Name: Easy Grilled Salmon Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 4 8- ounce salmon fillets; 2 tablespoons melted butter or olive oil; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1-2 lemons (halved); Additional salt and pepper to taste

ThisEasy Grilled Salmon Recipeis perfect for grill novices to learn how to grill salmon. It’s flaky, lemony, and salty in all the best ways, and comes together with little time or effort!

This Easy Grilled Salmon Recipe is perfect for grill novices to learn how to grill salmon. It's flakey, lemony, and salty in all the best ways, and comes together with little time or effort!

One of my favorite summertime meals is grilled salmon with bright veggies on the side.This is a great healthy meal for busy weeknights or casual weekend meals because it comes together super quickly and with minimal effort.

Because grilling salmon takes such a small amount of time, it pairs really well with fast-cooking vegetables, likeasparagusand zucchini. Whether you’re a grilling newbie or an old pro, this recipe is approachable for everyone! It’s so delicious and vibrant, and couldn’t be easier to make.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Delicious Flavor: Grilling salmon gives it a smoky flavor that makes it so yummy.
Healthy Option: Salmon is packed with omega-3 fatty acids which are so good for your heart.
Minimal Cleanup: Grilling is great because you don’t have to wash any pots or pans afterward. Less clean-up leaves you more time for other things, like hanging out with your family!

Ingredients

Salmon Fillets
Melted Butter or Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Lemons
Salt and Pepper

See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities

Popular Substitutions and Variations

Season it with the usual suspects (salt, pepper, and lemon), orwhip out a fun seasoning mix, fish rub, or lemon pepperto shake things up a bit. You can have fun with this and make it a little differently every time!

How to Make Easy Grilled Salmon

Step #1.Rinse the salmon fillets. Pat them dry with paper towels then place them on a wire rack. Brush them with butter or olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Flip the fillets over and repeat.

Step #2.Heat the grill on high until very hot. Place the fillets on the grill and reduce the temperature to low. Cook for 6 minutes, then flip and cook 4-6 more minutes until the fish tests done. Sprinkle with kosher salt and lemon juice. Serve with more lemon slices.

Recipe FAQs

How long do you grill salmon?

Once my grill’s nice and hot, I turn down the heat to low and place the salmon fillets on the grate, close the lid, and let it cook for 6 minutes. Once that time’s up, I flip the fillets using a metal spatula and cook them for another 4 to 6 minutes. This is usually perfect for standard 1.5-inch thick fillets.

Do you eat the skin on salmon?

So, this is totally up to you! It’s safe to eat salmon skin, although some people don’t like the texture or idea of fish skin (hey, I get it). But the skin does have a lot of the same nutrients that are in the fish itself, so it’s perfectly healthy to eat. Plus, grilling it gives it a good crispy, crunchy texture that’s actually quite nice.If you don’t want to eat it, still cook it with the skin on. It’ll help keep the fish together while grilling, and it adds to the flavor. After cooking, the skin is super easy to peel off on a plate if you want to toss it.

How hot should the grill be for salmon?

Heat up your grill on high to grill salmon. This will usually mean it gets up to about 500 degrees F. If you’re using a charcoal grill, let the charcoals heat up until they are covered in a white-gray ash. This should take about 5 to 10 minutes after you light the charcoal. Then drop the heat once you put the fish on to medium or use an indirect heat method for charcoal grilling.

How do you know when salmon is done grilling?

When salmon’s done cooking, it’ll flake easily with a fork or knife. It will also pull away from the skin with ease when it’s all done. Some smaller fillets may not need to be flipped at the 6-minute mark and might be cooked through in that shorter amount of time. Just eyeball it, and test it with a fork when you think it’s ready!

Summer's here, and this Easy Grilled Salmon Recipe is the perfect fresh and easy meal after a hot and sunny day.

Expert Tips

To me,lemon juice on grilled salmon is a nonnegotiable accentthat boosts the rich flavors and adds lots of citrusy freshness to the final product!You can even grill your lemon halves for an extra smokey element.
Don’t skip patting your fillets dry.This helps you get those beautiful sear marks from the hot grill.