12 Surprising Sauces to Enhance Your Salmon

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Salmon is one of the most satisfying foods to make at home. Incredibly rich and full of umami, its flaky flesh and pretty color also make it a crowd pleaser with kids and adults alike, meaning it’s a great option for family dinners. Perhaps the best part of salmon is that it’s deceptively simple for something so delicious. It cooks relatively quickly, after all, leaving you enough time to prepare some yummy sides or sauces. And while a well-cooked, well-seasoned piece of salmon doesn’t need much more, the right sauce can take your meal to new heights.

Whether you prefer salmon rare on the inside or well done with a crispy skin, a really good sauce can make everything more exciting. You don’t have to stick exclusively to the classics, either, and it can be rewarding to try something different. On that note, as a trained chef who makes salmon professionally on an almost weekly basis, I know just how versatile salmon can be, as well as ways to pair it with most flavor palettes and cuisines.

There are many directions to go with salmon, from a creamy dressing to an herbaceous condiment, or even something on the sweeter side. With that in mind, I’ve gathered a list of sauces you may not have thought to pair with salmon. There’s something for everyone when it comes to enhancing this fish, including South Asian, North African, and Italian flavors (among others). Here are some unexpected sauces to elevate salmon.

If you’re a fan of spicy food, then harissa is an obvious sauce choice to spice up your salmon. Hailing from Tunisia, this chile paste is made of various ingredients, including dried chiles, garlic, and various herbs and spices. It’s a beloved condiment all over North Africa, and households often have their own take on it. The bold red paste isn’t just a hit of heat from the chiles, though; it’s actually quite complex and has many layers to its flavor. It adds a little smokiness, sweetness, and tang to anything you serve it with, and it goes especially well with salmon.

Harissa brings out the sweetness of the salmon while adding incredible depth of flavor — not to mention an enticing pop of red, as well. You can brush harissa over salmon before you cook it, though you should let it marinade in the sauce for about an hour or so prior to cooking if you have time. This will ensure all the magnificent harissa flavor will get a chance to seep into the flesh.

Additionally, you can serve harissa as a side sauce for people to dip their salmon into. This allows everyone to use as much or as little as they want, which is a good option if you don’t know how much spice your diners can handle.

You’ve probably had the combination of salmon with hollandaise if you’re a fan of eggs benedict. It’s certainly not an unexpected flavor pairing, but strangely enough, it’s not as common to serve cooked salmon with hollandaise sauce as it is in this popular American breakfast.

Now, hollandaise is often associated with smoked salmon, which we already know is a delicious combination. But it’s also a shame to only use hollandaise for one specific dish, particularly when it’s so tasty with salmon in general. That’s why I love to whip up some creamy hollandaise to serve with baked or grilled salmon dinners.

The meatiness of the salmon will be greatly elevated by the buttery hollandaise, and the sharpness from the lemon is a match made in heaven. Don’t be intimidated to make your own hollandaise sauce, either. It’s very doable, after all, even for beginner cooks — as long as you follow the steps from a good recipe. After you try this easy lemon hollandaise recipe, I’d guess you’ll want to douse more than just your salmon with it.

One ingredient I can’t live without in my kitchen is miso paste. An umami powerhouse that can be used in endless ways, it’s hardly surprising that miso makes salmon all the more flavorful. It’s slightly nutty, earthy, sweet, and savory at the same time. It also doubles the umami flavor with the fish, while highlighting the salmon’s natural sweetness.  Plus, if you coat the salmon in miso paste before you cook it, it’ll caramelize, creating a delicious crust on your fish.

There are many ways to use miso with your salmon, such as simply adding it to the outside of your salmon with some oil. But you can make your own miso-based glaze, too, by mixing it with some soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, and whatever spices you like (I prefer adding a pinch of black pepper and chile flakes to my miso glaze).

You can also mix some miso paste with another condiment (like teriyaki sauce), or add a little bit of honey or brown sugar to make it sweet and sticky — which is perfectly suited for caramelizing the outside of your salmon. Try sprinkling on some sesame seeds at the end for some extra pizzazz and a more gourmet look, as well.

If you’ve never heard of pistou, you may be wondering if this is a typo, and I meant to write “pesto.” If so, you’re not far off in your thinking, as pistou is actually sort of aking to the Southern France’s version of pesto. Like pesto, pistou is a cold, green sauce made from olive oil, garlic, and herbs; unlike its Italian cousin, though, it doesn’t usually have pine nuts. While leaving out the super rich pine nuts makes pistou a lot lighter than pesto, it still has a fresh lightness. This is precisely what makes it an ideal sauce to drench your salmon in.

