This is the teriyaki-style salmon recipe that stole my heart and it only takes 7 ingredients! My partner cooked this dish for me when we first started dating and it won me over. It was marry-me salmon! After years of trying, I FINALLY got him to share the recipe. This top-secret teriyaki salmon recipe is all you need to win your special someone’s heart.
Simple Ingredients, Big Payoff
Traditional teriyaki sauce has four main ingredients: soy sauce, sake, sugar, and ginger. This recipe is very different from the traditional teriyaki sauce you are used to, but in my opinion, it’s the only recipe you will ever need to get that teriyaki craving perfectly satisfied. Teriyaki sauce is traditionally Japanese. This recipe is not an authentic teriyaki sauce, but instead, a sauce that reminds me of teriyaki sauce.
Store-bought teriyaki sauce can be filled with preservatives and processed ingredients. Know exactly what you’re eating with the whole ingredients in this easy recipe. You will need salmon, soy sauce, garlic, scallions, ginger, brown sugar, and olive oil.
Step-by-Step Recipe
First, preheat the oven to 350F. We want this salmon to roast slowly to infuse as much of the flavor into the salmon as possible.
Add the olive oil, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and scallions/shallot to a baking dish that fits your salmon (see photo 1). Place the salmon SKIN SIDE UP. This is the big trick in the recipe. It allows all the fat to seep into the salmon as it cooks. Also makes for easy skin removal (photo 2).
TIP: When cooking for 2 instead of 4, I like to use a 1/4 sheet pan instead of a 1/2 sheet pan. Easier to handle, easier to store, and easier to clean! (Amazon affiliate links open in new tab.)
Cook 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish. You will know it is ready when the skin easily peels off in one piece. Also, it should easily flake when you cut into the center, and the white proteins should be slightly seeping out of the flesh side of the salmon.
Peel the skin off of the salmon. It should be easy or either the salmon isn’t ready, or it’s old. Cut and serve. I flip it over to serve so the bottom is up. Top with sauce from the pan if desired.
What to Serve with Teriyaki Salmon
Here are some of my favorite things to serve with salmon:
- 15-Minute Fried Rice (if you have leftover rice)
- Roasted Asparagus
- Umami Green Beans
- Simple Basmati Rice
More Favorite Salmon Recipes
If you love salmon and want to take advantage of this amazing fish, try these options, or check out all my fish recipes here!
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Teriyaki Style Sockeye Salmon
Print Recipe SaveIngredients
- 1 1/2 lb. sockeye salmon or other salmon*
- 2/3 cup olive oil
- 2/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 8 inches ginger finely chopped (~1/3 cup when chopped)
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 5 scallions finely sliced, or 4 tbsp minced shallot
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350.
- Add the olive oil, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and shallot to a baking dish that fits your salmon.
- Place the salmon SKIN SIDE UP. This is the big trick in the recipe. It allows all the fat to seep into the salmon as it cooks. Also makes for easy skin removal.
- Cook 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish. You will know it is ready when the skin easily peels off in one piece. Also, it should easily flake when you cut into the center.
- Peel skin off (should be easy or the salmon isn’t ready).
- Cut and serve. I flip it over to serve so the bottom is up. Top with sauce from pan if desired.
Excellent! Everyone loved it – from the toddler to the teens.
I followed the recipe exactly as written and it was simple and easy and the cooking method worked wonderfully. I was really impressed with the way the skin peeled off at the end of the cooking time. That was much easier than trying to slice it off before cooking and I liked that it helped keep the fish moist during the baking.
The reason I only gave this recipe four stars is because in the end, the fish had very little flavor. I find it hard to believe myself given the ingredients. I used fresh ginger and grated it myself, I probably used a little more than the recipe called for, the same for the garlic. However, when I served the fish, both my wife and I were shocked at how little flavor it had. It certainly did not taste bad, it was just seriously lacking in flavor over all. Maybe I got some weak ginger and garlic, I don’t know, but it was a disappointment. This dish should have been very flavor forward and it was not.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Omar! I’m sorry to hear it didn’t come out super pungent for you. This isn’t a flavor-punch kind of teriyaki sauce like the thickened ones, and you can always cook the sauce down and pour it over… we’ve done that a few times when we were craving more. I hope this helps!
I’m wondering if the fish needs to marinate in this mixture for a few hours before cooking… that’s how I’ve always done it with similar salmon dishes. I’ll probably try this but marinate first
I loved this recipe for ease of preparation and great flavor. This was the first time I have cooked a large salmon filet which was wild sockeye salmon. I searched for a recipe that was an easy, baked salmon filet with a teriyaki-style sauce. This recipe came up with ingredients that I had on hand but had a little different way of cooking for me because it requires cooking the fish skin side up instead of down as I would usually do it. Also, Because I only had frozen Dorot crushed garlic cubes and Dorot frozen ginger cubes from Trader Joes, I used 6 garlic cubes and 8 ginger cubes as a substitute. I did everything else according to the recipe using all of the other ingredients and directions for preparation. My husband and I loved it and I will definitely make it again.
Thank you for taking the time to share, Elizabeth and I’m so glad you liked it… enjoy!
Candice, you are an inspiration! When I was a child my mother would often chide me with “Don’t play with your food. “L have spent my entire adult life doing just that.
Several years ago I came across your teriyaki recipe. I made it verbatim. Then I started playing with it. Instead of brown sugar I used a small can of pineapple in juice. Then the mango tree next door came ripe so I experimented with that. Cherries came in season so I tried that. Apples go really well with the ginger.
My next door neighbour is Japanese. Before the pandemic we would go out to lunch once or twice a week. We live in Hawaii, most often to Japanese restaurants. Once or twice a week I make him teriyaki salmon.
Thanks so much for your inspiration.
You just made my day, Jody! I love the ways you have played with this recipe… thank you for sharing them, and I’m looking forward to trying them, myself!
Finally!! I have found the perfect salmon recipe. Such an easy and Delicious way to cook fresh salmon. The balance of flavors in the teriyaki sauce on point . Perfect dinner with a simple green salad.
I’m so glad to hear it, Debbie… enjoy!