The Best Salmon Marinade requires just a handful of ingredients to bring out the best flavor in your salmon. It’s the best marinade for salmon whether you are making grilled salmon or oven-baked.
This salmon marinade can be used with the two most common cooking methods for salmon: baking and grilling. Baking is a super easy method for cooking salmon that locks in flavor and helps cook salmon evenly. Grilling adds a lot of additional flavor to salmon which is a natural benefit of cooking over an open flame. No matter which method you use, this marinade is going to take your salmon over the top with flavor!
This marinade is an orange-honey-ginger based sauce. Each ingredient is important and offers something different to create the best tasting salmon. Soy provides seasoning on our fish rather than salt. Salmon always needs an acid, and orange is the perfect complimenting flavor. The honey works to balance out the acidity. Garlic and ginger add a complexity of flavor, with a touch of red pepper flakes for a little bit of heat. It’s the best salmon marinade for perfect salmon every time.
Spice Level in The Best Salmon Marinade:
The red pepper flakes in this recipe give it a nice warmth, without much heat. You can increase or decrease the amount of red pepper flakes according to your own spice tolerance and taste preferences.
Skillet Cooking Instructions:
Salmon is a forgiving fish that is easy to cook. Salmon is most commonly baked or grilled, though you can also cook it on the stovetop in a pan. This method works best for salmon portions and not large salmon filets. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Place the salmon skin-side down (if there is skin) and cook for 4 to 6 minutes, until golden brown. Flip and continue cooking for 4 to 6 minutes until salmon flakes easily with a fork.
Baking Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Season your salmon with desired seasonings. Wrap in aluminum foil. Place on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until salmon easily flakes with a fork. The aluminum foil will trap in steam and help cook your fish evenly.
Grilling Instructions:
To grill salmon, preheat an outdoor grill to approximately 400 degrees. Place your salmon onto aluminum foil or a pre-soaked cedar grilling plank. Close the grill, and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, or until fish easily flakes with a fork.
Storage and Reheating Instructions:
Salmon is always best served fresh. If you have any leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in an oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit until warmed through.
If you like this recipe you may be interested in these other delicious salmon recipes:
The quality of wild salmon is so much better and healthier than farm raised because the color of farm raised is the result of the fish being fed dyed food to make the flesh red. Unfortunately the cost of the wild Sockeye or the Copper River is higher but they definitely have a far richer taste and more flavor. I think the season begins in late spring or early summer and frozen is always available. If the pictured salmon is light pink, it is farm raised; if it is deep orange, it is wild which may account for the variations in the colors of the fish that was photographed.
Farm salmon taste like crap. Don’t buy it. Get the wild fresh salmon. We need to shut the farm fish down. Don’t taste right & they are screwing up our oceans.
I have 3 questions
1) what weight salmon filet do I need to buy for 4 adults?
2) Can i wrap the salmon in a parchment paper packet as we don’t like to cook in aluminum foil?
3) if I use a cast iron skillet, how long for you suggest I cook it and do I flip it?
A serving of salmon is 2 to 3 ounces, so I’d buy at least a 12 ounce portion for 4 adults.
Butcher paper is a better substitute than parchment paper. Parchment paper may catch on fire.
You can cook it in a skillet, it takes about 5 minutes per side. And yes, flip.
A serving size may “technically” be 2-3 oz, but I’ve never heard of someone only eating that portion unless they are 2 or 80+. Most people consume (and restaurants serve) 5-8 oz servings.
On the Reynold’s site, which is a maker of parchment paper, it says it’s safe up to 420 degrees. Don’t leave any overhang or leave in the oven too long to avoid catching fire. Parchment paper makes a nice presentation when fish is sealed nicely in packets. Even still, I’d keep an eye on it while baking with parchment paper.
Well, with my family I use 4-6 oz fillets per person. Ahem, we LOVE salmon!
I find that Salmon loses about an ounce per serving when cooked. Depending on what else you’re serving, I think 5-7oz is about a serving (not to argue with the recipe creator).Obviously your choice – I cook salmon a fair amount – thought I’d toss in my 2 cents. Enjoy!
Can’t eat ginger. Is there an appropriate substitute?
Allspice would be the best substitute in my opinion.
If i dont have orange juice can i substitute it with anything
The best substitute for orange juice is another citrus like lemon or lime.
Love salmon. I like it with a bourbon soy sauce, grilled with a cucumber dill sauce, grilled with Greek seasonings on a Greek salad with a feta dressing, smoked.
Your recipe looks so good I can’t wait to try it.
Ruth, you just confused me….go through that one again…sounds delicious…
Skin on or skin off??
You can leave the skin on. Once cooked, it’ll easily come off.
In the video we saw a Iron Skillet to n cook the salmon in. How long to cook in Skillet
5 minutes per side
If you pan grill the salmon, how long do you grill it?
5 minutes per side approximately
Do you use fresh ground ginger? It looks like the kind from the spice rack. Would it make a difference to use one or the other?
Ground ginger is from a spice rack. Grated ginger or minced ginger is fresh. This recipe uses ground ginger.
Can it be cooked on a pan or shell i say fry? I love the little meaty consistency of pan fry than the baked one I just want to be sure it won’t burn the honey if I do so… thanks
Yes, 5 minutes per side in a skillet.