Living in the south of France, I’ve personally had pistou with all kinds of food. However, I find it goes really well with salmon for a number of reasons. Being an oily fish, salmon is something that benefits from the addition of a bit of freshness. Pistou does this beautifully, especially if you make it with lemon juice, which I love to do. Additionally, being a cold sauce can make pistou extra pleasurable when eating hot salmon, as the play of temperatures in your mouth is a delight. So consider giving regular pesto a little break and trying pistou with salmon instead; it could become your new go-to green sauce, after all.

Honey is often underrated as a kitchen staple. Outside of the odd salad vinaigrette or chicken wing sauce, it’s relegated almost exclusively to tea, cold remedies, or yogurt. But I think it’s severely underutilized in savory cooking, especially when it comes to cooking fish (or any kind of seafood). While many people might be put off by a honey in their fish dish, there’s been a lot of buzz around hot honey in the 2020s, which is a surprisingly good sauce to pour over salmon.

The best of both the sweet and spicy worlds, hot honey is often infused with some dried chiles, or a chile spice of sorts. The spiciness is balanced by the sweetness of the honey, and helps mellow the overall heat, as well.

If you like the play between sweet and salty, hot honey is the ultimate finishing sauce for your meaty salmon flakes. But there’s a benefit to using hot honey to cook salmon in, too. It can act as a glaze, after all, turning a thick and glossy coating of hot honey into a crispy caramelized layer.

Salmon might not be the first thing you think of pairing with mole, but that doesn’t mean they’re not a tasty match. Mole is a genre of sauces, and is considered one of the mother sauces of Mexican cuisine. There are various types of mole, of course, along with numerous recipes depending on the region (or even family). In essence, mole is a thickened sauce made from different types of chiles, spices, herbs, and other ingredients such as nuts, seeds, plantains, or even cacao. The result is a deeply complex sauce that’s hard to describe, but it’s sweet, smoky, and tangy, and works surprisingly well with salmon.

While mole is served with different types of meat and vegetables, I find it’s a wonderful accompaniment to salmon, especially mole rojo (red mole). Salmon is buttery and delicate to start, and mole introduces a subtle boldness to it that creates an enriching contrast. It’s not the easiest sauce to make, though, so if you can get your hands on some mole that’s made by an expert, grab the opportunity with both hands. If you don’t know where to start, try Ya Oaxaca mole rojo for an authentic mole in a jar.

Growing up in a Middle Eastern household, our go-to sauce for fish was tahini. Sure, tahini was also a staple for dishes like falafel and for making hummus, but I most associate it with our fish and rice dinners. That’s why it was only natural for me to reach for some tahini when thinking of a delicious sauce to serve with salmon.

When I first served this combination to some friends, I realized it was quite an unexpected pairing, as many were surprised to find it on the table. Yet it was a hit nonetheless, and people kept reaching for more to drench their salmon in. The tahini sauce, which is traditionally made with vinegar or lemon juice, brings a different kind of creaminess to salmon that’s more earthy and nutty. Plus, the acid from the lemon juice or vinegar beautifully breaks through the fatty fish.

If you’re a newbie to tahini, keep in mind that you’re often buying a jar of ground sesame seed paste from the store rather than the finished sauce. However, a simple sauce is so easy to make. You simply need to loosen the paste slightly with 1 or 2 tablespoons of water, then add some salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice or vinegar; in Middle Eastern cuisine, you’d typically add a pinch of cumin, too. This sauce becomes so well rounded and tangy when prepared that you might want to eat it by the spoonful.

Hoisin sauce is something I consider to be an all purpose sauce — and if you haven’t yet used it on salmon, you’ve been missing out. While it doesn’t need to be cooked to be enjoyed with salmon, you can cook with it, too, if you’d prefer.

Hoisin sauce is incredibly delicious on its own, and doesn’t need any additional seasonings, oils, or acids. Yet it’s also amenable to blending with other sauces — I’m thinking of the incredibly moreish blend that is hoisin sauce and peanut butter. Plus, it hits all the flavor notes: Salty, sweet and packed full of umami.

