Wonderfully Crunchy, Sweet, and Spicy Salmon with Bourbon-Pecan Glaze (All Ready in Under 20 Minutes)

Salmon with Bourbon-Pecan Glaze is coated in a wonderfully crunchy, sweet, and spicy glaze. Serve with asparagus for a deliciously healthy and easy meal.

This amazing salmon recipe can be made from start to finish in under 20 minutes. The salmon first gets seared in a hot pan, then coated with the pecan glaze and transferred to the oven where it finishes cooking.

You’ll need an oven-safe skillet for this recipe, either stainless steel or cast iron. If you don’t have either of these, you can transfer the salmon to a baking dish. If you don’t preheat the baking dish, it will take a little longer to cook the salmon.

The glaze is a simple mixture of brown sugar, bourbon, soy sauce, ground mustard, cayenne pepper, and pecans. It is wonderfully sweet, savory, and crunchy with just the right amount of bourbon flavor. The pecans develop such a fantastic buttery crunch in the oven.

Salmon with Bourbon Pecan Glaze Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 (6 to 8-ounce) salmon fillets
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons bourbon
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Season salmon with salt and pepper.
3. In a small saucepan, heat brown sugar, bourbon, soy sauce, ground mustard, and cayenne until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the pecans and the remaining tablespoon of butter. Remove from heat.
4. In an oven-safe skillet, heat olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat.
5. Add salmon, skin-side up, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
6. Flip over and cook another 2 minutes.
7. Spoon the bourbon mixture over the salmon.
8. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes or until salmon flakes easily with a fork in the thickest portion.

Recipe Tips

• I prefer wild-caught salmon for this recipe.
• Frozen salmon fillets can be used. Just thaw them completely first.
• Cooking time will vary based on the size of the fillets and based on whether you like your salmon medium-rare or well done, so use the cooking time as an estimate.
• Leftovers taste great on a green salad.
• The amount of cayenne pepper in the glaze adds a little heat. Double the amount if you want the glaze to be more than a little spicy.