Easy Teriyaki Salmon pan-fried to perfection and served with a homemade teriyaki sauce! It’s the perfect combination of sweet and tangy! Serve with rice and veggies to make it a healthy meal!
Love Easy Salmon Recipes? Then try my Honey Garlic Salmon or my Sriracha Honey Salmon!
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Easy Teriyaki Salmon
I’ve been eating tons of salmon lately. It is hands down my favorite fish to eat. It’s mild and super easy to prepare. Tender flakey salmon topped with a sweet and tangy teriyaki sauce! What’s not to love?! This salmon is a spin off of my Baked Salmon in Foil.
This teriyaki glazed salmon is the perfect dinner when you are short on time but want something amazing. The sauce can even be made a day or two ahead or time and kept in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook.The salmon get’s marinated in a simple homemade teriyaki sauce then pan fried. The sauce compliments the salmon perfectly and is sweet, tangy and thick. Half of the sauce get’s reserved for marinating and the other half for glazing the salmon during cooking.
I love making my own teriyaki sauce at home. I used the same homemade teriyaki sauce as my Easy Teriyaki Beef Meatballs and my Teriyaki Baked Salmon. This sauce is really easy to prepare and is amazing on chicken as well.
How to make Teriyaki Sauce
Making your own Homemade Teriyaki Sauce is super easy! It’s also a great way to control the sweetness and saltiness of the sauce. To make your own teriyaki salmon marinade at home you’ll need:
- Soy sauce: I always use low sodium soy sauce. You can use regular soy sauce with a splash of water to combat some of the saltiness.
- Ginger: I prefer to use fresh grated ginger however ground ginger can be substituted in a pinch.
- Garlic: I love adding garlic to my homemade teriyaki sauce. You can substitute garlic powder if you do not have fresh.
- Light brown sugar: Adds a nice sweetness to the teriyaki sauce. If you like your teriyaki on the sweeter side adjust the honey to taste.
- Rice wine vinegar: This vinegar can be found in the International or Asian isle in the grocery store. It adds the perfect acidity to the sauce.
- Sesame oil: Adds a wonderfully nutty flavor to this sauce!
- Cornstarch slurry: 1 teaspoon cornstarch + 1 tablespoon cold water. This thickens up the sauce!
how to make teriyaki salmon
- Add garlic, ginger, soy sauce, 1/8 cup water, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil to a medium bowl. Add half of the marinade to a ziplock bag and the other half to a small saucepan and set aside. Place salmon filets in the ziplock bag and marinate for 30 minutes.
- When you are ready to cook heat oil in a large skillet. Add salmon filets making sure not to overcrowd pan (I had to cook two at a time). Cook 3-4 minutes on each side until desired doneness.
- Meanwhile heat the reserved marinade in the saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add cornstarch and water to a small bowl and whisk to combine. Slowly whisk in the cornstarch mixture to the marinade and simmer until thickened.
- Serve immediately with the teriyaki sauce drizzled on top as well as green onions and sesame seeds for garnish, if desired.
To make this in the air fryer simply cook the salmon at 400 degrees for 8 minutes then brush with homemade teriyaki sauce!
Can this be made in the oven?
Yes! For baked teriyaki salmon simply preheat oven to 400 degrees. Make the sauce as directed and marinade the salmon for 30 minutes. When you are ready to bake brush the salmon with the reserved sauce and cook for 12-14 minutes depending on the thickness of the salmon.
Can this be grilled?
Yes! To make grilled teriyaki salmon preheat grill to 400 degrees. Make the sauce as directed and marinade the salmon for 30 minutes. When you are ready to grill the salmon brush with the reserved sauce and cook for 8-12 minutes or until the salmon is fully cooked.
What to serve with Easy Teriyaki Salmon
- I love to serve this teriyaki salmon recipe with white or brown rice to soak up all the extra sauce. For a low carb option try cauliflower rice or quinoa.
- Steamed vegetables
- Ham Fried Rice
- Chow mein noodles
- Lo mein
- Vegetable Fried Rice
- Stir Fried Vegetables
- Teriyaki salmon bowl (This has been my favorite way to serve this salmon lately. I put in sushi rice, pickled carrots and cucumbers in bowls and put this teriyaki salmon on top with a drizzle of spicy mayo! Yum!)
If you love this Salmon recipes then you will love my Salmon with Firecracker Sauce or my Salmon made in the Air Fryer!
