Baked Brown Sugar Dijon Salmon With Butter Sauce

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Baked Brown Sugar Dijon Salmon With Spicy Maple Butter Sauce is a delicious, luxurious meal for any night of the week. Fresh salmon filets are covered with a brown sugar and Dijon mustard glaze, baked, and then drizzled with a simple sauce made with melted butter, crushed red chili flakes, and maple syrup. My kids (and I) love this meal, and I know you will too! This is the perfect recipe for an easy, filling weeknight meal.

Why you'll love this recipe...

• Packed with flavor: this easy brown sugar salmon recipe uses just a few ingredients, but they are heavy hitters in the flavor department. Brown sugar, salmon, Dijon mustard, and maple syrup all pair fantastically well together (yes, maple syrup!) and this is my favorite way to bring them all together in a savory, salty, sweet, and slightly spicy symphony. 
• Ready in 30 minutes: not only is this easy recipe one of the most delicious ways to cook salmon, but it is ready in half an hour. Brown sugar Dijon salmon sounds fancy, but it is so, so simple to make. 
• Easy cleanup: the salmon filets are cooked on a parchment paper lined sheet pan, so cleanup is a breeze. Throw the paper away, toss a bowl in the dishwasher, and wash a small saucepan. That's it! Perfect salmon with an easy cleanup, what's not to love?
• Fresh fish or frozen: You can use either fresh salmon filets or ones that have been frozen and thawed. You can also use steelhead trout, which is another fatty fish and ocean trout, in this recipe instead of salmon. 
• Nutritious: ​baked salmon is full of omega 3 fatty acids, which promote heart and brain health. 

Ingredients

For The Baked Brown Sugar Dijon Salmon:

• 4 six-ounce salmon filets - these can be fresh or frozen and thawed. You can use pre-cut filets or buy a larger piece of fish and divide it yourself. Skinless or skin-on is fine, whichever you prefer. Since this recipe is baked, it does not produce crispy skin.
• Brown sugar- I use light brown sugar, but dark would work too. The sweetness of the brown sugar is key in this recipe. 
• Dijon mustard- Don't use yellow mustard here. It will be gross. Dijon is far and away my mustard of choice for cooking. 
• Salt and pepper-  just regular table salt and pepper. Fresh cracked black pepper is always preferable. If you haven't, check out a high output pepper mill.

​For The Spicy Maple Butter Sauce:

• Salted butter- unsalted works too, just add a pinch of salt to it when it's melting.
• Crushed red chili flakes- you can leave these out if you really want to, but I recommend leaving them in. You can also use a little bit of sriracha either instead of or in addition to the chili flakes if you'd like. 
• Maple syrup- no need to bust out the fancy stuff here. We make our own syrup with Mapleline and simple syrup, and that's what I used here. The maple syrup adds a sweetness and depth of flavor that is a little unexpected, but makes perfect sense once you taste it. Salmon pairs beautifully with brown sugar, Dijon, and maple. 

Equipment

Here's what you'll need to make this easy recipe:

• Small bowl- this can be a small mixing bowl, or even a cereal bowl.
• Spoon- just a regular ol' spoon.
• Rimmed baking sheet- You don't want any salmon juice or brown sugar glaze to slide off of a flat cookie sheet.
• Small saucepan- for the spicy maple butter sauce
• Small whisk

How to Make Brown Sugar Dijon Baked Salmon

For the salmon:

1. Make the glaze: ​Combine the brown sugar, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Whisk and set aside. 
2. Glaze the salmon: ​place the salmon filets (skin side down if using skin-on fish) on a parchment paper lined rimmed baking sheet. Pat the filets down with a paper towel if there is excess moisture on the surface of the fish. Spread the glaze over the top of each piece of fish using the back of a spoon. 
3. Bake the salmon: Bake the glazed salmon in a preheated oven (400 degrees f) for 12 minutes, or until the internal temperature as measured by an instant read thermometer (meat thermometer) inserted in the thickest part of the salmon reads at least 135 degrees f. What other dinner recipe has a 12 minute cook time? Just saying. You'll know the salmon is done when it flakes apart, but retains a glossy appearance. Overcooked salmon is dry and totally opaque.

For the spicy maple butter sauce:

1. Melt the butter: ​melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium low to medium heat. 
2. Add the chili flakes: ​let them sizzle for a few seconds to release their spicy flavor. 
3. Add the maple syrup: ​add the syrup and whisk to combine. Set aside. 

Serve the salmon as soon as it comes out of the oven. I like to let people drizzle their own sauce, but you could also drizzle it before serving. Enjoy! See the recipe card below for exact measurements and instructions.

Alternate Cooking Methods

• Grill- you absolutely could make this easy salmon recipe on a propane grill or pellet grill. Preheat the grill over medium heat, then place down a grill mat and cook the glazed salmon on top of that. Check the fish after about 10 minutes. 
• Air Fryer- I haven't tested this recipe in the air fryer, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. Spray a piece of foil with cooking spray, lay that in the air fryer basket and cook the salmon on the foil at 400 degrees for 7-9 minutes. 
• A whole side of salmon- ​You can cook a whole side of salmon using this recipe. Double the glaze recipe, and glaze the whole piece of fish before it goes in the oven. Bake at 400 degrees f for closer to 15 minutes. Cook time will vary depending on how thick the piece of fish is in the center. 

Ingredient Substitutions

• Salmon: you can use steelhead trout instead of salmon if you'd like.​ Steelhead is a fatty, orangey-pink fleshed ocean going trout. It's tasty, not quite as strong as salmon, and usually cheaper. I can find it at Costco.
• Maple syrup: If you don't have maple syrup, you can use a little bit of soy sauce instead. The flavor profile will be a little different, but it will be delicious. I would start with 1 teaspoon of soy sauce and go from there.

What To Serve With Baked Brown Sugar And Dijon Salmon 

Some side dishes and pairings that would be good with this recipe are:

• Green beans
• Brown rice
• White rice
• Parsley potatoes
• Roasted broccoli
• Baked potatoes
• Funeral potatoes
• Corn
• Mashed potatoes
• Your favorite salad

Storage And Leftovers

• Storage: leftover salmon can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Store the sauce in an airtight container as well. I store it separately from the fish.
• Reheating leftovers: you can either flake the cold salmon from the fridge into a salad or reheat the salmon and sauce in the microwave. It's not quite as good as the first day if you reheat it, but it's still very tasty. 
• Freezing: ​don't freeze cooked fish. The texture gets mushy and gross. You can freeze the sauce in an airtight container for 3 months. 

More Salmon Recipes

Leave A Review, Please!

If you make this recipe (or any of my recipes), would you please leave a comment and a review? I would really appreciate it. I hope you love this recipe as much as I do! Thanks for being here. 🙂

Happy Cooking!

Carli

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