Salmon with Sweet Chili Lime Butter and Roasted Broccoli
Try this Salmon with Sweet Chili Lime Butter and Roasted Broccoli recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Salmon with Sweet Chili Lime Butter and Roasted Broccoli recipe, or contribute your own.
- 2 heads broccoli (about 1.5 pounds total seems like a lot, but it cooks down)
- 2 red or green jalapeã±os sliced (opt)
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 tbsp sweet chili sauce (store-bought or homemade)
- 1 small lime zest and juice
- 1 lb salmon fillets
- 2 tbsp cilantro leaves
- cooked white or brown rice (or pineapple coconut r for serving
- Carbohydrate 0.02474 g
- Cholesterol 81.8645081 mg
- Fat 12.55304919125 g
- Fiber 0.0139999997615814 g
- Protein 22.7127546445 g
- Saturated Fat 6.10352335615 g
- Serving Size 1 1 serving (125g)
- Sodium 77.378221975 mg
- Sugar 0.0107400002384186 g
- Trans Fat 1.291720459625 g
- Calories 208 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- While oven heats, slice broccoli into long, thin spears that include the stems. (You can also just use the top of the broccoli for florets, but the stems will cook to tender in this recipe so they look and taste delicious.) In a mixing bowl, toss broccoli spears with sliced jalapeños and a splash of cooking oil. Spread on a large baking sheet.
- Roast broccoli until beginning to brown in spots but not completely tender, about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile melt butter in the microwave. To the melted butter, add sweet chili sauce and zest from the lime (you'll use the lime juice later).
- Remove pan from the oven and spread broccoli out to form a space in the middle. Place salmon fillets in the center of the pan. Season salmon and broccoli lightly with salt and pepper.
- Pour half the melted butter mixture over the top of the salmon. Cover the entire sheet pan tightly with foil and return pan to the oven.
- Roast the broccoli and salmon until the broccoli is very tender and the salmon flakes easily with a fork, about 15 minutes (for salmon that is 1.5 inches thick, adjust accordingly).
- When the salmon is done cooking, pour the remaining half of the butter over the salmon. Squeeze lime juice over the salmon and broccoli.
- Serve salmon and broccoli over rice with cilantro leaves on top.
The ingredient list leaves out the thermodynamic reality of sheet pan cooking. High heat transforms brassicas through caramelization while gentle steam cooks delicate proteins. Slicing broccoli into long spears rather than small florets changes the cooking rate. Stems retain structural integrity longer than buds, ensuring uniform tenderness across the entire spear. Roasting at 425 degrees Fahrenheit initiates Maillard reactions on the broccoli surface before the interior turns mushy. Jalapeños release capsaicin into the surrounding oil, distributing heat evenly across the pan. Butter provides milk solids that brown under high heat, adding nutty undertones to the sugar present in the sweet chili sauce. Sugar burns easily, which is why foil covering is necessary during the final fifteen minutes of roasting. Trapping moisture protects the glaze from carbonizing while steaming the salmon to a flaky texture. Acid acts as a chemical counterweight. Lime juice added at the end cuts through the dairy fat and sticky sugar, brightening the heavier components on the plate. Substitutions alter this balance significantly. Using bottled lime juice instead of fresh removes essential oils from the zest, while substituting oil for butter eliminates the emulsion required to coat the salmon cleanly. If cilantro is unavailable, flat-leaf parsley provides a clean herbaceous note without the soapy compounds some tasters perceive in fresh coriander. Leftover roasted salmon keeps safely in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to three days, though reheating requires gentle wattage to prevent the proteins from tightening and releasing their moisture.
