Former Canary, Robert Earnshaw compounded the misery for home fans when he came on as a late substitute to score what turned out to be the decisive third goal for the visitors after Matt Thornhill and Lewis McGugan had given Forest a well deserved 2-0 lead by half-time.
Forest kicked off attacking the River End goal and forced the first corner of the game inside the first two minutes.
The visitors continued to put the pressure on the home side, enjoying more than their fair share of possession.
In fact it was 15 minutes before Norwich managed a shot when David Bell's effort was blocked and Sammy Clingan fired wide.
It was left to Thornhill to show the way when he opened the scoring for Forest.
He collected Nathan Tyson's left-wing cross and his firm right-foot drive from the edge of the penalty area found the net via David Marshall's right-hand post.
Forest continued to look strong in midfield and went 2-0 up on the half-hour when McGugan collected the ball from Chris Cohen's flick on from Joe Heath's throw- in on the Norwich right.
He then evaded two challenges as he ran into the penalty area to slide a right-foot shot past Marshall from ten yards.
The home side were stung into action but still failed to trouble Lee Camp, who looked comfortable in dealing with crosses and shots, including a clever chip from Matty Pattison five minutes before half-time which he tipped over the bar.
In the 58th minute, Gary Doherty did well to block Tyson's shot, while at the other end both substitute Darel Russell and Clingan fired wide.
Russell and Doherty had penalty appeals turned down before Norwich pulled a goal back.
It came after Doherty had hit the bar and the ball entered the net via ian Breckin's outstretched leg.
Three minutes from time, Camp did well to keep out Leroy Lita's header, then substitute Earnshaw sealed the win for Forest when he collected the ball from Joe Garner, side-stepped Doherty's challenge and slotted his right-foot shot to Marshall's left from eight yards.
In stoppage time a bullet header from Garner when he attempted to clear Wes Hoolahan's cross made the final score 3-2 to the visitors with all the goals coming from Forest players.