Simply grilled sockeye salmon is a mouthwatering recipe that is cooked in nearly 15 minutes! The rich salmon is flavored with a vibrant citrus herb marinade that enhances the natural flavors of the salmon. As the fish hits the grill, the tangy marinade creates an irresistible glaze that is both smoky and bright and bursts with Mediterranean flavors.
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🐟 About This Recipe
As we reach the heart of summer season in the Pacific Northwest, it is officially wild sockeye salmon season. Sockeye salmon can be frozen and available throughout the rest of the year, but as soon as June and July rolls around, it's one of the greatest treasures of the summer season.
This simply grilled sockeye salmon filet boasts some of my favorite Mediterranean flavors. Peppery olive oil, fresh citrus juices and herbs, savory garlic and a touch of honey for sweetness. The Mediterranean marinade glides over the sockeye salmon and provides a lovely bright and citrusy flavor without being overpowering. You can grill the whole salmon filet right on the grates, like in this recipe or place the salmon over cedar plank for a slightly smoky layer of flavor.
This Mediterranean grilled salmon is fantastic served alongside fattoush salad, lemony quinoa tabbouleh and Greek orzo pilaf.
✨ Recipe Highlights
- Simply grilled sockeye salmon that is made in under 15 minutes!
- The Mediterranean salmon glaze is bright, fresh and herbaceous.
- No flipping! Many grilled sockeye salmon recipes will instruct flipping the salmon, but there is no need as the salmon is thin and delicate.
📋 Ingredients
- Sockeye Salmon: Use fresh or frozen sockeye salmon and make sure it's wild, if possible. You can leave the sockeye salmon as a whole filet or cut it into smaller portions.
- Fresh Herbs: Use whatever fresh tender herbs that are available, such as parsley, cilantro or mint.
- Citrus: This salmon marinade uses both tart lemon juice and sweeter orange juice in the olive oil mixture. Use one or the other or other citrus such as grapefruit, blood orange or lime.
- Garlic: All you need is one garlic clove to add a bit of savoriness to the citrus marinade. I like using a microplane to finely grate the garlic.
- Spices: There are 2 main spices in the salmon glaze, sumac and Aleppo pepper. Sumac is tart and citrusy and a common ingredient in Turkish onion salad and as a bright finishing couch to Turkish flatbread. Aleppo pepper has some heat but if you prefer no spiciness, then you cna leave it out.
- Honey: A touch of honey gives the glaze a bit of sweetness and lets the glaze stick to the salmon filet easily.
- Olive Oil: Like most of my Mediterranean recipes, a good extra virgin olive oil often makes an appearance. Look for a flavorful extra virgin olive oil and save half of the marinade for pouring on afterwards.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
🍋 Substitutions and Variations
- Roast the Salmon. Instead of grilling, place the salmon on a foil lined baking sheet and roast at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes.
- Other Seasonings to Try. Season the salmon a shawarma marinade or press chopped herbs and citrus onto the salmon filet.
- Cook on a Cedar Plank. Soak a cedar plank in water (or beer is fun too) and place the salmon filet right onto the cedar plank and then the plank right onto the hot grill.
⏲️ Instructions
Step 1. In a bowl, add the olive oil, spices, citrus juices, honey, parsley and grated garlic and whisk to combine. Reserve half of the salmon marinade for after cooking.
Step 2. Pat the salmon dry with paper towels and brush the citrus glaze all over the flesh of the salmon.
Step 3. Once an outdoor grill or indoor grill pan has preheated to medium-high heat, place the sockeye salmon on the grill, skin side down.
Step 4. Add vegetables, if grilling alongside and continue grilling the salmon for 8-1o minutes until the thickest part is just cooked through. Cover the grill for the final 2-3 minutes to cook the top of the fish.
📍 Recipe Tips
- Dry the salmon filet. With any protein, searing steak, grilling chicken and even with seafood recipes, use a paper towel to pay the salmon dry very well. This will help any seasoning and marinades stick to the protein better.
- Save half of the glaze. Before brushing the marinade onto the salmon, reserve half of it for after it's grilled.
- Don't flip the salmon. Sockeye salmon is a very thin salmon, compared to thicker filets such as King salmon. Because the salmon is so thin and delicate, the less handling the better. Cover the grill for the last few minutes to cook the top.
