One of my wonderful readers recently asked for more fish recipes. I fully intended on doing cod or some other type of fish that I had never cooked before, but when I got to the store and saw this pretty, fatty salmon, my mouth started to water. …but I’ll be doing more fish in the future, so stay tuned.
This recipe is, of course, pretty pricey, but its worth every penny. This is the best salmon I’ve ever made and it was incredibly easy. The best part about this dish is that you can cook it any way you want. I opted for a skillet but you could also use a George Foreman grill, an outdoor grill, or bake it in the oven (like I did last time). Whatever you do, make sure to oil your surface well so that your fish comes off in one piece. It’s deliciously delicate and the teriyaki sauce is sticky!
I decided to whip up a quick sriracha mayo because I thought the spicy, creamy mixture would pair perfectly with the sticky sweetness of the teriyaki. Right I was. Plus, sriracha mayo is good on just about everything under the sun so it’s no biggy if there is extra.
Pair this salmon with some savory coconut rice, garlic noodles, or (not)fried rice and you’ll have a gourmet meal for at least half the price that you’d pay in a restaurant.
Teriyaki salmon with Sriracha Mayo
Teriyaki Salmon with Sriracha Mayo
Ingredients
- 1 lb. salmon filet ($11.49)
- 1/4 cup soy sauce ($0.24)
- 2 Tbsp. water ($0.00)
- 1/2 Tbsp. toasted sesame oil ($0.28)
- 1 inch fresh ginger ($0.13)
- 1/2 tsp minced garlic ($0.04)
- 2 Tbsp. brown sugar ($0.06)
- 2 Tbsp. rice wine ($0.27)
- 1 tsp cornstarch ($0.02)
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise ($0.42)
- 2 Tbsp. sriracha hot sauce ($0.24)
Instructions
- Make the teriyaki marinade by whisking together the soy sauce, water, sesame oil, minced garlic, grated ginger, brown sugar, rice wine, and corn starch (use a vegetable peeler to remove the ginger skin and then grate with a fine toothed cheese grater).
- Cut the salmon filet into four equal sized portions and place in a large zip top bag. Pour the marinade over top, remove as much air as possible and close up the bag. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, mixing the bag occasionally to redistribute the marinade.
- Heat a large, well oiled skillet over medium/high heat. It’s a good idea to use a non-stick surface here too just to be safe (teflon or well seasoned cast iron). The teriyaki sauce gets thick and sticky when cooked. Once the skillet is hot, add the fish, face down. Cook on all four sides for 2-3 minutes each side or until the fish has reached your desired doneness.
- In a small bowl, mix together the sriracha hot sauce and mayonnaise. Serve the fish with a dollop of sriracha mayo on top!
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
Step By Step Photos
Whisk together the soy sauce, water, sesame oil, grated ginger, minced garlic, brown sugar, rice wine, and corn starch. This is your teriyaki marinade.
This is the big, one pound piece of salmon I bought.
Cut the salmon into four pieces of about the same weight. The two on the left are thinner so I cut them a little larger than the two on the right.
Place the salmon pieces in a zip top bag and add the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. I placed the bag face down so that the flesh side would be in contact with the marinade the whole time.
To cook the salmon in a skillet, heat the skillet over medium/high heat and make sure to add plenty of oil or non-stick spray. When it’s nice and hot, add the salmon flesh side down. Cook the salmon for 2-3 minutes on each side or until it is cooked to the point that you like it (I like mine medium/rare).
Turn the salmon and cook on each side. The marinade will get nice and thick and sticky as it cooks, which is why you need to make sure its all oiled well. I cooked the salmon with skin side down last.
And then it’s done… it’s that easy. You can also just pop it into a countertop grill or a hot oven. Lots of choices here.
Mix up some sriracha sauce and mayonnaise. You can use any ratio you’d like depending on how spicy you want it. I used 2 parts mayo to one part sriracha. I had plenty for all four pieces with just 1/4 cup of mayo and 2 Tbsp of sriracha.
This stuff is so good. Eat it on sandwiches, as a chip dip, or whatever. It’s so YUM.
If you don’t like sriracha or mayo, this fish is pretty phenomenal by its self too! I had a hard time not just gobbling it up before the photos were taken.
I liked cooking it in a skillet because the salmon stayed super moist… although a countertop grill may have been a little easier (no flipping required!).
