The best salmon marinade recipe that is healthy, easy, simple, and quick to make. This marinade for salmon is made with a few ingredients, and your baked, fried, or grilled salmon comes out packed full of flavor, tender, and super tasty.
Best Salmon Marinade Recipe
This salmon marinade recipe is flavorful yet doesn't overpower the tender salmon.
Great salmon marinades are easy, quick, and flavorful and this marinade for salmon ticks all the boxes.
This is the best salmon marinade not only because it's made with ingredients that are inexpensive, simple, and available but it's also quick to make and requires minimal effort.
It is better than any store-bought because it has no artificial ingredients, excessive sugar, coloring, or preservatives. You know exactly all the ingredients going in your marinade.
Marinating salmon is one of the ways of infusing flavor into it. A good marinade adds moisture to the fish and prevents it from drying out during the cooking process. This marinade does the job.
Use on salmon fillets, steaks, whole side salmon be it wild caught salmon or farmed salmon.
You can also use this marinade on other types of fish and some other proteins like shrimp, and beef.
Cooking the marinated salmon is easy and it can be grilled, baked, air fried, or fried.
This marinade is enough to marinate up to 500g of salmon.
Related: Salmon seasoning, fish marinade
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you'll need:
Soy sauce
Honey
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Garlic
Onion granules
Pepper
Parsley
Thyme
How To Make Salmon Marinade
This salmon marinade is simple. It's a combination of olive oil, lemon juice, soy sauce, honey, herbs, and spices. To make it:
Add the honey, soy sauce, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, onion granules, parsley, thyme, and black pepper to a bowl. Mix till well combined.
To use to marinade salmon, put salmon in a Ziploc, then pour the marinade over it. Zip the bag and put it in the fridge for the salmon to marinate.
Marinate salmon for 30- 60 minutes.
Variation of Salmon Marinades
Orange honey salmon marinade- To make this, substitute lemon juice for orange juice.
Spicy salmon marinade- Add some heat to the marinade by adding cayenne pepper, chilli, pepper flakes, and hot sauce, or if you are feeling brave add hotter peppers like scotch bonnet, habanero, or birds eye chilli. Adjust the pepper to suit your taste.
Overnight salmon marinade- For this, do not add lemon juice because lemon is acidic and when fish is marinated in an acidic marinade for longer than 30-60 minutes, it starts to breakdown the salmon changing its color and making it mushy. Mix all other ingredients except lemon and use on the salmon. 30 minutes before cooking it, add lemon juice to the marinade.
How To Marinate Salmon
Pat salmon dry with paper towels.
Add it into a Ziploc or small bowl. Pour the marinade into the Ziploc or bowl. Massage the Ziploc to get the marinade all over the fish.
Put it in the fridge to marinate for 30-60 minutes.
When ready to cook, discard the marinade that has been in contact with the fish. Let the fish come to room temperature then cook.
Marinated salmon can be baked, grilled, pan-fried, or air fried.
How Long To Marinate Salmon
How long to marinate salmon is 30 minutes up to 4 hours. With marinades that contain lemon juice or an acidic agent, If left for too long the acidic juice starts to break down the fish and makes it mushy.
Since salmon is naturally very tender, you don't need to leave the fish in the marinade for very long.
How long to cook marinated salmon is down to factors such as the size of the salmon, and the cooking method. Pan frying and air frying are quicker than grilling and baking.
How To Cook Marinated Salmon
There are various ways of cooking marinated salmon. Grilling, baking, frying,
Grill- Grill on medium heat for 4 minutes on a side then flip and grill for another 4-5 minutes or until it is cooked through to how you like it. It's best to cook with the skin side down first so it is crispy and nicely seared.
Bake- Put the marinated salmon in a baking dish or tray, and bake in the oven at a temperature of 200C/400F for 20 minutes or till it's cooked through and tender. Cook with the skin side down.
