I love to glaze salmon with a sweet and savory apricot sauce. There is something about the combination of a moist and flaky, flavorful fresh salmon paired with the savory, tangy, sweetness of the apricot glaze. It is a seafood combination made in heaven.
Salmon is a fish that everyone in our family agrees is delicious. Including Sam. Therefor, you may find more recipes for salmon on Mutt & Chops than other types of fish. So far I have shared party sandwiches, a sheet pan meal, an amazing pizza, and a hearty BLT. Cod fish may come in as a close second in terms of popularity. After all, I am partially descended from Portuguese stock.
Steve offices from home on Mondays. But his work usually has him on the road from Tuesday until the end of the week, so I often try to post for Mutt & Chops on Mondays so that he can be home to enjoy the results. Today was one of those days. And enjoy he did! He had to leave the table for a business call in the middle of lunch, but he grabbed his plate and took it with him. He wasn’t missing a single bit of that salmon!
If you have a cast iron skillet, then this glazed salmon recipe is an easy one for you to make. The cast iron, I have found, is KEY to making a beautifully seared, moist and flaky salmon portion. So, let’s see how it is done!
Making apricot glazed salmon
It doesn’t take much to create a deeply layered sweet and savory apricot glaze. For this recipe, I used Coho salmon portions. I chose them because they were fresh caught, not farmed. And with no color added. I try to avoid color-added salmon.
Oh…and you need some butter too!
Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat.
Add some butter, the shallots, and the garlic. Cook just until the shallots become a bit translucent.
Then add the chicken broth, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, and apricot preserves.
Stir to break apart as much of the preserves as possible. There will still be small pieces of fruit. And that is ok.
Cook, stirring to mix and clean the sides of the pan, until the mixture thickens and reduces by about half. It will be thicker than a syrup, but still easy to spread.
Remove from the burner and set aside.
Season both sides of the salmon portions with salt and fresh cracked pepper.
Then heat a cast iron skillet to medium or medium high heat, depending on your cook top.
Melt the remaining butter in the pan, and cook the salmon portions just until the cross-sections become opaque and the slight horizontal raw-looking line through the middle disappears (about 3-4 minutes per side). That is the key to moist, flaky but cooked salmon. Removing them from the pan as soon as that center raw line becomes opaque.
Transfer immediately from the cast iron skillet…
…and place the salmon portions in the pan of apricot glaze. Coat the portions until you have two beautifully coated, glazed salmon steaks.
Then serve with your sides of choice.
Steve and I enjoyed our glazed salmon atop chicken-flavored quinoa with herbs, with a side of olive oil and garlic snow peas. YUM! Just ask Steve. He thought it was amazing!
So, there you go! What could be easier than that? In less than thirty minutes you too could have a beautiful, sweet and savory, flaky and moist, healthy little bit of lunch or dinner in the form of an apricot glazed salmon.
It is totally worth the effort, so give it a try!
- 2 salmon portions, about 5-6 ounces each
- 1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce
- 2½ tablespoons butter, divided
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons shallots, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh garlic, minced
- ½ cup apricot preserves
- Salt
- Fresh cracked pepper
- Heat a large non-stick skillet to medium heat, then add ½ tablespoon of butter.
- Add the shallots and garlic. Cook just until the shallots become translucent. Then add the chicken broth, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, and the apricot preserves.
- Stir to break apart the preserves. Small pieces of fruit may remain intact.
- Add salt and fresh pepper to taste. Continue to cook, stirring every now and then, until the sauce has thickened and reduced to about half. About 10-12 minutes. It should be thicker than a syrup, but still easily spreadable.
- Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Heat a cast iron skillet to medium or medium high, depending on your cook top. When the pan is hot, add the remaining butter. Once the butter has melted, add the salmon portions that have been sprinkled with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Sear both side lightly. About 3-4 minutes per side, or just until the horizontal darker line of rawness disappears from the middle of the cross section. Remove immediately from the cast iron skillet and place the cooked salmon portions in the pan of apricot glaze.
- Spoon apricot glaze over the top of each salmon portion until well covered.
- Serve.
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