If you have never Grilled Salmon before, today is the day! A simple rub and 10 minutes on the grill rewards you with perfectly cooked and flavorful salmon – and a fresh Strawberry Salsa is a refreshing way to top it off.
I’m ashamed of myself.
So many years of blogging, and I’ve never shared my favorite fish recipe with you guys. That’s way too much time without Abe’s crispy-skinned salmon in your lives.
What kind of Florida girl am I?
This page includes step by step instructions, as well as tips and notes. If you’d like to skip all that, feel free to scroll down to the full, printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Cooking fish on the grill is one of our favorite ways to eat seafood! Abe loves grilling all the things anyway, and we both adore salmon.
We used to solely grill salmon in foil because of how easy it is to make up packets. Once he discovered how perfectly crispy the skin gets when it’s grilled directly over the flame?
He said he’d never go back to foil.
This is legit the best grilled salmon recipe I’ve ever developed! It comes together super quickly, and requires no marinating time – it uses a dry rub instead.
Ingredients
The salmon rub used here is super easy to whip up, so make a batch and keep it on hand to use all summer!
- Skin-on salmon fillets
- Olive oil
- Orange zest
- Brown sugar
- Ground cumin
- Dried parsley flakes
- Garlic powder
- Hot or smoked paprika
- Sea salt
- Black pepper
For exact ingredient measurements and recipe instructions, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the post!
What to serve with grilled salmon
The options for seafood sides are broad! Rice, potato salad, or baked truffle fries are all delicious options. If you’d rather stay in the veggie lane, my Grilled Corn & Zucchini Salad, a chopped salad, or kale & quinoa salad. To keep it low carb, try it with roasted cauliflower, asparagus with bacon, or my FAVE cilantro lime cauliflower rice.
How To Grill Salmon
- Make your salmon rub. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, cumin, parsley, salt, orange zest, garlic powder, paprika, and pepper.
- Drizzle the salmon filets with oil, then rub the pink side of each salmon filet with the seasoning mixture.
- Moisten a paper towel with cooking oil (your choice) and rub it on the grate of a gas or charcoal grill, lightly coating it. Preheat the grill to 500 degrees F. Alternately, you can turn your oven broiler to high.
- Place the salmon filets on the grill, skin side up. Grill, covered, (or broil 3-4 in. from heat source) for 5 minutes. Gently flip and grill 4-6 minutes more, or until the fish just begins to flake easily with a fork.
- Remove the fish from the grill and set aside to rest for 5 minutes. Serve topped with the strawberry salsa.
To make easy strawberry salsa…
Any salsa would be delicious with this salmon, but I opted for a strawberry, avocado, and tomato version! It’s a fresh and light and brightens up the butteriness of the fish.
To make it, add chopped strawberries and avocado, quartered grape tomatoes, diced jalapeno and red onion, and cilantro to a bowl.
Zest a lime and add it to the mix, then squeeze in the lime juice. Liberally sprinkle in some sea salt, then toss it all together. Taste the salsa and adjust the seasonings, adding more salt or lime if needed.
Cover the bowl and chill the salsa for at least 30 minutes before serving over the salmon.
I suggest eating any leftover salsa with some cinnamon pita chips or lime tortilla chips! Yum!
FAQ
How long to grill salmon
Salmon is one of those fish that can actually be eaten completely raw (think sushi) with no worries about food poisoning.
You can grill this salmon as little or as long as you’d like. Fully cooked and flaky salmon should be between 125 and 130 degrees F. This takes about 10-12 minutes on your grill.
Do you have to flip salmon on the grill?
You don’t have to flip salmon on the grill – but aren’t those perfect grill marks just gorgeous??
The fish will cook completely if you are worried about it sticking and choose to grill it skin side down only.
As long as you oil your grill grates really well before heating it to 500 degrees, the fish should not stick. Your reward will be beautiful, Instagram-worthy salmon!
HELPFUL KITCHEN TOOLS FOR MAKING GRILLED SALMON:
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Grilled Salmon with Strawberry Salsa
Ingredients
Grilled Salmon:
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon parsley flakes
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon orange zest
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon hot paprika
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 4 salmon fillets 6 ounces each
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
Strawberry Salsa:
- 8 ounces strawberries hulled & finely chopped
- 8 ounces grape tomatoes quartered
- 1 jalapeno diced
- 1 avocado finely chopped
- ½ cup fresh cilantro chopped
- ¼ cup red onion diced
- 1 large lime zested and juiced
- Pinch sea salt
Instructions
Grilled Salmon:
- In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, cumin, parsley, salt, orange zest, garlic powder, paprika, and pepper. Drizzle the salmon with oil, then rub the pink side of each salmon filet with the seasoning mixture.
- Moisten a paper towel with cooking oil and rub it on the grill rack, lightly coating it. Preheat grill to 500 degrees F (or turn oven broiler on high).
- Place salmon on grill rack, skin side up. Grill, covered, (or broil 3-4 in. from heat) for 5 minutes. Gently flip and grill 4-6 minutes more, or until the fish just begins to flake easily with a fork.
Strawberry Salsa:
- In a medium bowl, add the strawberries, tomatoes, jalapeno, avocado, onion and cilantro. Toss with lime zest, juice, and salt, adjusting the seasonings if needed.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving over fish. Eat the rest with some cinnamon tortilla chips.
- Store any leftover salsa in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Dawn says
I love salmon and have grilled it before but always used foil pouches due to fear of it crumbling apart on the grill. Will have to try it without the foil and step out of my comfort zone 🙂 Strawberry salsa sounds like an amazing topping for it too!
I even have a basket I could use – forgot all about it. It was one of those things I bought and that was the last time I thought about it haha!