Kitchen notes · a little help before you start

Perfect Grilled Salmon

Name: Perfect Grilled Salmon
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 4 each 4-ounce salmon fillets, skin on (wild caught if possible); 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 2 tablespoons Seafood Seasoning; As Needed Black pepper

Grilled salmon is especially inviting when its surface has a few good grill marks. The seasoning stays simple enough to let the fish taste like itself. Give the fillets their brief rest after cooking, then bring them to the table while they are warm.

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 10 min
Total: 25 min
Original yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 5 listed

Make it part of your week

Estimating…

Main courseSeafoodPrep: 15 minutes or lessTotal: 30 minutes or lessGrilling

Recipe categories & planning details

Meal type: Main course
Primary protein: Seafood
Cooking method: Grilling
Preparation & total time: Prep: 15 minutes or less · Total: 30 minutes or less

A few quick notes

1. Brine while the grill preheats

Use the shallow dish of room-temperature salt water for the short brine while the grill comes up to heat.

2. Dry before oiling

Pat the brined salmon with a clean towel before rubbing it with oil and sprinkling on the seasoning.

3. Wait for the first side to release

Start skin side up away from direct flames, turning once grill marks appear and the salmon releases from the grates.

Get to know the ingredients

Skin-on salmon

Use skin-on fillets, beginning with the skin facing up for the first side before the turn to finish grilling.

Seafood seasoning

Sprinkle the seafood seasoning over the oiled fish, or use the stated simple salt-and-pepper option instead.

Olive oil coating

Rub the dried fillets generously with olive oil before applying seasoning and putting them on the hot grill.

Let’s make it

Choose your servings, then check things off as you go.

Servings

Original recipe: Serves 4. Original quantities shown.

Estimating…

Check ingredients as you prepare them. These checks stay on this page.

4 each 4-ounce salmon fillets, skin on (wild caught if possible)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons Seafood Seasoning
As Needed Black pepper

How to make it

0 of 4 steps complete

Preheat a grill to medium-high heat (375 to 450 degrees).
Brine the salmon (or go to Marinated Salmon to marinade): While the grill preheats, in a shallow dish mix together 4 cups room temperature water and 3 tablespoons kosher salt. Place the salmon in the water and wait for 15 minutes (this should be about the time it takes to preheat).
Pat the salmon dry with a clean towel. Rub it generously with oil and sprinkle it with the kosher salt and the seafood seasoning (or simply salt and pepper).
Grill the salmon skin side up for 3 to 5 minutes (where the flames aren’t directly touching the fish), 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.

Make room for Perfect Grilled Salmon

Review ingredients in your pantry before anything is added. Meal plans use your household size; grocery-only additions use the servings selected above.

The last little job

Rest a few minutes

Allow the grilled fillets to rest briefly before serving, checking the thickest portion during cooking as described.

A little more help as you go

Thickness changes the cooking window

The second-side time varies with each fillet's thickness, so use the fish's appearance and the stated thermometer check alongside timing.

Keep flames from touching fish

Place the salmon where flames do not directly reach it during grilling, while letting the first side develop its marks.

A few questions you might have

Does the salmon go on skin side down first?

This recipe begins skin side up, then flips the fillets after grill marks form and they release from the grates.

Do I season before the salt-water soak?

Brine first, then dry the fish, rub with oil and sprinkle on the final seasoning before grilling.

Is seafood seasoning essential?

A simple salt-and-pepper coating is explicitly included as an alternative after the brined fish has been dried and oiled.

Should the grill be ready before the fish goes on?

Yes. Preheat to the stated medium-high range while the salmon has its brine, then dry and season before grilling.

Can I turn the salmon as soon as it touches the grill?

Wait for grill marks and release from the grates on the first side, then flip to cook the other side.

Storage & reheating safety

For cooked, perishable leftovers, refrigerate within 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F), using shallow containers for prompt cooling. Keep the refrigerator at 40°F or below, use refrigerated leftovers within 3–4 days, and reheat hot leftovers to 165°F, checked with a food thermometer. Follow any shorter package limit.

These are general safety limits, not a tested storage or freezing recommendation for this particular dish. USDA leftovers guidance · Safe cooking temperatures

Recipe source: acouplecooks.com. Ingredient names and quantities may be adapted for the pantry.

Preparation notes follow the recipe shown here.

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