Irresistible Longhorn's Salmon Recipe: Impress Your Guests

It’s actually mind-blowing how hard it is to come across a proper salmon recipe. Still, most are overcooked, they use too many ingredients, and the marinade is simply average. That’s where Longhorn’s salmon recipe comes into play.

Longhorn’s salmon recipe is all about the marinade, which makes this recipe unique. It has everything. The acidity, the savory flavor, and the addition of bourbon — the marinade take the dish to another level. Let’s take a look.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage and reheating
• Pro Tips
• Our Longhorn's Salmon Recipe
• Comments

Ingredients

• Salmon — 2 filets, skinless
• Bourbon — 1 cup
• Soy sauce — 2 tbsp.
• Brown sugar — 2 tbsp.
• Salt — ½ tsp.
• Black pepper — ½ tsp.
• Olive oil — 1 tbsp.
• Garlic powder — ½ tsp.
• Lime juice — ¼ cup
• Chives — 2 tbsp.

Instructions

1. Set your oven to 400 degrees.

2. For the marinade, combine lime juice, bourbon, brown sugar, and soy sauce in a mixing bowl.

3. Let the mixture sit for a while until the sugar dissolves.

4. Add salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

5. Lightly grease a baking dish and place the salmon filets on it.

6. Pour the marinade over the fish.

7. Refrigerate and marinate for at least two hours.

8. Remove from the refrigerator, and drizzle some olive oil on top of the dish. Transfer to your oven.

9. Bake each side for 7 minutes.

10. Garnish with chives before serving.

Substitutions

• Soy sauce — Soy sauce is integral to the marinade for the Longhorn’s salmon recipe. But that didn’t stop us from experimenting. We used tamari instead of soy sauce, and it turned out pretty good. While tamari is the closest you can get to the original flavor, you can also use Worcestershire sauce, though it comes with a slightly different flavor profile. Teriyaki sauce could be tried out too, and fish sauce should be mentioned as well.

• Lime juice — Lime juice provides some much-needed acidity, exactly what Longhorn’s salmon recipe needs with the marinade. Admittedly, it doesn’t bring much depth when it comes to flavor, and that’s why we’ve used apple cider vinegar instead. If vinegar is not your thing, feel free to use pineapple juice as well.

• Chives — This one should be easy. While Longhorn’s original salmon recipe calls for chives to garnish the dish, they can be easily replaced with green onions or shallots.

Variations

• Make it alcohol-free — Since Longhorn’s salmon recipe is all about the marinade, and the marinade is all about the bourbon. It’s what makes this recipe so unique and compelling. But not everyone might be OK with cooking with alcohol. We’ve replaced bourbon with vanilla extract, and we got pretty close to the original taste. If a teaspoon of vanilla extract doesn't sound exciting to you, you could consider using apple cider vinegar.

• Make salmon tacos — This one seemed creative enough, and all it takes is some corn tortillas, along with Cajun spice. Chop the fish into bite-sized pieces, coat it with Cajun spice, and bring out the tortillas. You can also add more spices and seasonings. Still, keep in mind that Cajun spice and soy sauce, when combined, might be a bit too much for some. Feel free to omit the soy sauce, if that’s the case.

• Pair it — While Longhorn’s salmon recipe makes a compelling dish on its own, pairing it with other dishes might be a good idea. You can start with a bowl of simple steamed rice, and if that doesn’t cut it for you, Longhorn’s own Brussels sprouts or stuffed mushrooms should be considered!

Equipment

• Measuring cups and spoons

• Mixing bowl

• Baking dish

• Oven

• Cutting board

• Knife

Storage and reheating

• Refrigerating — Wrap the fish tightly with aluminum foil and transfer it to an airtight container. Once stored in your fridge, the leftovers will last for three days.

• Freezing — This is the better method if you are not planning on enjoying the leftovers soon. Transfer the fish to a sealed bag and store it in your freezer, where they will last for three months.

• Reheating — If you’ve opted for freezing the leftovers, first you might want to thaw them in the fridge overnight before reheating. After that, you can easily reheat the leftovers in the oven, at 300 degrees.

Pro Tips

• The salmon — Although you could get away with using any type of salmon, choosing a high-quality, fresh salmon will elevate your dish to another level. After all, Longhorn’s salmon recipe is only as good as the ingredients used.

• The marinade — By this point, we have pointed out the importance of marinade in Longhorn’s salmon recipe multiple times, but keep in mind that marinating the fish for too long will also result in a low-quality dish. Two hours is ideal.