Crispy Sizzling Honey Salmon Tenders.

Crispy Hot Honey Salmon Tenders. Crispy salmon tossed in a spicy-sweet honey sauce. If you love hot honey chicken, you’ll quickly become obsessed with this salmon. It’s the easiest sheet pan dinner. You can serve this with a side of rice. Or go the “wingers” route like me and bake up homemade sweet potato fries. The yummiest southern-inspired meal!

I’m not sure why this recipe took me so long to share, but I’m very happy the day has come! If you enjoy any of my hot honey chicken recipes, you’re going to love this salmon.

When I was jotting down recipe ideas for the coming weeks, I was on a big hot honey kick after making last week’s chicken tenders. It had been a while since I’d made my favorite hot honey sauce, and I’d forgotten how delicious it is. I remember the first time I ever made hot honey chicken. That recipe was called Nashville Hot Honey Chicken because spicy fried hot honey chicken was originally a Nashville specialty.

There are probably hundreds of ways to use hot honey, but a good chicken tender is likely the family favorite. However, when I mentioned the idea of a crispy hot honey salmon bite to my mom, she immediately said, Oh ya, make that! That’s a no-brainer.

This recipe is similar to hot honey chicken, but I chose not to bread these tenders. Salmon has so much flavor on its own.

So, instead of using breading, I baked the salmon in spices, Parmesan, and butter—even simpler than making chicken!

Then, just serve the salmon with the sauce- SIMPLE! And this takes less than 30 minutes to make.

These are the details

Ingredients

• salmon
• onion and garlic powder
• smoked paprika
• ground turmeric
• grated Parmesan cheese
• salted butter or olive oil

Hot Honey Sauce Ingredients 

• honey
• cayenne pepper
• chipotle chili powder
• onion and garlic powder
• flaked sea salt

Special Tools

For this salmon recipe, you’ll need a sheet pan and a small pot for the sauce. Nothing fancy.

Steps

Step 1: cook the salmon

I like to use either strips or cubes of salmon fillets. You can choose to leave the skin on or off the salmon, but for this recipe, I removed the skin. I wanted these to be a little more like a salmon tender/wing.

To the salmon, add the onion and garlic powder, smoked paprika, turmeric, and parmesan. Gently toss to coat, then add oil or butter for cooking. I prefer using salted butter.

While the salmon is not breaded, the parmesan coats each piece and creates the perfect crispy texture. I love that crispy texture and the yummy flavor of fried cheese!

Step 2: the sauce

My sauce is always the same. We LOVE it.

Before the salmon is done, warm the honey on the stove in a small saucepan with hot sauce, cayenne, and chipotle chili powder. The chili powder adds a very subtle smokiness to the sweet, spicy, salty sauce.

Please be sure to only use the amount of cayenne you and your family enjoy. On Monday, I’ll have people tell me the sauce is too spicy, but it’s going to be great if you only add the cayenne to taste!

Also, do not boil the sauce; very gently warm it over low heat. If you boil it, it will become too thick.

You can use as little or as much of the sauce as you’d like. We usually have some left over. Try it on your pizza—it’s SO DELICIOUS!

Step 3: coat the chicken in sauce

You can drizzle or pour the sauce over the warm salmon as soon as the tenders/wingers/bites come out of the oven. The heat helps the sauce to really adhere to the salmon.

I always finish with flaked sea salt. Sometimes, we add green onions, cilantro, or thyme. A creamy sauce on the side would also be good—maybe a lemon aioli!

Looking for other salmon recipes? Here are a few.

Spicy Chipotle Honey Salmon Bowls

Sheet Pan Chipotle Salmon Tacos with Pineapple Jalapeño Salsa

Parchment Baked Roasted Red Pepper Salmon

Coconut Curry Salmon with Garlic Butter

Lastly, if you make this Crispy Hot Honey Salmon Tenders, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And, of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!