Chili Crisp Salmon with Cucumber Sweet Pepper Salad

My Chili Crisp Salmon recipe is a quick and easy weeknight dinner idea! Pan-fried tender salmon topped with sauce made with garlic, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, and chili crisp. It’s seven ingredients that pack a flavorful punch. Serve it up with white rice and my cucumber sweet pepper salad!

Chili Crisp Salmon is going to become a weeknight staple for you.

If you are obsessed with this Chinese condiment as much as I am, you are going to love making a sauce out of it and topping it on pan-fried salmon fillets. What I love most about this weeknight-friendly recipe is that it uses mostly pantry staples. Of course, I took the liberty of assuming that you’re obsessed with chili crisp as much as most of the world is at the moment. It’s a staple in any modern kitchen these days!

@littlespicejar Chili Crisp Salmon Recipe Full recipe linked in my profile, ingredients below 👇🏼 4 (5-ounce) salmon filets ¼ teaspoon kosher salt 2 cloves garlic, grated 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce 1 heaping tablespoon honey 1-2 teaspoon chili crunch 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil Prepared rice + salad/steamed brocc, for serving #chilicrunch #chilicrunchoil #chilicrisp #salmonrecipe #salmon #salmonbowl #panfriedsalmon #foodtok #easyrecipes #quickrecipes ♬ time travel – chief. & nobuddy

The prep time on this recipe is minimum, and the cooking times are the bare minimum too. I serve this salad with my take on the viral TikTok cucumber sweet pepper salad. I load it up with ginger, toasted sesame oil, brown sugar, more chili crisp, and furikake. Furikake is a seasoning made with seaweed powder, toasted sesame seeds, bonito flakes, sea salt, and sugar.

Ingredients for Chili Crisp Salmon

• Salmon Fillet: I like to use 4 (5-ounce) salmon filets for this recipe. I typically suggest using wild-caught salmon if it’s possible, however, Atlantic salmon or farm-raised salmon will also work.
• Kosher salt: is used to season the salmon filets before we sear them in the pan.
• Garlic: Minced garlic goes into the chili crisp sauce that we drizzle on the salmon right before serving.
• Low sodium soy sauce: gives the chile crisp sauce a salty umami-rich flavor. 
• Honey: we’ll toss the salmon filets in the sauce so that the pan caramelizes the sugar in the honey and gives the salmon a deep flavor. You could also use dark brown sugar in place of the honey if that’s what you have.
• Chili Crisp: If you haven’t tried chili crisp or chili onion crunch before, it’s a condiment made from dried chili pepper infused in oil with other ingredients, such as spices, onions, shallots, or sichuan pepper. Lao Gan Ma is a popular Chinese brand sold in Asian grocery stores as well as many mainstream grocery stores. Fly By Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp and Momofuku are two others that are quickly becoming leaders of the chili crisp movement that we’re currently having!
• Toasted sesame oil: Adds a toasty smell and flavor to the chili crisp.

How to make chili crisp salmon

1. Season the fillets. Start by removing the salmon from the refrigerator at least 40 minutes before preparing. This allows the salmon to hold its shape better in the pan and not shrink as much. Season the flesh side with kosher salt.
2. Make the sauce. In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the grated garlic, soy sauce, honey, chili crisp, and sesame oil. Whisk it together with a fork and set aside for now.
3. Sear the salmon. Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add a small drizzle or any high-heat oil, and when the oil is hot, add the salmon fillets with the skin side up in the pan. Cook the salmon for roughly 2-3 minutes or longer if your salmon is particularly thick. Then flip the salmon with the skin side down and continue to cook for a few more minutes until the skin crisps up. Drizzle the chili crisp sauce over the salmon and pour the rest around the sides. Give the sauce 15-30 seconds so that the sugars caramelize, the sauce thickens, and the flavor deepens. Remove from heat.
4. Serve it up. Garnish the salmon with green onions or fresh parsley if you’d like. I usually just sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds before serving with rice and a salad.

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Other salmon recipes to try:

• Oven Baked Salmon in Foil
• Sheet Pan Firecracker Salmon
• Sweet Chili Salmon Bowls
• Crispy Rice Spicy Salmon
• Broiled Miso Ginger Salmon and Veggies

Chili Crisp Salmon with Cucumber Sweet Pepper Salad

4.98 from 73 votes

My Chili Crisp Salmon recipe is a quick and easy weeknight dinner idea! Pan-fried tender salmon topped with sauce made with garlic, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, and chili crisp. It's seven ingredients that pack a flavorful punch. Serve it up with white rice and my cucumber sweet pepper salad!

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Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 6 minutes mins

Total Time: 16 minutes mins

Servings: 4

Author: Marzia

Equipment

• Chili Crunch
• 12-Inch Skillet

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Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 4 5-ounce salmon filets
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic grated
• ▢ 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• ▢ 1 heaping tablespoon honey
• ▢ 1-2 teaspoon chili crunch such as Momofuku
• ▢ 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• ▢ Prepared rice + salad for serving (see notes)

Instructions 

• SEASON: Remove the salmon from the refrigerator at least 40 minutes prior to cooking. Season the salmon pieces with kosher salt on the flesh side.
• SAUCE: Add the grated garlic, soy sauce, honey, chili crisp, and sesame oil to a measuring cup and whisk to combine; set aside for now.
• SEAR AND SERVE: Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add a small drizzle of oil and place the salmon skin side up in the pan. Cook the salmon for roughly 2-3 minutes, then flip the salmon over on the skin side and cook for another 2-3 minutes. When there is 1 minute left on the skin side, spoon the chili crisp sauce over the salmon and pour the rest around the sides. Let the salmon finish cooking in the sauce for 15-30 seconds. Then, remove the salmon and serve immediately with fluffy rice and a salad or sauteed broccolini.

Notes

• Cucumber Sweet Pepper Salad: Toss 4 sliced Persian cucumbers with 8-10 sweet peppers in a medium bowl. Add 1 tsp of chili crisp, 1 heaping tbsp of brown sugar, 1 tsp of ginger paste, 1½ tsp of sesame oil, lots of toasted sesame seeds, and at least 1 tsp of furikake. Taste and adjust with a big pinch of salt or as needed.
• Make this gluten-free: Use gf tamari in place of the soy sauce and make sure the chili crunch you use is gluten-free.

Nutrition

Calories: 242kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 11g | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 4g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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