Weeknight meals don’t have to be boring. My Mango Bourbon Salmon is the perfect way to add deliciousness to your home menu and the best part is, you’ll have very little cleanup afterward!
Can you believe there was a time that I didn’t eat salmon? I served it in my restaurants and came up with a lot of delicious ways to serve salmon and disguise it so I might enjoy eating it. Over the years I created some pretty ah-mazing dishes with salmon but nothing that ever caught my fancy.
And then I tried Wild Caught Pacific Salmon and I was hooked (pardon the pun). I use Alaskan and Pacific salmon almost all the time now, but occasionally when I see fresh Atlantic salmon on sale I pick up a small side to cut into filets. For this dish, I picked up some beautiful fresh farmed Atlantic salmon and it was freaking ah-mazing!!
I love it when I surprise myself with the dishes I create and let me tell you my Mango Bourbon Salmon definitely tickled my taste buds! It’s going to be a regular on my home menu. And the best part was having very little clean-up after dinner. That’s a bonus in my book!
What do I need to make Mango Bourbon Salmon?
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make Mango Bourbon Salmon. In Chef Speak this is called the “Mise en Place” which translates to “Everything in its Place”.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
How do I marinate Salmon?
Marinating salmon or any fish isn’t difficult. The only thing you need to remember is seafood is delicate and takes little time to marinate. Ingredients in a marinade are fairly interchangeable as long as you include an acid like lime juice and/or soy sauce. If you’re not a fan of either here are some suggestions.
- Try lemon, orange, or pineapple juice if you’re not fond of lime.
- If you don’t like soy sauce try balsamic vinegar.
- The same holds true for the aromatics. I used ginger and garlic in my marinade, but you can leave either or both out.
- Add any additional spice you might like. If you want to add a little heat add sriracha to the marinade, just be careful not to overdo it.
- If you don’t want to use sugar you can add sweetness with honey or maple syrup.
Do you see where I’m going with this? Cook what you like to eat, recipes are guidelines.
Place all the ingredients for the marinade in a mixing bowl and mix well. *Make sure the sugar is dissolved.
Then it’s just a matter of placing the salmon in a slider storage bag (or baking dish) and adding the marinade. If you use a bag, make sure to move the salmon around a little in the marinade before storing it in the fridge.
**Place a plate under the bag just in case the bag leaks.
How long should I marinate the salmon?
Seafood picks up marinade flavors a lot faster than chicken or beef. If you’re pressed for time, 25 minutes is long enough to get the flavors into the salmon. I marinated my salmon for 90 minutes. I don’t advise marinating any seafood longer than 90 minutes unless you’re making ceviche.
The lime and soy sauce will actually start to cook the fish and also make it mushy if you leave it in the marinade too long.
How do I make a Mango Bourbon Glaze?
Add the ingredients into the bowl of a food processor (or blender) and puree till smooth. If you’re not fond of mangoes, you can use peaches or pineapple to make the glaze.
After pureeing the mixture, place it in a small saucepan and bring to a light boil. Then remove the pan from the heat and divide the sauce into two portions. One half to glaze the salmon with and one half to serve with the salmon. It doesn’t really matter if it’s a little chunky, it will still be delicious.
**If the Glaze gets too thick, you can add a little water to the mixture. Also, a little time in the microwave will loosen the glaze up.
Chef Dennis Tip:
To save time, prepare the marinade and Mango Bourbon Glaze ahead of time. It can be prepared the day before you use it
While the salmon is marinating you can cook the rice. You can also cook the rice ahead of time.
I used Jasmine rice for this dish, but you can use any type of rice you like. The Jasmine rice was a perfect complement to the salmon with its light fluffy grains and fragrant aroma. But if you’re not a fan of rice, switch it out for par-cooked roasted potatoes or a grain of your choice. I had originally thought about using lentils for this dish.
The green onions and red pepper are mostly there for color but they do impart a little flavor to the rice.
Start by cutting off four 16 inch pieces of non-stick foil. Make sure to always put the shiny side down, the dull side with the watermark should always be facing the food to benefit from the non-stick properties. This will make plating your food from the packet easy-peasy!
Add one cup of the Jasmine rice in the center of the foil, running perpendicular to the long sides of the foil.
The next step is placing the salmon filet on top of the rice and brushing it with the Mango Bourbon Glaze.
When making foil-wrapped packets to cook in the oven or on the grill follow these instructions. Place the packets on a sheet pan or baking pan when placing them into the oven. They can go right on the grill if you’re grilling this dish.
- Tear off a 16” sheet of foil
- Center the food on the foil sheet
- Bring up the long sides of the foil, so the ends meet over the food
- Double fold the ends, leaving room for heat to circulate inside
- Double fold the two short ends to seal the packet
- OPTIONAL: To avoid juices puddling around the food, use a grilling fork to punch 2-3 drainage holes throughout the bottom/sides of the packet
You only need to punch holes in the foil if there is going to be a lot of liquid runoff. Using rice or another starch under the protein helps alleviate that issue. The starch will soak up the extra juices and become even more flavorful.
When the salmon is finished cooking you can cut the tops off the packets and slide each portion onto a plate. The non-stick foil really makes plating the salmon really easy and cleaning up even easier.
The foil will be hot, so use kitchen gloves or towels when touching them. Don’t spoil dinner by getting burned!
What you end up with is an amazing salmon dish bursting with flavor and very little cleanup after dinner. Wouldn’t this be perfect for your next get-together or date night?
Can I use other types of fish in this recipe?
