Salmon Marinade

Elevate your filets with a simple yet flavorful salmon marinade using pantry staple seasonings plus butter, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice. Use this recipe for baking, grilling, pan-searing, or air frying!

Why this recipe works

Incorporating a marinade into your salmon dish is a great way to switch up this mild-flavored fish. It only takes a few minutes to throw together and up to one hour to soak up all the flavors.

So, why marinate salmon? While it’s not always necessary and a few shakes of seasoning or a rub down with olive oil and herbs will suffice, marinating salmon will not only tenderize the filets but incorporate further flavor and moisture as it sits for the perfect pull-apart flakey filets whether you pan-sear, air fry, grill, roast, or oven bake them! Plus, this salmon marinade can be used on other hearty fish such as sea bass, tilapia, or catfish.

Ingredients you will need

Get all measurements, ingredients, and instructions in the printable version at the end of this post.

Ingredient Info and Substitution Suggestions

SALMON – As mentioned above, you can use this marinade with just about any kind of cooking method. This recipe yields 1/2 cup of salmon marinade which is enough for 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of center-cut salmon (or filets). Double or triple the recipe as needed. You can find all our salmon recipes here.

How to Make Salmon Marinade

These step by step photos and instructions are here to help you visualize how to make this recipe. You can Jump to Recipe to get the printable version of this recipe, complete with measurements and instructions at the bottom.

1. Add all ingredients to an immersion blender.
2. Blend until smooth.
3. To use the marinade, cover fish in marinade and allow to sit in the refrigerator for one hour before cooking.

Frequently Asked Questions & Expert Tips

For this salmon marinade in particular, we suggest 30 minutes to an hour as it’s acid based. Any longer than that and you risk the salmon becoming mushy after breaking down from the acidity. Depending on the type of marinade you use, you can marinate salmon for anywhere between 30 minutes to 24 hours. For other marinades that aren’t acid-based, it’s safe to marinate for 12-24 hours in the refrigerator.

Serving Suggestions

This salmon marinade keeps it nice and simple leaving plenty of room for different flavored side dishes. Try serving with steamed or roasted vegetables such as asparagus, green beans, potatoes, carrots, corn, or broccoli. Salmon also pairs well with lemon couscous, rice, or pasta.

More Salmon Recipes

• Salmon Sauce
• Grilled Salmon
• Roasted Salmon
• Air Fryer Salmon
• Pan Seared Salmon
• Instant Pot Salmon

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