Pan Seared Honey Glazed Salmon with Browned Butter Lime Sauce – The Best Salmon I’ve Ever Eaten

Published July 30, 2012. Updated April 8, 2024

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Pan Seared Honey Glazed Salmon with Browned Butter Lime Sauce. Need we say more?? This is one of the best salmon recipes you’ll ever try! The salmon has a delicious golden brown exterior and the perfect blend of sweet and tart and buttery flavors.

Pan Seared Honey Glazed Salmon
I’m going to be a little lazy about it and just tell you, you need to try this salmon! It is really the best salmon I have ever eaten! I saw this recipe over Epicurious, from Gourmet Magazine. I will be honest, Gourmet Magazine is sometimes too “gourmet” for me. Their version of this however looked awesome! Simple yet incredible.

Pan Seared Honey Glazed Salmon

I created my own version by jazzing it up to suit my taste. Rather than grilling it I pan seared it, obviously. I wanted a tiny bit of sweet to balance out the citrus-y tang so I added honey, and what better way to get that perfectly golden brown, crisp crust then to pan sear it along with a little sprinkling of flour?

I also thought if you’re going to make butter one of the main components of the dish then you may as well brown it and add another layer of delicious flavor. It’s amazing how well the citrus of the lime, the silky sweet of the honey and the deep, rich flavor of the browned butter go together. Browning butter takes a little extra time and attention, but it is ALWAYS worth it—I promise! Browned butter is incredible!

They all compliment the salmon perfectly. I can tell you now, the majority of the time this is going to be my go to salmon recipe. Not only does it taste phenomenal but it is incredibly easy to make.

Serve this alongside some roasted asparagus and garlic mashed red potatoes and you’ve got a delicious, elegant meal definitely set to impress. Enjoy!

Pan Seared Honey Glazed Salmon

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4.75 from 4 votes

Pan Seared Honey Glazed Salmon with Browned Butter Lime Sauce – The Best Salmon I’ve Ever Eaten

This is one of the best salmon recipes you'll ever try! The salmon has a delicious golden brown exterior and the perfect blend of sweet and tart and buttery flavors.
Servings: 4
Prep15 minutes
Cook10 minutes
Ready in: 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 (6 oz) salmon fillets, rested at room temperature 20 minutes
  • 8 tsp flour , divided
  • 2 Tbsp honey , divided
  • zest of 1 - 2 limes (I like it with a generous amount so in my opinion 2)
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 recipe Browned Butter Lime Sauce , recipe follows

Browned Butter Lime Sauce

Instructions

  • Working in batches of two salmon fillets at a time (or using two skillets, because you don't want to overcrowd the salmon when cooking it on the stove-top so it cooks more evenly), place salmon fillets on a cutting board or plate and sprinkle 1 tsp flour over each side of the salmon fillets and spread flour to evenly coat. Evenly drizzle 3/4 tsp honey over each side of the flour coated salmon fillets.* Drizzle 1 Tbsp olive oil into a 10 inch non-stick skillet, swirl pan to evenly coat bottom and heat over medium heat. Once oil is hot, carefully place salmon in pan and cook over medium heat, 3-5 minutes per side until salmon has cooked through and bottom has nicely browned**. Plate salmon immediately, drizzle each fillet with 1 1/2 - 2 Tbsp Browned Butter Lime Sauce and sprinkle with lime zest. Serve warm.
  • *Note that once you remove the salmon from the plate some of the flour and honey coating will stick to the plate so I'd recommend just scraping it up with a spatula and adding it to the salmon once it's in the pan, alternately you could just coat one side with the flour and honey then after adding it to the pan you can coat the top side with flour and honey. Either way works I'd just say don't waste any of that delicious coating.
  • **If you feel the salmon is darkening too much before the center is cooked through, you can brown the salmon in pan on both sides for about 2 minutes then place in a sprayed baking sheet and bake at 350 for 7 - 10 minutes to finish cooking through.

Browned Butter Lime Sauce

  • Place butter in a small (light colored) saucepan. Cook over medium heat, swirling pan occasionally, until butter is fragrant and has turned a tan shade (for a step by step tutorial on how to brown butter see link here, although I would recommend not to stir constantly rather swirl pan occasionally). Remove from heat and add browned butter along with lime juice, garlic, salt and pepper to a blender. Blend on low speed for 30 seconds to 1 minute until well blended. Pour sauce into a small glass dish (note: whisk butter mixture with a fork before pouring onto salmon as it will separate, rewarm if needed).
  • I didn't have much of this left after drenching the salmon with it but I used what was left over fresh corn on the cob, so good! Try if you'd like.
  • Recipe Source: inspired by Gourmet Magazine, July 2006

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106 Comments

  • Jaclyn

    Anonymous – that’s awesome to hear you got rave reviews of this salmon! I thought that drizzling the top with honey after laying it in the pan seemed like a better method I just thought some people may be hesitant of doing that over hot oil or something that’s why I stated it as a second option =). Thanks so much for your comment!

  • Anonymous

    I made this for a dinner party and everyone raved about it! It was AMAZING!! :) Thank you for the recipe! I change a few things- I dipped the salmon in a shallow tray of flour and then I drizzled honey in the saute pan and layed the salmon on it and drizzled the honey on top of the fish. It seemed easier that way rather than trying to coat the fish with honey before putting it the pan.

  • Laureen

    This looks so good, love your pictures, a must on my list of recipes to try.

  • Jaclyn

    Morgan – yes lemon would also be delicious I just prefer lime over lemon and I love the lime and honey combo. If you have lemons on hand and would rather do lemon that would work too. Hope you enjoy!
    Sweetie – yes browned butter makes everything better! I finally learned that last year, who knows why it took me over 20 years of life to figure that out =).
    Anonymous – that is awesome to hear! I’m glad it was enjoyed so much. Thanks so much for your comment! I was pretty proud of it because my husband loved it too and he doesn’t even like salmon.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks so much for the recipe! My husband said it was the best dinner of the year!

  • Sweetie Pie

    I’m going to try this Friday night for company! Thanks so much–your adaptions of the original recipe sound wonderful. Brown butter makes everything better :)

  • Shawn @ I Wash…You Dry

    This looks so tasty! We love salmon over here and are always looking for new ways to cook it! Yum!