Salmon With BBQ Sauce and Hot Peppers

By Sam Sifton

Salmon With BBQ Sauce and Hot Peppers
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.
Rating
4(275)
Notes
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This is a no-recipe recipe, a recipe without an ingredients list or steps. It invites you to improvise in the kitchen.

There are generally a few kinds of barbecue sauce in my refrigerator, leftovers from various experiments. That may be true for you as well? I bet there’s a half-bottle of store-bought sauce, anyway, or a dusty unopened one in the pantry. Check: There probably is. Let’s make dinner with it, and some salmon fillets. Put the barbecue sauce in a small pot on the stove over medium heat, then turn the oven to 400. Roughly chop a few jarred pickled hot peppers into the sauce, and add a couple of pats of butter to silkify the situation. Warm that through while the oven heats, then salt and pepper the salmon fillets and roast them skin-side down, on a lightly oiled sheet pan, for 10 or 12 minutes, or until they are just barely cooked through. Spoon the pepper-studded barbecue sauce over the top, and go to!

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4 out of 5
275 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Karen L Davis

Not usually into no recipe — like the mind-clearing concentration a recipe takes — but this was very good. Salmon perfect at 10 min. Brushed with some barbecue sauce for baking. Added some partially pre-baked very small potatoes to the sheet pan. No barbecue sauce on hand, so tossed together & heated tomato paste, ketchup, water, a little chopped onion, 1 minced garlic clove, worcestershire, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, mesquite smoked paprika, hot sauce & the jalapeno & butter Sam added. Yum.

John Poston

Chipotles en adobo (canned, commonly available) lend themselves especially well to this idea since the adobo is of similar makeup to many jarred barbecue sauces. Be careful to start with small amounts of both the adobo and the chipotle. A little of each goes along way and it is easy to overwhelm the salmon.

Paul

Cook for 8 minutes max OR pan sear: 1 minute skin side up in hot skillet then turn and 6 minutes in oven at 475

Al Daigen

I was out of BBQ sauce, so I made my sauce from ketchup, rice vinegar and smoky paprika, plus the pickled hot peppers and butter that Sam suggests. Came out great!

Sandy

Salmon loves mesquite-flavored BBQ sauce.

orlando bloom

Excellent. I started with great salmon and this simple sauce compliments it nicely

Roberta

This was easy and very delicious. I cooked exactly as written and can’t wait to make again

John Poston

Chipotles en adobo (canned, commonly available) lend themselves especially well to this idea since the adobo is of similar makeup to many jarred barbecue sauces. Be careful to start with small amounts of both the adobo and the chipotle. A little of each goes along way and it is easy to overwhelm the salmon.

san

Added Zuni pickled onions - fabulous.

Paul

Cook for 8 minutes max OR pan sear: 1 minute skin side up in hot skillet then turn and 6 minutes in oven at 475

Sandy

Salmon loves mesquite-flavored BBQ sauce.

Al Daigen

I was out of BBQ sauce, so I made my sauce from ketchup, rice vinegar and smoky paprika, plus the pickled hot peppers and butter that Sam suggests. Came out great!

Maureen McVann Lundell

This (using up that last third of those Costco MIlano Salmon) with Trader Joe's Harissa Salsa along with Sam Sifton's No Recipe Smashed Potatoes with bacon, shredded brussel sprouts and cheddar...perfect dinner for 2 (especially if one of us is allergic to tomatoes and most bbq sauces won't work)

Karen L Davis

Not usually into no recipe — like the mind-clearing concentration a recipe takes — but this was very good. Salmon perfect at 10 min. Brushed with some barbecue sauce for baking. Added some partially pre-baked very small potatoes to the sheet pan. No barbecue sauce on hand, so tossed together & heated tomato paste, ketchup, water, a little chopped onion, 1 minced garlic clove, worcestershire, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, mesquite smoked paprika, hot sauce & the jalapeno & butter Sam added. Yum.

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