Miso Glazed Salmon

We’re Pacific Northwesterners, which means we know our way around salmon. From simple recipes like Broiled Salmon to more elaborate dishes like our Miso Salmon Rice Bowl or Coconut Rice Salmon Bowl, we adore this blushing pink fish. Bursting with a uniquely meaty flavor, and about a gazillion health benefits, salmon shows up on our dinner tables more weeks than not. This ultra-easy miso-glazed salmon recipe has quickly become a favorite. Deliciously savory, with Asian flavors like earthy white miso, fresh ginger, rich nutty sesame oil and Japanese rice vinegar, this salmon gets an irresistible caramelized miso glaze on top thanks to a little time under the broiler. The end result? A restaurant-level meal that comes together with incredible ease. 

Miso Salmon Ingredients

• Salmon: Any salmon recipe will only be as delicious as the salmon itself. 
• Miso: White miso paste has become a favorite ingredient of ours! Bursting with umami, it is the heart of this recipe. 
• Ginger: We’ve included two kinds of ginger (a little fresh ginger and a little ground ginger) in this recipe to make sure that the final results are truly gingery!
• Soy sauce: It’s fine to use low-sodium soy sauce, or GF tamari if you need this recipe to be gluten free. 
• Sesame oil: Our pantry is never without toasted sesame oil. 
• Rice vinegar: Marukan and Kikkoman are two easy-to-find brands of rice vinegar. At your local grocery store, these should be in the same aisle as soy sauce and sesame oil. 
• Brown Sugar: Just a hint of brown sugar helps give the miso salmon the caramelized top that’s part of what makes it so darn delicious. 

Miso Glazed Salmon, Step-By-Step

1. Make the miso marinade in a container large enough to hold all 4 pieces of salmon. A 9x9 baking dish was just right for us, but you could use a similarly sized tupperware container or almost anything that allows the salmon to sit at least mostly submerged in the marinade.  
2. Put the salmon in the miso marinade skin side UP.
3. Marinate the salmon in the fridge for an about an hour — slightly longer or slightly less time is OK.
4. Crank your broiler to HIGH.
5. Move the salmon to a sheet pan. Lay them skin side down this time.
6. Broil the miso salmon for about 10 minutes.

Tips + Serving Suggestions

• How to buy good salmon: This miso glazed salmon recipe is defined by a boldly-flavored miso marinade, and so it can work really nicely with fattier salmon variety, like King salmon (also called Chinook salmon). Sustainably farmed salmon works well with these bold flavors well, too. We wouldn’t probably use this marinade on meatier Sockeye salmon, though, since we wouldn’t want to compete with Sockeye’s bold flavor. We have a really detailed salmon buying guide in our Baked Salmon recipe, if you want to learn even more about how to buy the very best salmon.
• Serve miso glazed salmon over a bowl of simple White Rice or Coconut Rice for a soothing, healthy meal.
• Our simple Asian Cucumber Salad or crisp Asian Slaw would both make nice veggie sides for this recipe, either in addition to or instead of the rice.
• Like most fish recipes, miso glazed salmon is best enjoyed right away, though any leftovers will keep in the fridge for a few days.  

More Easy Dinner Magic, This Way! 

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