Miso Glazed Salmon! This recipe covers all the bases—a sheet pan recipe made with less than 10 ingredients and ready in 25 minutes. The salmon is moist and flavorful and features a sweet-savory sticky glaze.
Served with steamed or broccoli, this sheet pan salmon recipe can easily be a full meal. And for an even more hands-off meal, arrange broccoli or green beans on the sheet pan around the salmon and roast it all together.
Table of contents
Ingredients Needed
- White miso: miso is a fermented bean paste widely used in Japanese cooking. For this recipe, use white miso. See below for more on miso.
- Mirin: this low-alcohol sweet rice wine is essential in Japanese cooking. It’s most often used in sauce and glazes and can be found in the Asian section of most grocery stores, or in Asian markets. It can also be called rice wine.
- Honey: honey helps create a sweet, sticky glaze. If you don’t have honey, you can also use brown sugar.
- Soy sauce: when cooking with soy sauce, it’s always best to use low-sodium. Test kitchens and recipe developers use low-sodium soy sauce for development (or at least they should). You can always adjust the seasoning at the end if needed.
- Sesame seeds: I use white sesame seeds here, but if you have black, go ahead and use those!
- Salmon: I recommend using wild-caught salmon for this recipe. Wild-caught salmon fillets are generally thinner, which means they’ll cook through by the time the glaze becomes nice and caramelized. If you use a thick salmon fillet, you risk undercooking the salmon, or burning the glaze. Plus, a thinner fillet means more glaze to fish ratio—always a good thing!
- Green onions: sliced green onions are sprinkled over the salmon right before serving. They add a nice freshness.
How to Make Miso Glazed Salmon
- Make the glaze by combining miso, mirin, honey, soy sauce, and sesame seeds in a small saucepan over low heat.
- While the glaze cools, preheat oven and line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.
- Arrange salmon on prepared sheet pan; season with salt and pepper.
- Roast the salmon on the middle rack for 5 minutes. Remove sheet from oven, and turn oven to broil.
- Lightly dab moisture off of the surface of salmon with paper towels.
- Spread glaze over salmon. Transfer the sheet to upper-middle rack and broil until salmon is cooked through and glaze is spotty brown. The salmon should flake easily.
- Sprinkle green onions over top and serve.
How to Make Miso Glazed Salmon (step-by-step photos)
What to Serve With Miso Salmon
- Cilantro lime brown rice, plain cooked rice, or cauliflower rice
- Sautéed garlicky broccoli, steamed broccoli or roast small broccoli florets right on the baking sheet with the salmon!
- Smashed Cucumber Salad
- Ginger scallion noodles
- Japanese Milk Bread Rolls
- Crispy rice
What is Miso?
Miso is a fermented bean paste used frequently in Japanese cooking. It’s also referred to as “bean paste” and has a consistency similar to thick natural peanut butter. Miso comes in a variety of textures and colors, which are dependant upon an array of factors, including but not limited to, aging time (3 months to 6 years), amount of soybeans used, and ingredient base which can be barley, rice or soybean.
Lighter-colored miso is often used in light sauces, soups, and glazes while darker-colored miso is used in heavier dishes. The most common varieties are white miso and red miso, both can be found refrigerated in the healthy section of your local grocery store or Asian market. Miso is highly nutritious and good for digestion.
Variations on this miso salmon:
- Drizzle toasted sesame oil over top right before serving.
- Toss green onions with rice vinegar and toasted sesame oil before sprinkling over salmon.
- Top salmon with chopped cilantro for even more freshness.
- Serve with lime for some zippy tang.
If you’re concerned about buying miso for this recipe but don’t know how else to use it, check out these other recipes!
If you give this miso salmon recipe a try, be sure to let me know! Leave a comment with a star rating below. You can also snap a photo & tag @zestfulkitchen on Instagram. I love hearing about and seeing your ZK creations!
Sheet Pan Miso-Glazed Salmon
Description
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons white miso
- 3 tablespoons mirin
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons white sesame seeds
- 1 (1–1 ½ pounds) skin-on wild-caught salmon fillet
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- ¼ cup sliced scallions
Instructions
- Combine miso, mirin, honey, soy sauce, and sesame seeds in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until miso is dissolved into sauce. Increase heat to medium and bring to a simmer; remove from heat and let cool slightly.
- Meanwhile, heat oven to 425ºF (218ºC) with racks set in upper middle and middle position. Line a baking sheet with foil and coat with nonstick spray.
- Arrange salmon, skin-side down on a prepared sheet and season with ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper.
- Roast salmon on middle rack for 5 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and turn oven to broil. Lightly dab moisture off of the surface of salmon with paper towels. Spread glazed evenly over salmon; transfer sheet to upper-middle rack and broil until spotty brown on top and salmon is cooked through, 3–5 minutes.
- Sprinkle scallions over top.
- Serve with Smashed Cucumber Salad or Garlicky Broccoli.