salmon fillets (see note).
- Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees F and place sheet on the upper oven rack.
- Broil for about 2 minutes, or until the edges of the salmon begin to crisp and brown.
- Serve!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
What could I substitute for the sesame oil? Or could I leave it out and not worry about it?
You could substitute olive oil, but the sesame oil is pretty key to that Asian flavor. But I totally get it if you don’t have it on hand!
This is absolutely delicious! MY fiancée and I love salmon and were looking for some different ways to prepare it! This came up on my pinterest and I haven’t turned back since. The flavors are DELICIOUS and I love the hidden spice that comes up should you use the sriacha. I am not a huge spicy person so I use 2 TBS instead of 3 and it comes out great! the cook time makes it flaky and delicious and not dry! I absolutely recommend and have turned my entire family onto this! what an easy quick way to enjoy a nice meal with the flavor of gourmet/take out for an affordable price that you can do at home! Thanks for sharing!
Holy moly Jenn! Thank you for the great review! I’m so glad you enjoy thus revipe!
I don’t have a broiling pan. Is it possible to skip the broiling process? Will it affect the recipe at all?
Any baking dish or even a cookie sheet will work just fine. But if you want to skip that step, it will still taste just fine! We just like the caramelization a quick broil gives the top of the salmon.
Thank you for the info.
You’re welcome!
I don’t broil it and it always comes out just fine 🙂
This is SO good! I make it at least twice a month. I did decrease the sriracha to 2 tablespoons for us. Still nicely spicy. I’ve served with bacon wrapped asparagus, roasted mixed vegetables, broccoli, green beans… it’s great with your favorite veggie.
Dang! I want to come to dinner at your house! It sounds amazing! Thank you for the feedback and I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Oh yes delicious! I followed recipe exactly. So tasty. I made with quinoa and spinach on the side.
Those are the perfect sides!! So glad you enjoyed it!
I made this the other night and it is SO EASY and SO VERY TASTY! Our daughter liked the spiciness but said her lips were burning! (She enjoyed that, as well!) Great, simple, tasty recipe. We will DEFINITELY make this again! Thanks for putting it out there!
Thank you John! So glad it was enjoyed by your family!
Love this! I am in! Subscribing NOW! Thank you!
Yippee!! Welcome!!
This sounds really delish but I can’t have soy sauce. Any suggestions for a substitute or can I just leave it out? I would really like to try this.
Tamari is the closest substitute in taste, and other people substitute with worchestershire sauce. Same measurements for either one.
We use Liquid COCONUT Aminos. Great taste, no soy and VERY LITTLE sodium!
coconut aminos
This was so good. I used about 2 tablespoons of siracha and could have used 4. Also I placed it skin side down of foil and grilled it for about 20 minutes, glazed it and cooked about 5 more minutes Will make this again for sure.
Hurray! Thank you Cheryl!
Hi,this recipe looks so delicious and will try it. Question I have is the serving size listed as 1 gram. Is this correct?
Thanks,
Adriana
Thank you Adriana! The serving size is 1 salmon fit. Enjoy!
Looks delicious but I never cook my salmon that long. I like it medium rare. Tweaks??
We usually stick with the 6 minutes per 1/2 inch of thickness, but feel free to adjust the baking time according to your liking.