As I’ve mentioned with other substitutions I suggested, use the recipe as a guideline and cook what you like to eat. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try something new, but if you don’t enjoy what you’re eating, you’re not going to enjoy cooking!
If you’re not on Team Salmon, any thicker filet or steak type fish will work, such as:
- Tuna
- Swordfish
- Grouper
- Red Snapper
Can I grill the foil packets instead of using the oven?
You sure can. The beauty of foil-wrapped packets of deliciousness is having the versatility of cooking them in the oven, your home grill or over a campfire.
If you love salmon you may also like these recipes:
- Marinated Grilled Salmon
- Grilled Cedar Planked Salmon
- Mediterranean Style Salmon
- Blackened Salmon Salad
- Stuffed Salmon with Cream Cheese and Crabmeat
Mango Bourbon Salmon
Ingredients
- 4 6-ounce salmon fillets skinless and boneless
Marinade
- ¼ cup lite soy sauce
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice
- 2 cloves garlic finely minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger peeled and grated
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Mango Bourbon Barbecue
- 1 cup mango chunks pureed (fresh or frozen)
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoon sweet chili sauce
Garnish
- 2 each scallion thinly sliced – green tops of scallions
- 1 tbsp cilantro finely chopped
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds toasted
Jasmine Rice
- 1½ cups Jasmine rice or your favorite rice or grain
- 2½ cups water
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ cup red pepper fine dice
- ¼ cup scallion white part only – sliced
- 1 teaspoon cilantro finely chopped
Instructions
Marinate Salmon
- Combine all marinade ingredients in a small bowl.
- Place the salmon fillets in a baking dish or large slider storage bag.
- Add the marinade to the baking dish and refrigerate for 90 minutes. If you use a ziplock bag, seal the bag and gently move the salmon around in the marinade before placing in in the refrigerator.
Jasmine Rice
- While the salmon is marinating cook the rice. In a saucepot bring the water to a boil, add salt and rice. Cover and lower heat to simmer for 5 minutes. Then remove the rice from the heat and allow the rice to finish cooking without heat and with the lid on. **Use a fork to fluff the rice when removing it from the pot.
- Let the rice cool slightly then add the scallions, red peppers and cilantro. Mix well and set aside till needed.
Mango Bourbon Glaze
- Place the ingredients for the glaze in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until smooth.
- Place the glaze in a small saucepot and bring to a light boil. Remove from heat and divide the glaze into two parts. Set aside till needed.**If the glaze gets too thick add a little water to it. You can also warm it up in the microwave to get the glaze more liquid.
Assembly
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Remove the salmon from the marinade and place on a plate until needed.
- Tear off a four 16” sheets of non-stick foil
- Place one cup of Jasmine rice in the center of the foil , perpendicular to the longer sides.
- Place a salmon filet on top of the rice, then brush the salmon with the mango bourbon glaze.
- Bring up the long sides of the foil, so the ends meet over the food. Double fold the ends, leaving room for heat to circulate inside. Then double fold the two short ends to seal the packet. Repeat this process for all four salmon filets.
- Place the packets on a sheet pan or baking sheet and place into the oven for 15-20 minutes.
Toasted Sesame Seeds
- Toast sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat for 2-3 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Or bake on an ungreased baking sheet at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Don't let them burn!! Place toasted seeds immediately onto a cool plate so they stop cooking.
Serving
- Remove the salmon from the oven and carefully cut the tops off of each foil packet using kitchen scissors.
- Open each packet and slide the entire dish onto a plate. (the foil will be hot, so use a towel or gloves when handling the packets). Repeat the process with each packet.
- Garnish the salmon with toasted sesame seeds, scallions and cilantro. Serve with your favorite vegetable and enjoy!
Lisa Machiad
What can I use in place of sweet chili sauce for the Mango Bourbon Barbecue Sauce? And what brand of sweet chili sauce should I look for in the store when I get there?
Chef Dennis Littley
Any brand the store has is good, I’ve been using Franks lately, but the Asian varieties are all pretty much the same.
Instead of sweet chili sauce you could use another flavor of Asian sauces, Terriyaki, General Tso’s or just a stir fry sauce. Depending upon the flavors you like. I found the sweet chili sauce was a great compliment to the salmon
Erin
I can’t wait to try this recipe, Dennis! We make salmon almost every week here, and I’ve been looking for ideas to keep it interesting. Thanks for sharing all your tips too!
Aline
Mango bourbon!!? Say no more! I’m sold ahaha Looks amazing, chef! I’ll definitely be trying this when I can get my hands on some mangoes! Thanks for the inspo.
Jenni LeBaron
That mango bourbon barbeque sauce is an out-of-this-world, tasty combination! I am a huge fan of salmon, but the fella is usually never as excited by it as I am, but I know he’ll be licking his plate when I make this for dinner. Those flavors are so big and bold!
Kay
Wow, I had never thought to use mango (my favourite fruit) with Salmon (my favourite fish!) Pure genius! Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
Jacqui DeBono
I love salmon, one of my favourite types of fish. I usually just bake with lemon, but this is so much nicer! All ingredients I keep in stock too!
Marisa F. Stewart
We love our wild-caught salmon and putting a fruit based marinade with it is our favorite. We haven’t tried it with mango and bourbon but just looking at the finished dish is making my mouth water. We have salmon in the freezer so now all I need is the mango – we have the bourbon😉. Can’t wait to make this.
Leslie
There are so many things I love about this recipe! So easy and perfect! Sure to please any salmon lover!