Red curry salmon is glazed with a sweet and spicy sauce, and then broiled until the top is caramelized and the fish is flaky and tender. Delicious Thai flavors in a simple, healthy package!

Adding naturally sweet honey and umami-rich soy sauce to the curry paste glaze creates the most mouthwatering salmon you’ve ever served. The warm and aromatic spiced curry flavors are perfect with fluffy Jasmine rice or fragrant coconut rice.

The secret to this recipe is broiling the salmon so that the sauce turns into a beautiful caramelized glaze on the outside, while staying fork-tender on the inside. Using store-bought red curry paste keeps the steps for making Thai salmon pretty simple, and the fish cooks quickly, so you can have a flavor-packed dinner ready in no time.  

And if you have leftover red curry paste, just put it to use in Chicken Curry, Instant Pot Chickpea Curry, or Thai Chicken Meatballs.

How to Make Red Curry Salmon

1. Turn on the broiler. Adjust a rack so that it’s about 8 inches below the heat source.
2. Prep the baking sheet. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray it with nonstick spray. Place the salmon on the sheet, skin-side down.
3. Broil the salmon. Cook for about 4 minutes. Take care to not cook the salmon all the way through.
4. Prepare the red curry glaze. Whisk together the red curry paste, soy sauce, cooking oil, and honey.
5. Glaze the salmon. Brush the salmon with the sauce, and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Garnish and serve. Serve over rice with green onions and lime wedges.

What is Red Curry Paste?

Red curry paste is a blend of spices, aromatics, and umami-flavored shrimp paste that comes from Central Thailand. The ingredients in red curry paste can vary a bit, but you will generally see dried red chili peppers, lemongrass, garlic, shallots, cilantro root, shrimp paste, and galangal. You can grab my recipe for Thai Red Curry Paste here.

Ingredients for Red Curry Salmon

• Salmon – Use one large piece of fresh salmon, or 4 5-ounce pieces. If you use frozen salmon filets, make sure the fish is completely thawed before you begin working with it. 
• Kosher Salt – Basic seasoning ingredient. 
• Thai Red Curry – Thai red curry paste is a common cooking ingredient, and should be available at your local grocery store. Everyone has their own spice preference for curries, so adjust to make it as mild, sweet, or hot as you like. 
• Soy Sauce – Soy sauce adds addicting umami flavors to the red curry glaze.
• Cooking Oil – A neutral oil like grapeseed, avocado, canola, or vegetable will allow the sweet, and mildly spicy flavors to sing. 
• Honey – A little honey adds just the right amount of sweetness to the warming spice-filled curry flavors.
• Cooked Jasmine or Coconut Rice – Jasmine rice is a light and pillowy fragrant rice, while coconut rice is subtly creamy. Both rices complement this Thai salmon.
• Green Onions – For a fun crunchy topping, and extra aromatics. 
• Lime – The bright acidity in fresh lime juice brings all of the flavors together.

Tips

• Don’t skip the step to line your pan with foil before broiling. The glaze can stick to the pan and be hard to clean up.
• Turn on your oven’s fan and / or open windows for ventilation when broiling salmon. It is so close to the heat source that it can occasionally smoke as it cooks.
• Not all red curry pastes are gluten-free. If you’re gluten-sensitive, always check that the label says ‘gluten-free’. Use Tamari for a gluten-free substitute for the soy sauce.

Variations

• Make salmon bowls – Use red curry salmon to make salmon bowls with your favorite rice and pickled or stir-fried veggies. 
• Turn up the umami – Add a tablespoon of fish sauce to the red curry paste for more umami flavor.
• Try a different protein – Red curry sauces can also be used on chicken, pork, tofu, and shrimp. 

What to serve with this dish

Red curry salmon is a super versatile dish. The ever-so-slight hint of coconut milk in creamy Coconut Rice is pretty much perfect with the robust curry flavors. You also can’t go wrong with aromatic Jasmine Rice. Craving something lighter? Cauliflower rice is reliably good with salmon. A plate of your favorite stir-fried veggies packs more nutrients into this easy weeknight meal.  

FAQs

More Salmon Recipes

• Sweet Chili Salmon
• Honey Paprika Broiled Salmon
• Moroccan-Spiced Salmon with Vegetable Couscous
• Teriyaki Salmon Stir-Fry
• Salmon Burgers with Creamy Lemon Herb Sauce
• Blackened Salmon with Citrus Salsa Verde

Favorite Tools

• Half Sheet Pan
• Glass Mixing Bowls