Honey-Lime Glazed Salmon

Salmon fillets fried with a honey glaze on the outside and bathed in a Browned-Butter Lime Sauce right after cooking. The results are a crisp outside with a sticky honey-lime glaze and a super juicy, flaky inside. You’ll love this Honey-Lime Glazed Salmon recipe!!!

I can’t say enough good things about this Honey-Lime Glazed Salmon. We eat a lot of salmon in my household and I’m always trying to find new ways to cook it, instead of just baked with lemon, salt and pepper, and olive oil. I’ve found that by applying a simple cooking technique called dredging before frying it makes delicious results! *Read more about “dredging” below. The flour coating before drizzling with honey, helps give the salmon a crisp outside and a really juicy inside!!! The coating helps protect it from the high heat and seals in the moisture. All those delicious juices are saved! Then after cooking the salmon is bathed in the Browned-Butter Lime Sauce that is so mouthwatering.

WHAT IS DREDGING?

The culinary term “dredging” is a cooking technique of a coating moist foods with a dry ingredient before cooking. It produces crispy on the outside and tender on the inside results. This is such a simple technique that makes such a BIG difference! Beef, chicken, pork, whole fish or fish fillets, or vegetables can all benefit from a light dredge before cooking. Dredging helps the food to have more flavor and texture from the oil or butter it is cooked in. Sometimes dredges are mixed with salt and pepper, shredded cheese, dried herbs, and/or seasonings. HOW TO DREDGE FOOD: Dredging is just coating the food in the dry ingredient. Flour, cornmeal, or breadcrumbs are the most commonly used dry ingredients.

Don’t confuse “dredging” with “breading”. Breading is usually a three step process with 2 dredges. A dredge in the beginning and one at the end. HOW TO BREAD FOOD: The food is first dredged in flour to help seal in moisture and to protect it from the high heat. Then it is dipped in a liquid such as buttermilk, eggs and milk, or just eggs which provides a sticky surface for the final dredge coating. Lastly it is dredged in an outer coating of bread crumbs, cornmeal, crushed crackers, or whatever you choose to create a thicker crust. For most fish dishes I prefer to just do a simple, light dredge in flour or cornmeal because I don’t want a thick crust on the outside. Fish generally cooks quickly because it is so thin. Unless I’m making fish sticks, then I would choose to use the breading technique. In my recipe for Honey-Lime Glazed Salmon, I just want a little crispness from the flour coating which is perfect when glazing in honey.

INGREDIENTS TO MAKE BROWNED BUTTER LIME SAUCE

• Unsalted butter
• Garlic cloves
• Honey
• Juice of 1 lime, (zest set aside for garnish)
• Salt, sea salt or kosher
• Freshly ground black pepper

INGREDIENTS TO MAKE HONEY-LIME GLAZED SALMON

• Salmon fillets, skin-on (preferred) or skinless
• All-purpose flour
• Honey
• 2 Tbsps canola oil
• Zest of 1 lime, set aside for garnish
• Salt, sea salt or kosher
• Freshly ground pepper

HOW TO MAKE THE HONEY-LIME GLAZED SALMON

• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• MAKE THE BROWNED-BUTTER LIME SAUCE: 
• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.
• While whisking constantly, cook the butter until the foam subsides and it turns a golden brown, about 3-4 minutes.
• Stir in the garlic, honey, lime juice, and salt and round black pepper, to taste.
• Remove from heat; set aside.

• MAKE THE HONEY-LIME GLAZED SALMON: 
• Season the salmon with salt and ground black pepper.
• Dredge each salmon fillet with 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour on all sides, then drizzle each fillet with 1 Tbsp honey on both sides.

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• Heat oil in a 12-inch cast iron skillet or an oven-proof skillet over medium heat.
• Add the salmon flesh-side down (top side) and sear until golden brown, about 2 minutes.
• Carefully flip the fish over, grill for 1-2 more minutes.
• Transfer the salmon skillet to the oven.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillets.

• Serve immediately with the browned butter sauce spooned over the salmon and garnished with the lime zest.