Hoisin Butter Salmon

I recently polled the members of the IBIH Facebook Page to find out what kind of posts would be useful to you in 2025, and while there were some non-recipe requests for practical information and tutorials – like this 20+ Practical Ways to Save Money on Groceries post, there were also tons of requests for easy recipes, with few ingredients, that can be made in single or double servings.

I’m excited to share this Hoisin Butter Salmon recipe with you, because it meets all of those criteria, and also delivers 40 grams of healthy protein.

First, let’s discuss Hoisin sauce. If you aren’t familiar, it’s a Chinese sauce made from fermented soybean paste and flavored with sugar, vinegar, chilis, garlic, and spices. It’s a thick, tangy sauce, that is sweet and a little salty. Think barbecue sauce, but Asian, and with more umami.

You can find Hoisin in most grocery stores in the Asian foods section where you would typically find soy sauce and teriyaki sauce. If you can’t get it there, I promise it’s worth ordering Hoisin Sauce from Amazon or some other online source so you can make this Hoisin Butter Salmon.

If you’re gluten free, the upside of ordering online is that you can find gluten free Hoisin sauce which isn’t readily available in grocery stores.

For my keto peeps, you can reduce the amount of hoisin to 1 tablespoon and it will still taste delicious, but will drop the carbs to around 5g per serving.

You can also try making your own Hoisin Sauce, replacing the sugar with sugar substitute to create a keto hoisin sauce with lower carbs than store-bought. Here is a Hoisin Sauce Recipe I found that would probably work well if you want to make your own.

The photos in the post show this served with regular white rice, but cauliflower rice is a great substitute, or just skip the rice and serve it with the Asian cucumber salad that I posted recently. My Sriracha Roasted Broccoli would also make a great keto friendly side for this Hoisin Butter Salmon.

In the past, I’ve used Hoisin sauce in lo mein, stir fries, chicken wings, as a meat marinade or grilling sauce, and even to balance flavors in soups and curries (just a dash, like Worcestershire sauce.) So if you purchase some, there are many ways to use it beyond just this Hoisin Salmon Recipe.

Not a fan of salmon? No problem, this easy hoisin butter sauce works on vegetables, chicken, shrimp, pork, tofu, steak – I mean you can eat it with a spoon or put it on almost anything and it is going to elevate it in ways that defy description.

The first time I made this Hoisin Butter Salmon was just with hoisin sauce, butter, and the salmon filet, and it was delicious enough to want to recreate. The second time I made it for a bunch of friends, and I roasted the entire salmon filet in the oven, with the sauce on top, and then garnished it with scallions and toasted sesame seeds – which took it to another level that got rave reviews from everyone.

Butter is great. Hoisin is great. Together they are more than two times great. 🤷🏼‍♀️ I don’t know how else to explain the alchemy that happens when you combine them in this recipe, but believe me when I say YOU HAVE TO TRY IT.

This Hoisin Butter Salmon done in the oven as a whole filet is soooo fast and easy, but so impressive and delicious for company. Serve with with some white rice, and my Asian Cucumber Salad and you’ve got a refreshing, healthy dinner that will have your friends begging you for invites.

Because there are many singles and couples that aren’t cooking for a crowd though, I’m providing the recipe below for one serving. It’s easily multiplied for two or more, and the cooking time and amount of work is about the same unless you get up to 4 servings.

Over 4 servings and I recommend just roasting it in the oven. Otherwise you’ll have to use more than one skillet and double your cooking time. Less than 4 servings and it’s not worth heating up your oven, and for me at least, it’s not worth cleaning my air fryer to cook it in there for less than 4 servings either.

Whatever method you choose, (as long as you don’t overcook it) you are going to be amazed at how delicious this Hoisin Butter Salmon is.

I promise that when you taste the hoisin butter, you are going to be dreaming of all the other ways you can use it to create delicious meals – and I hope that you will please share those ideas with us in the comments!