This Teriyaki Salmon Stir Fry is my favorite light and healthy stir fry dish to make. It's made with an easy homemade teriyaki sauce and marinated salmon. All you need is a few simple ingredients and your favorite stir fry vegetables. Serve with white rice, coconut rice, or Perfect Instant Pot Sushi Rice!
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📋 About the Recipe
- Healthy: Making stir fry with a lighter protein like salmon is a great, healthier way to enjoy this take out inspired dish. Try my Air Fryer General Tso's Chicken and Air Fryer Orange Chicken for additional healthier takes on your favorite takeout recipes.
- 1 hour: Have this stir fry dinner recipe ready in just 1 hour, including the marinating time! Quick and easy enough for weeknights.
- Easy homemade teriyaki sauce: Although there are many store-bought teriyaki sauces available, making your own at home is incredibly easy and effortless to customize. Follow my simple steps to making your own from scratch!
🛒 Ingredients
For Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
For Teriyaki Salmon Stir Fry
A few notes about the ingredients:
- salmon - This stir fry is made with skinless salmon filets. Wild caught Pacific salmon fillets are preferred over Atlantic salmon as Atlantic salmon is typically farmed. However, use what is easiest for you and available in your grocery store.
- water chestnuts - A Chinese aquatic vegetable that is very mild in flavor but provides a nice, soft crunch in any stir fry.
- bok choy - Considered the Chinese white cabbage, this vegetable looks similar to a mix between cabbage, celery, and a leafy green. It cooks quickly and compliments the salmon and teriyaki marinade perfectly.
- brown sugar - An essential ingredient in the homemade teriyaki sauce. I recommend using light brown sugar as dark brown sugar contains significantly more molasses and is a more prominent flavor.
- pineapple juice - Adds the perfect flavor to the teriyaki sauce without the need for additional refined sugar. Feel free to use jarred or canned pineapple juice. Use any leftover pineapple juice in my sweet and sour chicken meatballs.
📓 Instructions
- Cube the salmon: Cut the skinless salmon into 2-inch cubes and place into a baking dish or bowl.
- Prepare the teriyaki sauce: Whisk together the soy sauce, pineapple juice, rice vinegar, and brown sugar.
- Marinate the salmon: Pour the teriyaki sauce over the cubed salmon and marinate for 30 minutes to an hour in the refrigerator.
- Heat a large skillet and olive oil over medium heat.
- Pan fry the salmon: Transfer the salmon from the baking dish to the hot skillet using tongs and brown the salmon on both sides, about 5-7 minutes total. When flipping the salmon, carefully use tongs to prevent the salmon from flaking apart. Reserve the leftover marinade in the baking dish to make the sauce.
- Cook onions and bell peppers: Remove the salmon from the skillet and set aside. Add the onions and bell peppers and sauté them for about 2 minutes. You want them to keep their form and not get too soft.
- Add vegetables: Add the broccoli, bok choy, sugar snap peas, and water chestnuts and stir to combine. Saute for 3-5 minutes or until the vegetables are bright green and slightly softened. Again, you don't want to over cook these here - they should still have good texture and a slight crunch.
- Prepare a cornstarch slurry: In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and water for the teriyaki sauce.
- Saute the garlic and ginger: Remove the vegetables from the skillet and set aside, then saute the garlic and ginger in 2 teaspoons of toasted sesame oil for 30 seconds, stirring constantly to prevent burning.
- Add in the teriyaki: Carefully pour the teriyaki sauce into the skillet with the garlic and ginger, then whisk in the cornstarch slurry until the sauce thickens, about 2-4 minutes.
- Add the stir fry ingredients back in: Once the sauce is thickened, add the vegetables back into the skillet and stir to coat in the sauce. Finally, top the vegetables with the pan-fried salmon and very gently stir to prevent mashing the salmon.
- Serve: Serve over rice and garnish with sesame seeds and green onion.
⁉️ Substitutions and Alterations
- Use any vegetables you have: Although I find the combination of broccoli, sugar snap peas, water chestnuts and bok choy to be the best vegetables to pair with this Asian style salmon recipe, you can use what you have on hand. Keep the measurements and cuts the same for best results.
