Root Beer Glazed Salmon

I know why you’re here. You want an amazing root beer glazed salmon recipe that you can make for dinner sometime this week. But before I give you the recipe, let me tell you a story!


Root Beer Glazed Salmon

If you know anything about me, then you probably know that I have so many allergies! From horses to lentils to fish, I have it all. But when I got an allergy test all those years ago, the only fish I was positive for was perch. How could this be? What even is perch and who eats it?? Every time I ate fish, I got a tingly feeling in my mouth. After years and years of avoiding fish (yes, it took me that long to believe the allergy test), I realized that I’m not actually allergic to it. Here’s how I figured it out:

Pretty much the only fish I would eat was salmon. Even though it always made me itchy, I loved it! And I still do! Since I love it so much, I decided to take a bite of some that my mom had made for herself and my sister. I took a bite and…. nothing! Hmmm… no reaction whatsoever. Weird. I ate the rest of my piece and told everyone about how I was cured from my fish allergy.

Root Beer Barbecue Salmon

I was so excited that I could eat salmon again, that a couple weeks later, I bought some from the supermarket and prepared it for myself. Let me tell you, it was DELICIOUS!! But it wasn’t exactly the happy ending that I had the last time I ate it. I had the absolute WORST reaction I’ve ever had to fish. I thought that I had somehow eaten a peanut because my mouth was itchy, my throat was getting tight, and I was breaking out into hives. How could this be? I had just had salmon a couple weeks ago and I was perfectly fine!?

Fast forward a year or two. My mom made some breaded white fish and she gave me a piece. Aside from it being super salty, it was good and no reaction! A couple months later, I get back from an early morning walk with my mom when she decides that she’s going to eat some sardines. Yuck! I hate when she does this because it stinks up the whole house. But this time, I decided to try a piece. It was actually pretty good and…. again! no reaction! 

This got me thinking. I had 2 different types of fish and had no reaction to them whatsoever, but when I eat salmon, sometimes I have a slight reaction, sometimes I think I’m going to die, and sometimes I have no reaction at all. Being the science-focused person that I am ?, I inferred what really might be going on here. We all know that farm-raised salmon has additives, including synthetic color that the fish is fed to help produce its characteristic color. I think that the times that I did not have a reaction to salmon, I was probably eating wild-caught salmon without additives and the other times, I had farm-raised salmon and I had a reaction to the additives and not the fish itself.

Root Beer Glazed Salmon

But with all that said, when I made this recipe for you guys, I wasn’t careful about the type of salmon I was buying so I again had a reaction. (But I couldn’t stop eating it because it was so good!) Believe me, the next time I make this recipe, I am definitely using wild-caught salmon because it is still on the top of my list of favorite foods, right next to tacos and tiramisu. 

I guess now I can take an allergy off my list and experiment with new fish recipes that I’ve been missing out on my whole life!

Root Beer Glazed Salmon
Root Beer Glazed Salmon
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
6 servings 15 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
20 minutes 1 hour
Servings Prep Time
6 servings 15 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
20 minutes 1 hour
Root Beer Glazed Salmon
Root Beer Glazed Salmon
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
6 servings 15 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
20 minutes 1 hour
Servings Prep Time
6 servings 15 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
20 minutes 1 hour
Ingredients
Servings: servings
Instructions
  1. Combine together the root beer, ketchup, lemon juice, Worcestershire, brown sugar, ginger, and garlic powder in a large bowl.
  2. Remove half of the sauce and place in a sauce pan.
  3. Place the salmon fillets in the sauce in the large bowl. Cover and place in the fridge to marinate for 30 minutes to an hour.
  4. While the salmon is marinating, bring the rest of the sauce to a boil over medium heat. Reduce to medium low and simmer about 20 minutes or until reduced to half.
  5. Set aside some of the reduced sauce so as to not cross contaminate it.
  6. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
  7. Place the marinated salmon on an oiled baking tray skin side down. Season with salt and pepper.
  8. Brush the salmon with the reduced sauce, then bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until it easily flakes with a fork.
  9. I served it with rice and green beans and topped it with the extra sauce.

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