This minimalist marinated salmon recipe is perfect as a quick weeknight dinner or party dish. Coat the salmon in a simple 4-ingredient sweet and tangy marinade, refrigerate overnight or prepare in the morning and cook later. Takes minutes to cook on the grill, perfect to serve with rice and vegetables.

You might also like herb crusted salmon with lemon sauce.

How long should I marinate salmon

This depends on the type of marinade you are using. If your marinade contains an acid, such as lemon or lime juice, you only need to marinate the salmon for about 30 minutes. If you leave the salmon in this kind of marinate for too long it will actually start cooking.

My marinade does not contain an acid so it takes longer for the fish to absorb all the flavours. Which is why I like to marinate it for several hours or overnight.

Marinated salmon ingredients

I used boneless salmon fillets which I cut widthways into thick slices (approx. 2 inches thick). This way more of the fish comes into contact with the marinade, plus you can grill it on 3 sides (top and sides) rather than just the top and bottom. The skin gets discarded so doesn’t need to be grilled at all.

I used a really simple 4-ingredient marinade so preparation is minimal. Hoisin sauce is sweet, savoury and has an immense depth of flavour so the only other ingredients I added into the marinade were lemon zest, oil and pepper to taste. Just combine these ingredients, leave a bit of the mixture in a separate dish to use later (as a sauce, more on that below) and spread the rest over the top and sides of the salmon.

You might also like noodle broccoli salad with hoisin dressing and peanut hoisin chicken stir fry with veggie noodles.

How to grill salmon

For me the most optimal way to do this is by using a good non-stick griddle pan. This is because it’s quick, you can easily control the temperature of the pan, create lovely markings and ensure the salmon is not allowed to cook longer than it has to.

If, however, you are an expert at using an outdoor grill for cooking fish and it tends to be your preferred cooking method then by all means go with that.

Assembling the recipe

1.Place your salmon strips skin side down on top of a large plate or in a large shallow dish.

Combine 3 tablespoons of hoisin sauce with 2 tablespoons of oil, zest of 1 large lemon and black pepper to taste. Give the mixture a good stir and transfer 3 teaspoons of the marinade into a separate dish (refrigerate it to use later). Spread the rest of the marinade over the top and sides of the salmon, cover and refrigerate overnight (6-8 hours).

2. When you are ready to make the recipe add 1.3 tablespoons of lemon juice into the small amount of marinade mixture you’ve set aside and stir thoroughly. This is your sauce to serve with the grilled salmon.

Gently scrape excess marinade off the salmon (leave some on) and heat up the griddle pan. Grease the pan with oil spray and cook the salmon over a fairly high heat on the top and sides (about 2 minutes on each side).

Remove from the pan as soon as the salmon is cooked through, scatter over some chopped spring onions/scallions, drizzle the hoisin lemon sauce and enjoy with rice and vegetables.

Expert tips and FAQs

For optimal results lightly grease a non-stick griddle pan and heat it up well before use.
Hoisin sauce is very salty so you don't need to add salt into the marinade.
Do not overcrowd the pan. Leave enough space in between the pieces to be able to easily turn them over.
Grill the salmon over a fairly high heat to get nice markings. Remove from the pan as soon as the salmon is cooked through.
Best served immediately. Delicious with rice, roasted/grilled vegetables or salad.
Leftovers can be enjoyed cold, with fresh salad, turned into salmon spread, added into salmon spinach pasta or salmon avocado salad.
Not suitable for freezing.

Keep in touch!

Have you made this grilled marinated salmon recipe? How did it turn out for you? What did you serve it with? Let me know in the comments below, thanks!

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