Sweet and Sour Salmon with Bok Choy

One of my favorite types of fish to cook is salmon. Not only is it delicious, but it’s also incredibly good for you. It has antioxidants, vitamins, and plenty of protein. It has minerals your body needs like selenium and potassium. And of course, it is very well-known for its omega-3 fatty acid content. 

Until you taste my sweet and sour salmon recipe, you won’t believe that healthy food could taste this amazing. Or that you only need seven ingredients to make it. Oh, and you only need one sheet pan. Salmon with bok choy comes together in minutes with a quick sweet and sour sauce with just enough spice to rev it up.

It’s a recipe for two, but you can double it and use a larger pan to feed a family, or for when you have guests over. It’s so quick to make that you won’t have to hide out in the kitchen, either. 

With the wonderful sweet and sour sauce, this salmon bok choy will likely become a new weekly item on your home cooking menu. The salmon itself comes out tender and juicy with a sticky-sauced surface. The bok choy makes the perfect bed for it and this sauce will have you eating all your vegetables.

You can serve it with steamed rice – something I definitely recommend because you can use the rice to soak up all that glorious sauce. Noodles would work too, especially if you’re trying to cut down on carbs. They have noodles made from chickpeas and edamame that give you the experience of eating pasta without sabotaging your diet goals.

If you’re craving restaurant-style food, try this decadent sweet and sour salmon that will fool your taste buds while being kind to your waistline.  

Big thanks to Copper River Prince William Sound Marketing Association for providing the wild-caught Alaskan salmon for developing this recipe. You can read more about their stories on their website.

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Sweet and Sour Salmon with Bok Choy

By Maggie Zhu

4.58 from 7 votes

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes minutes

Total Time: 23 minutes minutes

Servings: 2 servings

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This super-simple sheet pan dinner of salmon bok choy is healthful and delicious for an impressive dish to serve guests or a good-for-you meal that’s ready super-fast! {Gluten-Free adaptable}

Ingredients 

• 2 fillets salmon , about 4 oz (113 g) each (*Footnote 1)
• 6 bulbs baby bok choy , split in half (*Footnote 2)
• 2 cloves garlic , minced

Sauce

• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sriracha (or your favorite chili sauce) (*Footnote 3)
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce (or tamari for gluten free)
• 2 tablespoons water

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Instructions

• Adjust the oven rack so it’s 5” (13 cm) under the broiler.Turn on the broiler to preheat your oven.
• Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small pot. Heat over medium-high heat until bringing to a boil. Boil for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring regularly, until the sauce is thick and glossy. Remove the pot from the heat and add the garlic. Stir to mix well.
• Line a baking tray with parchment paper (optional, for easy clean up). Place the bok choy, flat side up on the tray. Brush the whole bok choy bulbs with a generous amount of sauce, making sure some sauce gets between the leaves of the bulb. Flip the bok choy and brush them again. Arrange the bok choy in an interlocking pattern with the leaves in the center. Place the salmon fillets between the bulbs, on top of the leaves (*Footnote 4). Brush both fillets generously with the sauce on all sides. (*Refer to the pictures in the blog post above to see how I arranged the bok choy and salmon)
• Broil at 550°F (288°C) for 8 minutes, until the salmon is cooked through and sauce begins to caramelize. (*Footnote 5) Pull out the baking sheet and let everything sit for 5 minutes.
• Serve hot with the remaining sauce over rice. Drizzle with more sauce if needed, and enjoy!

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Notes

1. If you use a larger cut of salmon, the baking time will be longer.
2. It’s best to use small heads of baby bok choy that are about the size of your palm. If you use larger heads (sometimes they are huge!), you can reduce to 3 to 4 heads but will need more baking time. I couldn’t find small heads of bok choy when I shot the photos for this recipe, so I ended up taking the salmon out first and baking the bok choy a bit longer until they were cooked.
3. The Sriracha adds aroma to the sauce and creates a spicy and balanced result. It’s not super spicy because the sugar mellows it out. You can reduce the amount of Sriracha for a less spicy taste but I highly recommend adding at least a small amount for the fragrance.
4. It’s important to place the salmon so that it covers the bok choy leaves, so they won’t get cooked too quickly or become burned during baking.
5. The cooking time will be longer if you use a larger cut of salmon or larger heads of bok choy. To test the doneness, insert a fork into the thickest part of the salmon – it should flake easily. If your salmon is cooked first, remove the fillets onto a plate and bake the bok choy for another 3 to 4 minutes. Alternatively, if your bok choy is cooked first, remove them and bake the salmon a bit longer until cooked to your preferred doneness.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 312kcal, Carbohydrates: 27.8g, Protein: 24.3g, Fat: 7.3g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 50mg, Sodium: 357mg, Potassium: 824mg, Fiber: 1.5g, Sugar: 19.3g, Calcium: 207mg, Iron: 2mg

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More delicious salmon recipes

• Thai-Style Salmon Curry
• Steamed Salmon in Black Bean Sauce
• Salmon Poke Bowl
• 30-Minute Salmon Noodle Bowl with Coleslaw
• Honey Soy Sauce Glazed Salmon
• Crispy Salmon with Ginger Soy Sauce

Lilja Walter is a part of the Omnivore’s Cookbook team and worked closely with Maggie to develop and test this recipe.