Here are more recipes using my Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
- Easy Chicken Teriyaki
- 20 Minute Teriyaki Shrimp
- Baked Teriyaki Chicken
- Beef Teriyaki Noodles
- Orange Teriyaki Salmon
products i used
Easy Teriyaki Salmon
Ingredients
- *NOTE: Prep time does not include marinating time*
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 4 salmon filets, skinless
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon ginger, minced
- ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce, It is important to use low sodium. I find regular makes the sauce too salty
- ⅛ cup water
- 2-3 tablespoons brown sugar, depending on how sweet you like it
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
- green onions for garnish, if desired
- sesame seeds for garnish, if desired
Instructions
- Add garlic, ginger, soy sauce, 1/8 cup water, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil to a medium bowl.
- Add half of the marinade to a ziplock bag and the other half to a small saucepan and set aside. Place salmon filets in the ziplock bag and marinate for 30 minutes.
- Heat oil in a large skillet. Add salmon filets making sure not to overcrowd pan (I had to cook two at a time). Cook 3-4 minutes on each side until desired doneness.
- Meanwhile heat the reserved marinade in the saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add cornstarch and water to a small bowl and whisk to combine. Slowly whisk in the cornstarch mixture to the marinade and simmer until thickened.
- Serve immediately with the teriyaki sauce drizzled on top as well as green onions and sesame seeds for garnish, if desired.
Nutrition Information
Did you make this?
I’d love to hear your feedback! Leave a review and make sure to share your pictures on social media! Don’t forget to follow @thechefsavvy.
Becca
I’m not a very good cook and when I tried making this, the middle did not cook. Any suggestions?
Kelley Simmons
Hi Becca!
Sorry to hear this. Cooking times can vary depending on the thickness of the salmon. This could cause it to still be raw in the center as it needs more time to cook. A thermometer inserted in the center of the salmon can help too. When the same reaches 140 degrees take it out. Hope this helps!
Kelley
Patty
This was a winner, definitely a keeper!
Thanks for the easy and delicious recipe.
Kelley Simmons
So glad you enjoyed this salmon Patti! Thanks so much for sharing!
Chintamani
This was so easy, delicious and fresh/real tasting. 5 stars! I am not a huge fan of teriyaki, I think because restaurants often use processed teriyaki sauce from bottles. Also, I don’t love sweet foods. I mean, once in a while, I want a coke or a piece of chocolate cake–a real sugar event. But in general, I want my food to be salty, savory, spicy-and fresh. Not processed. But today I wanted to try to make teriyaki at home and I’m so glad I found your recipe!
I usually hate it when people post comments on a recipe, but they didn’t follow the recipe . . in this case I think I actually have something helpful to say.
I totally followed the recipe but I put in only 1 tbsp of brown sugar. I put in a bit more garlic and some green onions in the marinade. Not sure if the green onions in the marinade made an impact or not, but it felt right. All I can say is it is delicious and I think it’s ok to play with the recipe without ruining your food.
Also, I went to a local fish monger and my salmon filets were huge but I don’t know how many pounds of fish I was actually working with. I think next time I make this i will increase the marinade recipe by at least a half so I have extra sauce on the side. Or maybe I will just make the sauce to put on anything. it was so yummy!
It was super easy and delicious. Highly recommend!
Kelley Simmons
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for sharing your tips!
Dione Krueger
This is sooooo good. I’m on WW and I replaced the brown sugar with Monkfruit Golden sweetener and can’t really tell the difference. I will make this all the time. Thank you so much!
Kelley Simmons
So glad you enjoyed this salmon Dione!! Thank you so much for sharing!!
JanRenae
Made this tonight, and it was a hit. My 18 year old daughter said I could make it every night! Well, that’s not going to happen, but I will definitely be making it again. Had to use apple cider vinegar with a little sugar added, since I never have the rice wine vinegar, also only had ground ginger, so used a miniscule amount of that. Then discovered I’m out of corn starch, so used flour as thickener. Even with so many substitutions, it was delicious. Cooked it in a cast-iron skillet,, and served with plain white rice, and steamed vegetables.
Kelley Simmons
Yah that makes me so happy to hear thank you so much for sharing! Your comment made my day! 😊
Kori
Absolutely delicious! Best I have ever had. Definitely restaurant quality !
Kelley Simmons
Yah so glad you enjoyed this! Thanks so much for sharing!
Minot
Excellent 👌.
t
can i substitute flour for cornstarch?
Kelley Simmons
You can substitute flour for the cornstarch however you will need to double the amount of flour because it doesn’t thicken as well as cornstarch does.
Lewis
Looking to make this meal tonight, can you put the cooked salmon in three freezer with the sauce?
Kelley Simmons
Yes you could! It would probably need some extra sauce though when you reheat it. Thanks!
Marilyn Forbes
Yum and easy.