Air Fry- Put the marinated salmon in the air fryer basket skin side down. Air fry for 4 minutes on each side. Bring out the basket and serve salmon. Follow the tips and detailed instructions in this air fryer salmon recipe.
How To Store
To store, put the marinade in a sealable container, label and store it in the fridge where it will keep well for up to 3 days, or store it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
When ready to use it, thaw it in the fridge and give it a good mix before using on salmon.
To store marinated salmon: Put the marinated salmon in a Ziploc or an air tight container, put the container or Ziploc in the fridge, and store for up to 24 hours in the fridge or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
What To Serve With Salmon
Boiled Potatoes, roast potatoes
Fried broccoli, fried carrots, air fryer Vegetables
Tips
- To marinate frozen salmon, it's best to thaw them first.
- Use low-sodium soy sauce for reduced salt.
- Salmon can be marinated and then frozen for later.
- You can cook frozen marinated salmon in the air fryer or oven without thawing first.
- Don't reuse marinade that has come in contact with salmon unless you cook the marinade to get rid of any harmful bacteria.
FAQS
Yes, Salmon can be marinated in the fridge for up to 24 hours if the marinade doesn't contain an acidic agent but if does, marinate for up to 4 hours. If you will store it for longer than this period, then you should store it in the freezer. When ready to cook, thaw in the fridge or cook it from frozen.
Check with an instant-read thermometer by inserting it at the thickest part of the fish if it is at least 130F then it's safe to eat. You can also poke with a fork, the inside should be tender and flaky.
The herbs, spices, oil, and used in this recipe go best with salmon. The combination infuses flavor into the salmon and makes it tender, and tasty.
No, It is recommended by USDA not to rinse raw fish, meat, seafood, and poultry as they contain bacteria that can splash around the sink and cooking area and spread to food cooking areas and surfaces.
Pat salmon dry with paper towels then season or marinate. Cook salmon by pan frying, grilling, or as desired.
More Salmon Recipes
More Quick Marinade Recipes
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Recipe
Best Salmon Marinade Recipe
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Measuring spoons
- Ziploc or bowl
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Honey
- 3 tablespoons Olive oil
- 2 tablespoon Lemon juice
- 2 cloves Garlic minced
- ¼ teaspoon Onion granules
- ¼ teaspoon Parsley
- ⅛ teaspoon Dried thyme
- Black pepper to taste
- Salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon Cayenne pepper Optional
- 260 g (9oz) Salmon
Instructions
- Add the honey, soy sauce, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, onion granules, parsley, thyme, and black pepper to a bowl. Mix till well combined.
- To use to marinade salmon, put salmon in a Ziploc, then pour the marinade over it. Zip the bag and put it in the fridge for the salmon to marinate.
- Marinate salmon for 30 minutes.
How To Marinate Salmon
- Pat salmon dry with paper towels.
- Add it into a Ziploc or small bowl. Pour the marinade into the Ziploc or bowl. Massage the Ziploc to get the marinade all over the fish.
- Put it in the fridge to marinate for 30-60 minutes.
- When ready to cook salmon, discard the marinade that has been in contact with the fish. Let the fish come to room temperature then cook.
- Marinated salmon can be baked, grilled, pan-fried,
Notes
- To marinate frozen salmon, it's best to thaw them first.
- Use low-sodium soy sauce for reduced salt.
- Salmon can be marinated and then frozen for later.
- You can cook frozen marinated salmon in the air fryer or oven from without thawing first.
- Don't reuse marinade that has come in contact with salmon unless you cook the marinade to get rid of any harmful bacteria.
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe? Great! Rate it by clicking the stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leaving a comment below. Don't forget to share this post with your friends, families, and also on your favorite Pinterest and Facebook groups.
My daughter loved this salmon marinade, I’m making it for the second time in less than two weeks
.Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Lou. I'm glad your daughter loved it. I appreciate the feedback 🙂