Baked Teriyaki Salmon Recipe {Easy & Healthy} - Savory Simple (2024)

This baked teriyaki salmon recipe is an easy, incredibly flavorful dinner that comes together in no time. The homemade teriyaki sauce is fast, with only a few simple ingredients, including soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and toasted sesame oil. Your entire family will love this healthy salmon recipe!

For the most part, I’m a shellfish gal. I love seafood, but if I’m not eating sushi, you’ll find me going to town on crab, lobster, shrimp, etc… As a Maryland gal, I especially love using blue crab in my recipes (don’t miss my Maryland crab cakes, crab bites and hot crab dip; some of the most popular recipes on my site).

When it comes to filleted fish, salmon is my absolute favorite. It comes together so quickly, it’s easy, healthy, and it also absorbs the flavor of marinades so well! It’s also very predictable; I know exactly how long to cook it for perfect results each time.

One of my favorite salmon recipes is the maple soy-glazed salmon in my cookbook, The Gourmet Kitchen. I also love this honey soy-glazed salmon with caramelized pineapple when I’m feeling a bit more fancy.

However, this teriyaki salmon recipe is quickly becoming my new favorite.

Recipe Ingredients

For the baked salmon and teriyaki marinade, you’ll need the following:

• Salmon filets
• Soy sauce
• Mirin
• Cornstarch
• Garlic cloves
• Grated ginger
• Granulated sugar
• Light brown sugar
• Toasted sesame oil
• Scallions

Read more:This recipe calls for scallions. Wondering about the difference between scallions and green onions? Read my post aboutscallions vs. green onions to learn more!

How to Bake Salmon

Oven-baked salmon is one of the easiest meals you can make for a quick and healthy meal. To make this teriyaki salmon:

1. You first need to marinate the fish in a mixture of soy sauce and mirin. Let the salmon marinate for around 30 minutes.
2. Pat the salmon dry with paper towels and bake at 425 degrees F. I recommend lightly greasing foil or parchment paper to keep the skin from sticking. (Note: there’s no need to remove the skin first; it detaches from the fish easily once baked. Much less work!)
3. While the salmon bakes, prepare the teriyaki marinade by combining 3/4 cup of the leftover marinade with some cornstarch. Whisk in the remaining ingredients, leaving out the sesame oil. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and continually whisk until thickened, then stir in the sesame oil. Takes about 5 minutes.
4. Serve the baked teriyaki salmon over rice and spoon the homemade teriyaki marinade over top. Garnish the salmon with scallions (technically optional, but it adds color and a subtle onion flavor).

How Long to Bake Salmon at 425 Degrees F

This baked salmon recipe calls for four 6-ounce salmon filets. At that size, you’ll need to bake the teriyaki salmon for around 11-13 minutes. You’ll know it’s finished cooking when the salmon is tender and flaky.

If you’re using smaller or larger fillets, you’ll need to adjust the cook time by around 2 minutes. To keep it simple, I always ask the fishmonger to cut the exact size I need.

What is Mirin?

Mirin is a Japanese wine similar to sake, but it has more sugar and a lower alcohol content. You can find it in the international aisles of most grocery stores or purchase it online. Kikkoman is a popular option, but my recent favorite is Mikotu. A bit pricier, but it infuses tons of flavor. I love using it in my ramen egg and miso salmon recipes.

Mirin Substitutes

You can use a dry sherry or sweet marsala wine as a mirin substitute, if needed. Rice vinegar or dry white wine will also work, but you’ll need to balance the sourness by adding around 1/2 teaspoon sugar per tablespoon.

Recipe Tips

I like my salmon very delicate, and I prefer undercooking to overcooking it. If you’re using fresh salmon, it’s honestly fine if there’s a slightly darker pink in the middle after cooking. If you prefer the salmon to have a more well-done meaty texture, cook it for longer.

It won’t hurt the fish if you need to leave it in the marinade for longer than 30 minutes. However, because salmon is a flaky fish as opposed to a firm fish like tuna, the marinade does its job very quickly and you won’t necessarily see better results if you let it sit longer.

Did you know the rice freezes incredibly well? I love serving salmon over rice, so I use my rice cooker to prepare rice in larger batches, then I freeze individual portions. It defrosts in minutes!

If you want to branch out, this teriyaki sauce recipe works great on its own! I also like serving it over pan-seared chicken.

For this recipe, I’ve increased the soy sauce and mirin amounts slightly to create more marinade for the fish. If you want to prepare the sauce on it’s own, make the following adjustments: 1/2 cup soy sauce, 2 tablespoons mirin, 2 teaspoons cornstarch.

Even better, get a printable version of my teriyaki sauce recipe here.

More Easy Seafood Recipes

If you like this baked teriyaki salmon recipe, you should also check out my Salmon Chowder, Mustard Salmon with Broccoli and Potatoes,Sheet Pan Shrimp Scampi, and Sheet Pan Honey Garlic Shrimp!