Grilled Salmon Recipe with Marinade

Hey guys! One of my most favorite ways to cook is on the grill. In addition to that, one of my most favorite places to eat (when I do eat at a restaurant) is Zoe's Kitchen. However, since my family and I have moved, I'm not normally around one. Plus, I prefer to cook at home anyway. Which is why I made this grilled salmon recipe with marinade in the first place.

More Than Just a Grilled Salmon Recipe with Marinade

I grill this salmon on my Big Green egg and yes, it's placed in a marinade prior to grilling. However, the key is that it's cooked Sous Vide in the marinade before I even skewer it up. Instead of wasting time with just letting the salmon sit, I want to cook it in the marinade with its juices for ample flavor. SO, in essence, this is a salmon kebab, sous vide salmon, grilled salmon, and mediterranean salmon recipe all in one.

If you're not already familiar with Sous Vide cooking, I can't stress this enough, GET FAMILIAR!

I don't want to get off topic here so Ill give you a quick run down. Sous Vide means 'under pressure in French. When you Sous Vide meat, veggies, etc. you place the food in a plastic bag. At that point, you have two options. Either vacuum seal the plastic bag, or allow the hot water to push the pressure out. A Sous Vide Circulator is the equipment used in this process. They are finally readily available and affordable to the home cook.

Okay so now you know the steps taken on how to cook salmon skewers...

Let's get to cookin'!

First things first. Start with a decent-sized 1.5 - 2 lb salmon filet. Skin the filet and then cut it into cubes. In the meantime, you should be soaking wooden skewers in water. I recommend doing this from the beginning, as this cook doesn't take much time at all. This way the skewers will be ready.

I also don't recommend using metal skewers. You certainly don't want to cook from the inside out. Especially after spending the time in a sous vide bath.

Now, the next step is brining. I know, this may sound time consuming but trust me, you'll be surprised!

How to Make Brine for Salmon

Once you have the salmon cubed, it needs a salt water brine. Many people ask how to make a salt water brine. I'm here to tell you it's as easy as 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 ½ cups of water. Mix them together, add the salmon, and let it brine for 10 minutes. It's as easy as that!

Now, you may be asking why you need to brine the salmon cubes. It's not for flavor or texture, but mainly for prettier looking salmon.

Just like people and all other animals, Salmon contains albumin, which is the white stuff you see oozing out when cooking salmon. When you brine your salmon in salt water, it loosens the muscle fibers that would typically be pushing the albumin out of the fish. This makes for a better presentation of the salmon. In addition to the over all aesthetic it also makes for a jucier piece of fish.

Now, pair that juicy piece of fish with the perfectly cooked temperature of the sous vide and a nice outer char from the grill....PERFECTION!

Marinade Recipe for Grilled Salmon

Now that you have your salmon cubed and brined it's time to get it into the sous vide.

Prepare your sous vide circulator at 120°f.

While the sous vide is heating up, place the salmon cubes in a plastic bag along with olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, dried thyme, oregano, cumin, chipotle chili powder, coriander, and nutmeg.

Move the salmon all around in the bag to be sure its fully covered.

Now, before placing the salmon in the sous vide bath you have two choices. You can either vacuum seal the bag or use the displacement method. For me, it completely depends on the meat as to how I go about this. For this particular recipe, I like using the displacement method due to the delicacy of salmon. I don't want it getting to smushed or broken.

In order to use the displacement method, simply place the bag of salmon in the hot water allowing the air to be pushed out of the top. Once all of the air is out and the bag is no longer floating, seal the top and clip it to the side of the container you're using to cook in.

Sous Vide the salmon for 20 minutes.

While the salmon is cooking, preheat your grill to a medium high heat. I grill mine on the big green egg at about 600°f. That may sound kind of high, but it only takes a few minutes.

Skewer and Grill the Salmon

Once you've pulled the bag out of the sous vide, pull the cubes out of the bag and skewer them up on the wooden skewers.

Place them on your preheated grill for about 2-3 minutes each side allowing the flame to reach the salmon. This gives a great texture to the outside and seals in all those juices you just cooked in.

What to serve with Mediterranean Grilled Salmon

This recipe for sous vide grilled salmon pairs nicely with just about anything. However, I personally like to serve these with turmeric rice and foil packets of onion, zucchini, and squash. The other option would be a great mediterranean cucumber and tomato salad.

No matter what you serve these salmon skewers with I can guarantee they will become a staple in your house hold. They're healthy, delicious, and easy to make!

📖 Recipe

In Conclusion

If you've always wondered what the best way to cook salmon on the grill is or are looking to replace that old salmon with lemon recipe, here is your new go too. Perfectly cooked on the inside and out, these sous vide grilled salmon skewers are a win win!

If you make these let us all know how they turned out by commenting below. I also love to hear of any changes you made and how we can improve on the recipe.

Thank you for reading and as usual,

Happy Cooking!

-Jeremy