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Grilling marinated salmon is easy! The marinade is simple to whisk up and it infuses the tender fish with savory flavor.

Grilling Marinated Salmon
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Here’s a tasty way to dinner that everyone will love: grilling marinated salmon! Once it’s the season, fire up the grill and grab a great piece of salmon from the store. The best way to pack in tender flavor through every morsel of this popular fish? Marinate it. This marinade of soy sauce, olive oil, rice vinegar, Dijon and garlic is ultra simple but tastes beautifully complex. This salmon is guaranteed to be the the table!

What you need for grilling marinated salmon

There’s a wide variety of salmon you can find at the store: and the quality of the fish will make or break this recipe! Here’s what to look for when you’re buying salmon, and the other ingredients you’ll need for the marinade:

  • Skin-on salmon fillets: Skin on is important because it acts as a barrier between the fish and the grill while cooking! If you can, try to find wild-caught salmon: it tastes better and is most sustainable. Varieties of salmon like Coho are a tasty mid-priced option; King Salmon is the highest end.
  • Soy sauce (or tamari)
  • Olive oil
  • Rice vinegar
  • Sugar
  • Dijon mustard
  • Garlic
Grilling Marinated Salmon

How long to marinate salmon

How long does it take to marinate salmon? Good news: you don’t need to think ahead by hours. The minimum time to marinate salmon is 30 minutes. You’ll find the flavor permeates into the fish beautifully within this time. Want it even stronger? Marinate salmon for up to 3 hours refrigerated. Make sure to pull out the salmon and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking.

Tips for grilling marinated salmon

The best way for grilling marinated salmon? Marinate for 30 minutes, then place it right on the grill grates. Here are the particulars:

  • Marinate for at least 30 minutes at room temperature. Cooking room temperature fish is important: if the fish is too cold, it won’t cook through evenly. You can marinate for up to 3 hours refrigerated, but make sure to let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before cooking.
  • Grill on medium high heat, or 375 to 450 degrees. Medium high heat makes for a perfectly cooked piece of salmon.
  • Cook 5 to 10 minutes, based on thickness. Grill the salmon over indirect heat skin side up for 3 to 5 minutes, until grill marks appear and it releases from the grates. Flip and cook another 2 to 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the salmon, until flaky and just pink at the thickest portion and the internal temperature is 125 to 130 degrees. Allow to rest for a few minutes, then serve.
Grilling marinated salmon

Ways to prevent sticking

Last tips for for you try grilling marinated salmon? Here are a few notes to prevent sticking on the grill:

  • Don’t try to turn it too soon! When the salmon is cooked just enough, it releases from the grill grates, making it easy to flip. Touch it before that time and it can stick and break apart. Marinate the salmon and when cooking, wait until the salmon is easy to release (about 5 minutes). Then it’s easy to flip!
  • Make sure to cook with skin on salmon. This helps it to stay together on the grill. Salmon with the skin off easily sticks to the grill.

And that’s it! This marinated grilled salmon recipe was a big hit in our household: we hope it will be in yours! Let us know if you have any questions in the comments below.

Grilling marinated salmon

More salmon recipes

Love cooking with salmon? Here are a few more top salmon recipes to try:

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Grilling Marinated Salmon

Grilled Marinated Salmon


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5 from 1 review

  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
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Description

Grilling marinated salmon is easy! The marinade is simple to whisk up and it infuses the tender fish with savory flavor.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 4-ounce salmon fillets*, skin on (wild caught if possible)
  • ¼ cup soy sauce (or tamari)
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 clove garlic, grated
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat a grill to medium-high heat (375 to 450 degrees).
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, olive oil, water, rice vinegar, sugar, Dijon mustard, and grated garlic.
  3. Place the salmon in a large dish or container skin side up, and pour in the marinade. Marinade for at least 30 minutes at room temperature (or up to 3 hours refrigerated; if so, allow to sit at room temperature 30 minutes before cooking).
  4. After marinating, place the salmon on a baking sheet. Brush it liberally with the marinade, then discard the remaining marinade. Sprinkle with the kosher salt (split between the fillets) and fresh ground pepper.
  5. Grill the salmon over indirect heat skin side up for 3 to 5 minutes, until grill marks appear and it releases from the grates. Flip and cook another 2 to 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the salmon, until flaky and just pink at the thickest portion and the internal temperature is 125 to 130 degrees. (Salmon varies in thickness, so the cook time is different based on each piece of fish.) Allow to rest for a few minutes, then serve.

Notes

*You can cook up to 1 ½ pounds salmon using these marinade quantities. Sprinkle with slightly more salt before grilling.

  • Category: Main dish
  • Method: Grilled
  • Cuisine: Grilled
  • Diet: Gluten Free

About the authors

Sonja & Alex

Hi, we’re Alex and Sonja Overhiser, married cookbook authors, food bloggers, and recipe developers. We founded A Couple Cooks to share fresh, seasonal recipes and the joy of cooking! Our recipes are made by two real people and work every time.

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3 Comments

  1. Carolyn Haas says:

    This was a great way to make salmon. I really wondered about the mustard, but it all went together well! I used a copper mat on my grill so I didn’t have to worry about anything falling through the grates.






  2. Judith levy says:

    Hi this looks delicious. I don’t have an outdoor grill? Can this be made in the oven?
    How is this different from your baked oven salmon ?

    1. Alex Overhiser says:

      Hi! You could definitely marinate and then follow our oven baked timing instructions.