Make your next Grilled Salmon AMAZING with a simple yet incredible Salmon Marinade that will infuse it with extra flavour! Bonus: it does double duty for basting and as the sauce for serving.
Plus, my very simple tips for cooking salmon on the BBQ – no more burnt salmon, and how to stop salmon from sticking to the grill!
Grilled Salmon
I feel like a lot of people are intimidated at the thought of cooking salmon on the BBQ. Fear of it sticking to the grill, of flaking into bits when handling it. Or of the sugar in marinades causing it to burn into a black bitter mess.
Ditch the fear! Cooking salmon on the BBQ is easy when you know a couple of simple tips that make all the difference. With THIS grilled salmon recipe, your salmon will be:
✅ caramelised but not burnt on the outside
✅ it won’t stick to the grill
✅ cooked to juicy perfection on the inside
✅ has extra insurance from a marinade just in case you cook it a bit over 😇
You’ll love how the Salmon Marinade is also used to baste the salmon AND as a sauce for serving!
(PS I totally manufactured the flare up you see below. Just cause I thought it looked cool! 😂)
Secrets to the best Grilled Salmon ever!
So here are my tips for perfect grilled salmon.
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Use skin on salmon fillets. The skin holds the salmon together much better when handling on the grill. Serve the salmon with the skin peeled off, or serve as is and let people decide for themselves!
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Drain excess marinade off the flesh side – set it aside for 10 minutes or so to really make the marinade drip off. (Skin side doesn’t matter as much because it’s not as fragile). This tip is especially relevant when you have sugar in the marinade.
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Drizzle with oil just before cooking. 🌟Key tip!🌟
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Brush grills generously with oil before heating BBQ
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Grill salmon on medium – or even medium low, if you know your BBQ is very strong. It is safer to cook on a lower rather than higher temperature. You can always cook for longer – but can’t undo a burnt mess! 🌟Key tip!🌟
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Put the flesh side down first – because you just oiled it, and it’s the more fragile side so it’s just safer to cook that side perfectly first. The skin side is hardier and can take longer cooking if needed. Plus, it’s a general rule to cook the presentation side first.
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Do not move the salmon once you put it on the grill.🌟Key tip!🌟 It will initially stick to the grills, then it will release once cooked (and don’t forget, we have extra insurance from oiling the flesh!)
If you’re a pro griller, you might feel confident enough to skip some of these. But for ordinary folk like myself you don’t want to risk the salmon, follow these for grilled salmon success every. Single. Time!!
How you know the salmon is cooked
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The side of the salmon changes colour from translucent to opaque; or
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The internal temperature of the salmon is 50C/120°F (medium-rare), or 55C / 130F (for medium). I cannot endorse cooking salmon beyond medium!
The Salmon Marinade
And here’s what goes in the Salmon Marinade. It adds a savoury-sweet-garlic flavour to the salmon and makes it beautifully caramelised.
Soy sauce is the key ingredient here. Because it’s salty, it acts as the brine, injecting flavour and juiciness into the salmon flesh. It does not make the Salmon taste Asiany!
Plenty of subs available, I’ve listed them in the recipe card.
What to serve with Grilled Salmon
If I’m cooking something non-Asian on the BBQ, it’s pretty much inevitable that grilled corn makes an appearance too.
Add a garden salad tossed with French Vinaigrette, Italian Dressing or a cooling German Cucumber Salad, plus some crusty bread rolls for a perfect warm weather BBQ dinner.
Or try one of these big-batch sides that keep great for days and days (and take some of the leftovers to work!):
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Bacon Potato Salad with a creamy mayo dressing
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Lemon Potato Salad (no mayo!)
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Coleslaw – or try this no mayo Cabbage Salad (I make this a LOT!)
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A big juicy Greek Salad – or try this Greek Lemon Orzo Salad (Risoni)
Please try to ignore the top left corner of the salmon in the photo below. You know full well I went to eat the salmon before I finished taking all the photos I needed.
I suppose my limited Photoshop skills are sufficient enough to have patched that up.
But then I decided to leave it so I could sign off with this vision: that split second when my mouth was wide open and the fork was just about to go in, when I realised that I’d forgotten to take the photo below.
Putting the fork down in a huff, pushing the piece of salmon back into place, climbing a little ladder, taking this photo, then 2 seconds later, that piece was gone. (And minutes later, so was that whole piece of salmon) 😂 ~ Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Marinated Grilled Salmon
Ingredients
- 4 salmon fillets , skin on best (150-180g/5-6oz each, Note 1)
- Olive oil , for cooking
Marinade (Sauce)- Note 2:
- 1/3 cup (85 ml) soy sauce , low sodium
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
Serving (optional)
- Parsley, chives or green onion , finely chopped
- Lemon slices
Instructions
Marinating:
- Place marinade in a ziplock bag and mix to combine.
- Add salmon and massage to coat. Marinate for 3 - 24 hours (1 hr minimum).
- Take out of fridge 30 minutes prior to cooking.
- Remove salmon onto plate, allowing excess marinade to drain off.
Sauce (basting + serving):
- Pour remaining marinade into a small saucepan and simmer over medium high for 3 to 5 minutes until syrupy.
- Pour into bowl/jug (some used for basting, some for serving).
BBQ:
- Brush BBQ grills with oil. Then preheat to medium (or medium low for strong BBQ's).
- Drizzle salmon with oil, the place onto the BBQ flesh side down (skin side up).
- Cook for 3 minutes or until golden, then use tongs to carefully turn.
- Brush the flesh with Sauce, then close BBQ lid.
