This Grilled Orange Salmon Recipe with a Maple Glaze is a delicious meal. Healthy, yet indulgent enough to eat on a date night! Throw in a glass of bubbly and you’ve got yourself a perfect meal.
Orange Glazed Salmon Recipe Highlights
- Cooks in less than 15 minutes
- Intended for salmon steaks, but can be modified for a whole filet
- The orange and maple glaze merry well to the savory dry rub
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Focusing on healthy eating? Wanting to search for a great grilled salmon recipe? This is one of our favorites. Combine that with the perfect salmon pairing, Prosecco Superiore, and you’ve got a perfect date night meal.
Sourcing Salmon and Preparation
Look for wild caught salmon like Columbia River King (Chinook), or Coho. Great salmon with good fat content is best when grilling.
Ask the fist monger to remove the pin bones. These pin bones are cartilage that are not pleasant to eat or pick through as you eat the fish. It’s better to remove them prior to cooking. If you plan to cook a lot of fish with bones, invest in good culinary tweezers.
Grilling Salmon
Let’s make this simple, yet full of flavor.
- Prep Salmon: Mix the dry rub and make the glaze. Set aside. When ready to grill, apply the rub to the salmon.
- Grill Salmon: Place salmon over direct heat, skin side up. This will caramelize the rub and get us ready to add the glaze. Flip the salmon after 3 minutes or when it no longer sticks to the grill.
- Glaze Salmon: Grill, skin side down, for three additional minutes, and then brush glaze on the salmon and continue cooking until salmon is done.
- Finish: Remove salmon from the grill and brush one more time with the glaze. Serve.
Chefs Tip: Make sure your grill grates are clean and slightly oiled. Salmon skin and flesh will stick to dirty grills. But if you dab a little oil onto a paper towel over clean grates, it helps prevent the fish from sticking.
What Temperature do I Cook Salmon To?
Good quality salmon can be cooked to medium rare. We grill salmon until the internal temperature of the salmon in the thickest part reaches 125 degrees Fahrenheit. Carry over cooking will continue and cook it to about 130 – 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Use a good instant read thermometer like the Thermoworks MK4 Thermapen for the best salmon.
The less fat in the salmon, the more quickly it will cook. So be sure to account for your timing based on what type of salmon you buy.
Wine Pairing for Grilled Orange Glazed Salmon
Pair this dish with an Extra Dry style Prosecco Superiore DOCG or your favorite bottle of Prosecco. The tender meat and the flavorful orange maple glaze is the perfect compliment to the bright fruity sparkling wine. Alternatively a Pinot Gris/Grigio or off dry Riesling works great with this dish too.
More Salmon Recipes
- Perfect Grilled Salmon
- Maple Chipotle Cedar Plank Salmon
- Grilled Salmon Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette
- Smoked Salmon Dip
- Grilled Salmon Burgers
- Grilled Blackened Salmon
- Blackened Salmon Steaks
This post was originally published in December of 2018 and updated in May, 2022 to include more details on the salmon and the grilling steps.
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Grilled Orange Salmon Recipe with Maple Glaze
Ingredients
- 4 6 ounce salmon fillets
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Sweet and Spicy Dry Rub
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Orange Maple Glaze
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- ¼ cup maple syrup (honey works too)
- 1 medium orange, juiced
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat Grill: set up for direct/indirect cooking.
- Prep Salmon: In a small bowl combine all the rub ingredients, and in a separate bowl combine all the glaze ingredients and set aside.
- Season Salmon: Coat salmon pieces in olive oil then sprinkle the dry rub over the salmon liberally.
- Grill Salmon: Place salmon, skin side up, on the grill over direct heat. Let it sear for up to 4 minutes. You know it’s ready to flip when it doesn’t stick to the grill. Flip, close lid, and continue cooking for another three minutes skin side down.
- Glaze: After three minutes, brush the glaze over the top of the salmon and close the lid to finish cooking. Check the internal temperature of the thickest part of the salmon and remove when it reaches 125 degrees F for the upper end of medium rare. If your flame is too high, move to indirect heat and check the temperature more often.
- Remove and Rest 10 minutes: drizzle with additional glaze just before serving.
Erin says
I like salmon ok but this recipe makes me crave it! So good! I do use honey rather than maple. Also delish!
Sean Martin says
Love the honey addition.
HMMarien says
I made this recipe tonight with fresh salmon my husband caught at Lake Erie on his fishing trip this weekend. I made a minor adjustment to the glaze to suit our taste buds more than anything. I put the glaze ingredients in a small sauce pan and added a teaspoon of corn starch and a heaping tablespoon (packed) of brown sugar, whisked it together, then simmered it about 7 to 10 minutes. I let it set to thicken before using on the salmon.
This recipe is a definite keeper.