Pan Seared Salmon Recipe with Greens
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Pan Seared Salmon with Greens is a quick and easy flakey and tender salmon recipe that’s simmered in a honey ginger soy sauce. It’s ready in about 15 minutes using one skillet and is incredibly delicious! Perfect for speedy and healthy weeknight dinners.
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Salmon Recipe Overview
This salmon recipe is a delicious, quick, and easy dish using only a handful of ingredients. It’s a tender, juicy, and effortless way to cook salmon and greens perfectly and simmer it in a honey, soy, and ginger sauce with a hint of heat when adding red pepper flakes.
- Cooking time: 5 minutes to prep; 10-15 minutes to cook
- What you need: Large lidded skillet
- Servings: About 4 servings
What I Love About This Pan Seared Salmon
This salmon recipe has been on repeat in my kitchen for quite a while. It began with a walk down the produce aisle at my market.
I seem to always gravitate to green and white. And that was true on that day with a fresh, beautiful bunch of bok choy. Its green and white colors are strikingly pretty on a gloomy Seattle winter day.
Salmon is frequently on our menu at home, and while standing in the produce aisle, eyeing those beautiful greens, all I could think about was salmon and bok choy in a skillet with a delicious honey sauce.
It was dinner that night… and many nights since.
I hope you love this quick and easy salmon recipe as much as we do. It’s simple to make with a combination of pan searing and steaming, which is why I included a lidded skillet in the kitchen equipment needs.
You may also enjoy another skillet salmon recipe: Easy Honey Garlic Salmon Recipe.
If you don’t have a lid for your skillet (which actually I don’t either), you can improvise with another lid (my Dutch oven lid fits perfectly over my skillet) or even a sheet of foil.
And truthfully, you could skip the steaming and pan-sear the entire recipe. I love the steaming step because it brings additional moisture to the salmon, and I love the soft, flakey interior.
Here’s to another quick and easy weeknight dinner!
Salmon Recipe Ingredients
Here is a quick list of what you’ll need to make this easy salmon recipe. The ingredient measurements are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Salmon: I’m using a large fillet, but you can also use smaller fillets individually cut to the number of servings you need. I’m using steelhead salmon (because it was the freshest at my fish market this morning), and it’s about 1 1/2 inches thick.
- Olive oil for pan-searing.
- Soy Honey Sauce: garlic cloves, fresh ginger (or substitute ground ginger), soy sauce, honey, and optional red pepper flakes.
- Bok choy: or any other leafy greens, like Swiss chard or kale, that catches your eye.
How to Make Pan Seared Salmon
Step-by-step instructions are also in the recipe card below.
Prepare the bok choy
Separate the greens from the root ends, then chop the ends into small pieces and the leafy greens separately (you will add them at different times while cooking).
Whisk the Honey Soy glaze
In a small bowl, combine the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, honey, and pinch of red pepper flakes.
Pan-sear the salmon.
Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet, and add the salmon and chopped root ends of the bok choy. Pour the honey soy sauce over the salmon and cook for 1-2 minutes. Then add the lid and cook for another 3-4 minutes (depending on the thickness of your salmon). Salmon should reach an internal temperature of 145°F.
Add the greens.
Remove the lid, stir the sauce, and add the chopped leafy tops. Cook for another few seconds until the greens begin to wilt.
How to Tell When Salmon is Fully Cooked
According to the USDA, using an instant-read thermometer, salmon should reach 145°F (63°C) at its thickest part.
Without using an instant-read thermometer, gently press down in the middle of the fillet with a fork. If the salmon flakes and separates easily along the white lines across the fillet —it most likely has finished cooking.
In determining the texture, here are a few hints that let you know what stage of cooking the salmon is:
Rare: It will be translucent and soft to the touch and should read 110-115°F (43-46°C) on a thermometer. This is not recommended for food safety.
Medium: The flesh will be opaque and slightly firm with a pinkish center. Resting it for 3-5 minutes will continue the cooking process. Temperature will read 120-125°F (48-51°C).
Well done: The flesh will be firm and fully cooked with no pink color remaining at 140-150°F (60-65 °C).
Salmon Recipe Tips
Cooking salmon in a skillet: Place salmon skin-side down in the skillet. As the salmon cooks, you will see the color of the filet begin to lighten, starting at the bottom of the filet. For thick filets, this will take a total of 8-9 minutes; for thinner filets, about 6-7 minutes. Adding the lid helps the salmon steam, as well as pan sear, providing a delicious texture.
Marinating: If you have time, marinating this salmon for about 30 minutes infuses it with an additional depth of flavor and helps ensure it stays juicy. Mix the sauce, add it to a resealable bag with the salmon, and refrigerate for 30 minutes but not longer than 1 hour. Then, follow the recipe instructions, adding the marinated salmon and its juices to the skillet.
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Pan Seared Salmon with Greens Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb salmon fillet
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger minced (or 1 teaspoon ground ginger)
- 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/3 cup honey
- pinch red pepper flakes or to taste– optional but delicious!
- 1 bunch bok choy chopped
Instructions
- Separate the greens from the root ends of the bok choy. Chop the ends into small pieces and the leafy greens separately (you will add them at different times while cooking). Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, honey, and pinch of red pepper flakes.
- In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat, and add the salmon and chopped bok choy ends. Pour the honey soy sauce over the top and cook for 1-2 minutes. Cover the skillet and cook for another 3-4 minutes (depending on the thickness of your salmon). According to the USDA, salmon should reach a minimum internal temperature of 145°F.
- Remove the lid, stir the sauce, add the greens, and cook for another minute or two or until they begin to wilt.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
We made this last weekend, was so good! Thanks!