- Cook for 3 - 4 minutes, basting one more time halfway through, or until the internal temperature is 50C/120F(medium rare) or 55C/130F (medium).
- Transfer salmon to plate and serve with remaining Sauce.
Recipe Notes:
- Soy sauce - use light or all purpose soy sauce, preferably low sodium (but ok if not). Do not use dark soy sauce or sweet soy sauce.
- Lemon juice - sub cider vinegar, rice wine vinegar or white wine vinegar. Or 1.5 tbsp any other plain vinegar (white, balsamic, red wine, champagne etc)
- Honey - maple syrup or other sweet liquid, or 2.5 tbsp brown sugar.
- Olive oil - or other oil of choice.
- Garlic - fresh is best, otherwise 2 tsp from jar.
- Customise it - chilli flakes or dash of hot sauce, ginger, five spice, sweet chilli sauce. All of these would be great additions!
Nutrition Information:
More great things to grill
Life of Dozer
This weekend:
Me – lying on the sun lounge, soaking up the warm sun.
Dozer – standing over me, not only blocking the sun but also showering me with his slobber. Eeewww! Go away Dozer, leave me alone!
Had this last night on the BBQ served with mixed Greek salad and it was delicious. Very easy to make and looked great served with chopped parsley and chives and drizzled with more of the marinade. Have bookmarked to use again and will definitely serve when we have friends over as it looks and tastes more impressive than simply BBQing plain salmon pieces. Thank you, love your recipes x
I usually detest the endless rambling at the beginning of recipes on the internet, but you had me when you admitted the flame was there because it looked cool. er… hot.
Easy and delicious, turned our perfect 😍
My marinade doesn’t thicken in the saucepan.. please help!
I’m drooling just watching the video!! Any tips for using salmon steaks instead of fillets? Thank you!
So so good! I’m still trying to like salmon and this recipe coughs my eye as one that would help me enjoy it more. I Only marinated for 4 hours and was still full of flavor. That sauce!!! OMG…this is My new favorite recipe for salmon. I Squeezed fresh lemon after spooning more sauce on the salmon before serving. So yummy. You have the best recipes! Thanks for another awesome one!!
Hi Nagi! Made this last night and the family loved it. I had large salmon filets so opted to bake in the oven to cook them all at the same time. 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 14 minutes was perfect. Flavor from the marinade was absolutely delicious.
Hi, am I able to freeze these? I made the marinade and put the salmon in it earlier today but have just found out we won’t all be home for dinner.
Hi Michelle, yes just pop it in the freezer and thaw when you’re ready to cook. N x
Too wet to get outside and do this on the bbq so I used a grill pan on the cooktop – still amazing. A very tasty alternative to the way we normally have salmon
Hi Nagi, how would you cook this on the stove top?
Hi Rachel, you can just use the technique listed in the recipe 🙂 https://www.recipetineats.com/honey-garlic-salmon-5-ingredients-15-minutes N x
Thank you and OMG this was incredible! Also I make your cranberry and apple and candied walnut salad everytime we entertain and people rave about it. Like I am some domestic goddess or something…but that is all YOU Nagi.
Hi Nagi,
Simple and delicious, cooked on Weber Q using a non stick grill mat so no sticking or burning. Recipe added to my recipe app, one of several of yours
Thanks
Perfect for the hot day in Sydney today😥. Served it with bbq’d asparagus and it was a simple quick easy delicious dinner!
Nagi congrats for every recipe, you are the best! Greetings from Romania😘 what kind of grill you use? Because mine is an electric one, and the results is not so good
Delicious
Quick, easy and absolutely delicious. This smells amazing while cooking and tastes fabulous
Just had this tonight! It was DELISH!!! I’ve tried a number of your recipes and they are excellent! Thank you!!!
I added a 1/2 inch of minced ginger and 1/2 tsp of “Cholula” Hot Sauce. Tangy, but mild. Our guests raved about it. Thank you..
YUM! Sounds great Hank! N x
This was absolutely delicious!! I substituted Teriyaki sauce instead of Soy sauce and lime juice instead of lemon, only because I had neither that the recipe called for. It was fantastic though! Yum!!
I too would like to know how I could replicate this in the oven and/or broiler. I am in NYC right now; coronavirus is consuming my life. After working from home all day, I’ll whip up one of your easy (and ALWAYS delicious) recipes for me and my boyfriend. It’s really what is keeping us sane. Thank you! We managed to score some salmon from the empty grocery store shelves, but don’t really have access to a grill. Please send help! The salmon is currently marinating in the fridge, I would love some guidance for how to cook it up for dinner tomorrow. I hope you and Dozer and staying healthy during these crazy times!!!
Hi Nagi, what can I serve with this that is easy to make as I am going to cook it for my fellow paramedics at work
The magic number for salmon I’ve found cooking in the oven is 375 for 15 minutes .. I sometimes will broil the top for 1 minutes at the end to make the fish turn a nice colour, the biggest threat to cooking salmon is over cooking just cook long enough so the fish flakes at the thickest part of the salmon… sometimes cooking in the oven is better more consistent heat and no flame ups!
Oh! And I added a little Dijon to the marinade. I hope it turns out well!
Wonderful marinade- it’s been my go to salmon dish for a while now. I add some chilli flakes in oil and a few drops of sesame oil as well and just do it under the grill for about 7 mins, basting after 3 mins as per the recipe, and it’s just fantastic.
Another Q Nagi – where is the recipe request page? I can’t find it anywhere but I’ve seen you mention in it other responses.
We’re BBQ this tonight, now that spring is here!
Try here for requests: https://www.recipetineats.com/recipes-request/