- Avoid using frozen vegetables: Frozen vegetables are going to release a significant amount more water than fresh vegetables and will water down the teriyaki marinade.
- Out of salmon? Substitute with diced chicken breasts, steak, or shrimp.
- Only have full sodium soy sauce? Try ¼ cup soy sauce with ¼ cup water.
❄️ How to Store
To store: Salmon stir fry is really best enjoyed fresh, but it can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
To freeze: Freezing this recipe is not recommended. This would change the texture of the salmon.
To reheat: When reheating salmon it is important not to reheat it too quickly as this will dry out the fish. I recommend reheating this stir fry on the stovetop at a low heat until warmed through. Microwaving fish is not a preferred method.
🔍 FAQs
I love serving this stir fry over white rice with sesame seeds and green onion, but you can also serve salmon stir fry with brown rice, sushi rice, quinoa, or additional vegetables.
No hoisin sauce and teriyaki sauce are not the same. Hoisin sauce is a thick sauce-like condiment in Chinese cooking that's salty from fermented soybean paste, and slightly sweet from sweet potato and sugar. Teriyaki sauce is sweeter than hoisin sauce as well as less thick and less salty.
Brown sugar is richer and sweeter than white sugar. It creates a caramel undertone in the teriyaki sauce. Using white sugar instead may cause the flavor of the marinade to fall flat.
💭 One More Tip
Enjoy immediately! Although there are many recipes on my site that you can cook for meal prep and enjoy a few days later, I always recommend enjoying salmon when fresh for the best flaky texture and flavor.
🍴 Related Recipes
Share your cooking with me! If you make this recipe, I'd love to know! Tag @yourhomemadehealthy on Instagram or leave a comment with a rating and some feedback at the bottom of this page!
📖 Recipe
Teriyaki Salmon Stir Fry
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Teriyaki Sauce
- ½ cup low sodium soy sauce
- ½ cup pineapple juice
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
For the Salmon Stir Fry
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 24 ounces fresh skinless salmon
- ½ cup yellow onion, cut into ½-inch squares (about ½ a large onion or 1 small onion)
- 1 orange bell pepper, cut into 1-inch squares
- 1 green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch squares
- 2 cups broccoli, cut into small florets (about 1 head of broccoli)
- 3 baby bok choy, sliced into ribbons
- 1 cup sugar snap peas
- 1 can sliced water chestnuts (8 ounces)
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic (about 1 garlic clove)
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger (about 1-inch piece)
- sesame seeds
Instructions
- Cut salmon into 2-inch cubes. Place cubes into a bowl or baking dish.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together soy sauce, pineapple juice, rice vinegar, and brown sugar.
- Pour mixture over the salmon and allow salmon to marinate for 30 minutes to an hour in the fridge.
- Once the salmon is done marinating, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil until hot.
- With tongs, transfer the pieces of salmon to the skillet. Brown on both sides, about 5-7 minutes total. Carefully flip with tongs so you don’t break the pieces apart. Reserve the marinade to make the teriyaki sauce later.
- Remove the salmon from the skillet and set aside on a clean plate. Add onions and bell peppers to the skillet and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the broccoli, bok choy, sugar snap peas, and water chestnuts. Stir to combine. Cook for 3-5 minutes until bright green and slightly softened.
- Meanwhile, whisk the cornstarch and water together in a small bowl.
- Remove vegetables from the skillet. Pour in the sesame oil. Add the garlic and ginger. Cook 30 seconds, stirring so it does not burn.
- Carefully pour the marinade into the skillet. Whisk in the cornstarch and water slurry until the sauce thickens, about 2-4 minutes.
- Add the vegetables back into the skillet and stir to coat in the sauce. Top with the cooked salmon and gently stir to prevent mashing the pieces.
- Serve over rice and garnish with sesame seeds.
Notes
- You can substitute salmon for diced chicken breasts, steak, or shrimp.
- Feel free to use any vegetables you have on hand. Just make sure to cut them into identical sizes so they all cook evenly.
- Homemade teriyaki sauce is easy to make and much more flavorful than store-bought kinds.
Nutrition
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Lauren
Super simple, quick and tasty recipe. Was great for a weeknight meal!
Alana Lieberman
Thank you! It's definitely one of my favorites during a busy week!