Sometimes referred to as the Chinese version of barbecue sauce, hoisin goes really well with all kinds of meats. Considering salmon is a relatively meaty fish, it suits the fish quite well. And just like the other ingredients that contain sugar, hoisin can act as a glaze for your salmon. Generously apply some all over your fish pieces, then get roasting in the oven or in a pan. You’ll end up with a sweet and smoky salmon to enjoy in a rice bowl or with some greens.

Chermoula is a popular North African sauce that packs a punch. Sort of like the love child between salsa verde and harissa, it combines olive oil, lemon juice and zest, fresh herbs, garlic, spices (like coriander and cumin), and some fresh chiles. It’s bursting with flavor, and is a complete party in your mouth. While it’s uncommon to serve this sauce with salmon outside of North Africa, chermoula is traditionally served with fish, and with good reason: Chermoula brings salmon to life, making everything zing.

There’s no one way to make chermoula, which may be what I like most about it. You can make your own blend with whatever you have available, in fact, meaning it’s a great way to use up any fresh herbs you have that might go bad soon (as fresh herbs tend to do).

Pulse any herbs up in a food processor or blender, along with some olive oil, garlic, chiles, and whatever else you think would go well. For instance, if you have a little knob of ginger you don’t know what to do with, or love the taste of smoky paprika, either will do nicely in chermoula. Go wild, then enjoy your sauce with salmon.

While I hadn’t tasted sorrel before moving to France, I came to know it through a really popular salmon dish called saumon à l’oseille (meaning salmon with sorrel). Created at one of France’s Michelin-starred establishments — which is notably one of Anthony Bourdain’s favorite restaurants, as well — this dish became an iconic dish in French cuisine. Plus, while it sounds fancy and perhaps intimidating, the sorrel sauce part of the dish is fairly easy to make, and only requires a few ingredients.

If you have a favorite cream sauce recipe, you can just make that and proceed with the sorrel part. If you don’t, what I find works is to warm through some heavy cream or crème fraîche with a dash of white wine and chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper, cook until thickened, then add a few sorrel leaves. Let this cook for just a few seconds; you want them to lightly wilt but nothing more, after all, so their fresh flavor stays at its best.

Sorrel is somewhat of a surprising herb as it tastes quite tart, and almost lemony. Of course, that also makes it a no-brainer for using with any kind of fish — especially salmon, which can use some tartness to cut through its oiliness.

Sometimes, all a dish needs is a dash of hot sauce to make it sing. Now, like many other hot sauce lovers, I enjoy adding a little to almost anything savory I eat, and salmon is no exception. However, I prefer to go a little further with salmon. In fact, I’m particular with my hot sauce choice for the fish, and I choose the unique piri-piri. Made with a combination of chiles, garlic, lemon juice, oil, and sometimes herbs and spices, it’s a sauce that adds a pungent flavor, as well as a fiery kick.

Piri-piri instantly elevates salmon, making your plate anything but boring. Also called peri-peri or pili-pili, this fiery sauce hails from Mozambique and Angola. In fact, having grown up in various African countries, I can attest to the fact that it’s a staple in many Southern African households. A fresh batch was always in the fridge ready to be used on most things — particularly on chicken and fish dishes — and once I tried it on salmon, there was no looking back.

You can marinade your salmon in piri-piri or use it to cook in, though it works equally well when served as a condiment on cooked salmon. Simply put, there’s no wrong way to use piri-piri, and each method yields a delicious result. If you’re looking for a store-bought bottle of piri-piri, I recommend starting with Nando’s Peri-Peri Hot Sauce.

Another unexpected sauce to add to your salmon is a Thai-inspired peanut and ginger sauce. The marriage of fragrant ginger with creamy peanuts will give your salmon a unique twist and a vibrant, yet subtle, flavor. It’s a simply genius addition if you’re making a salmon and noodle dish (perhaps with some crisp greens), and there are different ways you could go about making the sauce.

First, you could make go with a thicker sauce that’s peanut butter-forward. You could also opt for a looser peanut dressing by watering down your peanut butter with some lime juice, fish sauce, and sesame oil, before adding any other flavorings you might want, such as chiles, garlic, or spices. 

However you choose to concoct your sauce, I recommend using fresh ginger if it’s available to you. Powdered (or even pickled) ginger doesn’t come close to the warm kick of fresh ginger, and it makes all the difference in this sauce. You need that pepperiness to cut through the salmon, and ensure the sauce achieves the right balance of flavors. After you can top your salmon with a peanut and ginger sauce, you can even sprinkle chopped peanuts on top for some extra crunch — and prepare for your taste buds to be utterly delighted.