OMG, so delicious.
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I had a random desire to make this one day, which is interesting because I never liked teriyaki that much. But after making this, I realized I don’t like store-bought teriyaki sauce. This, however, is easy to make and amazing! It’s now in my top three ways to prepare salmon. If you’re in a rush, you really don’t need to marinate the salmon for 30 minutes before cooking. Of course, it is better marinated but don’t let the time commitment prevent you from making this!
Also, I forgot to mention that you can replace rice wine with a little bit of rice vinegar instead. I had to do this because I didn’t have rice wine and my roommate is allergic to alcohol.
What are instructions for baking? Temperature? Time?ย
This one is cooked in a skillet, not baked.
Amazing…. it looks so nice
This was definitely good and we ate it up. I think it would be better if cooked in cast iron or on the grill because ours didn’t crisp up at all on the outside, and I used a piping hot nonstick skillet. At least the fish was very tender and flaky. I would also be sure to marinade it all day or overnight. I left mine for a few hours in the fridge and the flavor seemed like it hadn’t really saturated as much as I had hoped. I poured about half of the marinade into the skillet after I had cooked one side, not sure if that helped or hurt the outcome but the fish looked so plain without it.
I served this with the sesame kale recipe from this blog and I was amazed by how quickly it all came together. Highly recommend!
Also, don’t forget to serve with the sriracha mayo like I did! Whoops! Went good with the leftovers at least.
I halved the recipe and used frozen skinless salmon filets from Aldi instead of fresh, which worked fine.
I was confused on what to do with the excess marinade, so I initially dumped it all in the skillet with the salmon (face palm). I quickly realized that and it was WAY too much liquid and awkwardly dumped most of it into the sink, which seemed to save it.
Love the sriracha mayo complement! I served over brown jasmine rice sprinkled with green onions and sesame seeds.ย
Really liked the marinade! I’m pretty new to cooking salmon but I think it went well overall! I did not get the spicy mayo but it probably would have went well with the fish.
I accidentally added the sriracha and mayo into the marinade, and it turned out AMAZING! I put the salmon on a hot cast iron for a couple minutes then put it in the oven with a tinfoil hat for 10 min, removed the hat for the last 5-10 minutes, and added rebased it in its sauce a couple times during baking. It turned out so juicy and was the best salmon we have ever made. Thank you!
Made this tonight and it was SO FREAKIN GOOD. ๐คค So simple and so delicious. I love recipes that are minimal work and yield high returns. I made it with Budget Byteโs soy glazed eggplant and wow those were amazing too. Canโt wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow!ย
Happy to hear it Jordan!
This was the best salmon recipe Iโve ever tried! My husband and I thought it was restaurant quality, and all of my kids (even my toddler) gobbled it up. The sriracha mayo was a really nice addition, but it was tasty without as well (left it off my kidsโ portions since they donโt like spicy food). I paired it with your mango cucumber salad recipe and jasmine rice. Definitely going into our dinner rotation!
This is the best salmon recipe I have ever tried! I baked it in the oven instead of cooking it in a pan and it was amazing!
This might be my favorite Budget Bytes recipe. It’s delicious.
I was afraid the teriyaki marinade would be too salty, but the fish came out perfect! I let the salmon sit in the marinade overnight & cooked it the next day. I also made a side of stir-fried vegetables and cucumber salad (all budget bytes recipes!). It was an amazing meal! I will be making it again and again.ย
Really good! ย I substituted Honey for the brown sugar (because I didn’t have any on hand). ย Came out really good – it’s a keeper! Thank you!
This turned out delicious! I actually didn’t have time to marinate the salmon but coated it in sauce and browned it and baked it in the oven. In the mean time, I stir fried vegetables in the sauce then when the salmon was ready, added cooked egg noodles to the vegetables and topped it with the salmon with coriander and cashew nuts. I also added a bit of japanese mirin sauce to the marinade.
Made this for my parents tonight and my dad keeps raving about it. Swears it’s a restaurant worthy dish. It was a little spicy for me, so I might do less sirracha on my serving. next time. There will definitely be a next time! This was quick and easy. I didn’t have the toasted seasame oil (used a little canola) and i didn’t have rice wine so i just added a little splash of rice wine vinegar. I also used jarred ginger and low-sodium soy sauce. It was super delicious! Thanks!