Honey chipotle salmon recipe

Honey chipotle salmon is a delicious dinner recipe that is ready in under 30 minutes. It is a little sweet, a little spicy and full of flavor. Baked in the oven on a sheet pan means quick and easy clean up. Bake as many pieces as needed, this recipe is easy to scale up or down to fit your family’s needs.

I’ll give you variations and substitutions where I can, plus helpful tips and tricks for success. Read on for this info as well as the recipe. If you’d like to skip straight to the recipe, use the jump to recipe button at the top of the post.

You may also be interested in my bourbon salmon recipe and my grilled teriyaki salmon recipes. For ease of browsing, you can find all of my seafood recipes in one place.

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Honey chipotle salmon recipe

Weeknight recipes need to be quick, easy and fairly light on effort. This sheet pan salmon checks all of those boxes and is also a great meal for meal prepping.

Because the salmon is baked and not sautéed in a pan on the stove, there is no messy cleanup or grease splatter on the stove. Getting dinner on the table in record time is a priority, but clean up – yes, clean up is the real deal breaker. That’s why I love making salmon on a sheet pan.

Toss a handful of ingredients into a mini food processor or blender, blitz it until smooth, spread it on the salmon and bake.

That’s all there is to it. A perfect weeknight recipe that requires very little of your energy. If you have a few minutes to make the sauce the day before or in the morning before you go to work, it’s even easier at dinnertime.

What you need to know

This sweet and spicy salmon recipe is incredibly fast and it’s perfect for a weeknight dinner. I always make extra portions to have for lunch the next day. A salmon salad is the perfect use for cold salmon.

The honey chipotle sauce can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge until you are ready to cook. You can also portion out the salmon and wrap it tightly on a sheet pan the day before, unless you buy it pre-portioned. The recipe times are for a 6 ounce portion of fish. If your portions are slightly smaller, or larger, you may have to adjust the timing.

You can either have the fishmonger portion the salmon for you, or buy a whole side and portion it into 6 ounce pieces yourself. A food scale can be very helpful. If you aren’t certain how much your portions weigh, putting the pieces on a food scale will help you gauge portion size.

Ingredients for honey chipotle salmon

This chipotle glazed salmon recipe calls for a handful of ingredients and is ready in under 30 minutes.

• Honey – Honey helps to sweeten the sauce, provide a delicious “stickiness” and also balances the heat from the peppers.
  • Substitutions: If you don’t eat honey, or you want an alternative, try maple syrup or brown sugar.
• Garlic – Aromatic that adds a ton of flavor.
• Lime – Fresh citrus brightens the flavor of the chipotle sauce.
• Chipotle peppers – Chipotles are not super spicy. They do pack some heat, but they are smoky and give amazing flavor.
• Salmon – You’ll need 6 ounce portions. I buy a side of salmon and weigh the portions out on my food scale. If you have a good fishmonger near you, they’ll do it for you.

How to make

Here’s a quick summary of how to make honey chipotle glazed salmon. Please see the recipe card at the bottom of this post for the full recipe. 

1. Make the honey chipotle glaze for salmon. Spoon on top of the salmon.
2. Spread to make sure the entire top of the fish is coated before sliding into the oven.
3. Bake salmon for 12 minutes or so, until cooked to your preferred doneness.
4. Rest the salmon for a minute or two before serving.

Honey chipotle salmon FAQ’s

Variations and substitutions

• Spicy – Add in a few extra whole chipotle peppers from the can or ancho chili powder to give it a spicy, smoky kick.
• Make it a bowl – Combine the salmon with some greens and/or grains to make a honey chipotle salmon bowl for lunch.
• Try it with chicken – This sauce also works really well with chicken.

Serving suggestions

The sauce on this salmon recipe is pretty flavorful, so keep that in mind when choosing side dishes. Choose a side that is cooling, like a light pasta salad, or one that has a light, delicate flavor to it, like Mediterranean quinoa salad.

Here are a few other options for making it a meal:

• Veggie cakes – Make a batch and freeze the leftovers for a busy weeknight.
• Tomato Cucumber Salad with Artichokes – This salad is super light and easy. It’s the perfect side for summer.

Helpful tools and equipment

• Heavy duty sheet pans that hold up to high temps without warping.
• Parchment paper sheets are MUCH easier to use than tearing pieces off of a roll.
• Mini Food Processor – A great little tool for blending up small amounts of things when it just isn’t worth lugging out the big guy.
• Fish Spatula – This spatula is good for more than just fish! It’s thin and flexible, so it is perfect for getting under just about everything without breaking it.

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Originally published 5/14/15, most recent update 8/1/24.