- Don't overcook the salmon. Most salmon filets need no more than 10-15 minutes of cooking. Thicker pieces may need an extra few minutes, so keep an eye on it to prevent the salmon from over cooking and drying out.
🥗 What to Serve with Grilled Salmon
Recipe FAQs
The ideal temperature is to cook or grill salmon is anywhere from 350 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. It is better to cook at a lower temperature and to cook salmon at too high of a temperature.
You don't have to flip salmon on the grill. Instead, cover the grill for the final few minutes so the top of the salmon cooks. If you want to have the grill marks on the top of the salmon, gently turn it over for the last minute.
The best way to prevent salmon from drying out is to not overcook it. Most salmon filets don't need anymore than 10-15 minutes of cooking at the most.
More Salmon Recipes to Try
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Grilled Sockeye Salmon with Mediterranean Glaze
LittleFerraroKitchen.com
Ingredients
- 1- ½ pound sockeye salmon filet
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 garlic grated
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 teaspoon sumac
- ¾ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper or red pepper flakes
- Assorted vegetables for grilling summer squash, zucchini and or asparagus
Instructions
- Pre-heat the outdoor grill or an indoor grill pan to medium-high heat, about 375-400 degreesFahrenheit. If the fish is too large for the cooking area, cut the fillet into 4-ounce filets.
- Remove any pin bones from the salmon and pat the filet dry with paper towels.
- In a bowl, add the olive oil, grated garlic, parsley, lemon and orange juice, honey, sumac, salt and pepper and whisk until combined. Reserve half of the glaze for serving.
- Brush the rest of the glaze onto the salmon then place the salmon on the grill, skin side down. Cook the salmon for 8-10 minutes until just cooked through, thicker pieces may need an extra 1-2 minutes. Because the salmon is so thin, no flipping is needed, instead, close the grill for the final 2 minutes to cook the top of the salmon.
- Season the vegetables with salt, pepper and drizzle of olive oil and grill for 5 minutes until lightly charred on all sides.
- Once done, remove the salmon to a wide platter and brush on the reserved citrus olive oil glaze and serve with the grilled vegetables.
Notes
- Dry the salmon filet. With any protein, searing steak, grilling chicken and even with seafood recipes, use a paper towel to pay the salmon dry very well. This will help any seasoning and marinades stick to the protein better.
- Save half of the glaze. Before brushing the marinade onto the salmon, reserve half of it for after it's grilled.
- Don't flip the salmon. Sockeye salmon is a very thin salmon, compared to thicker filets such as King salmon. Because the salmon is so thin and delicate, the less handling the better. Cover the grill for the last few minutes to cook the top.
- Don't overcook the salmon. Most salmon filets need no more than 10-15 minutes of cooking. Thicker pieces may need an extra few minutes, so keep an eye on it to prevent the salmon from over cooking and drying out.
BrightLemonyKitchen says
Speaking of Bright and Lemony, The marinade for the Salmon is just that. Normally I use the minimum on a great piece of fish, the marinade in this instance enhances the fish. I might juts pit that S*%t on Everything. If Cooking the Filet in one piece which is a great Idea, make sure you have all of your supplies to turn it in 1 piece. I used 2 fish spatulas. Worked perfectly.
New2Cooking says
I picked this recipe with my eyes. The Photographs and Videos on this site are fun. I saw a whole frozen Filet and it was not expensive so I tried it and followed the directions Exactly because i'm kind of new at cooking. It turned out GREAT. I rubbed Avocado oil on the grill first and the fish did Not stick.
ItsMecookinforU says
Love, LOVE this Salmon recipe. It's a One-Grill Meal. I think it's the Pepper, Sumac and Honey that gives it that Kick. I used exactly The recipe called for But I did cook off some Corn, onions, Bell Peppers and at the last minute grilled some Romain that I cut in 1/2 and made the Caesar salad with grilled romaine. I just did a spin on the Caesar salad from this Ferraro Kitchen website.
MrnMrsindkitchen says
The ease of this recipe is shocking but you do not need to Only use Salmon, Our friend did a Whole rockfish and it tasted great. I must say though the flavors of this recipe were much better than the whole rockfish. While the fire was on anyway we tossed on an Artichoke and some par-cooked potatos and did the https://littleferrarokitchen.com/potato-salad-no-mayo/ so glad we found this great spot for recipes.