Skillet BBQ Salmon — The BBQ glazed salmon is smoky and sweet with a bit of heat and makes this 15-minute recipe just pop! Perfect for busy weeknights!
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Easy BBQ Sauce Salmon Recipe
This BBQ sauce salmon is so easy to make, ready in less than 15 minutes, and you dirty precisely one skillet. My kinda recipe.
The glaze has a tiny kick from the barbeque sauce along with some smokiness, and there’s sweetness from the maple syrup. The lemon juice brightens it and adds a tangy twist, and fish and lemon are a natural pairing.
My family said the fish was soft and tender and that the glaze just makes the dish. They inhaled it in about 5 minutes flat and asked when I’m making it again.
BBQ Salmon Ingredients
To make the BBQ sauce salmon, you’ll need:
- Olive oil
- Salmon fillets
- Lemon juice
- Salt and pepper
- Pure maple syrup
- BBQ sauce
- Worcestershire sauce
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make BBQ Salmon on the Stove
If you’ve ever been intimated about how to cook salmon in a skillet, this is a super simple, flavorful, and goofproof method! Here’s how it’s made:
- Sear the fish in a pan with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
- Keep the skillet covered for about 6 minutes, or until you estimate the salmon is 80 to 90 percent done.
- Drizzle in maple syrup, bbq sauce, and Worcestershire sauce, and allow the glaze to bubble, thicken, and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes.
Tips for Making BBQ Glazed Salmon
For most pan sauces, I don’t bother mixing up the glaze in a separate bowl and instead just squirt it into the pan. One less bowl to wash and it all blends together as it boils and bubbles. No need to dirty measuring spoons, either. Just eyeball it and drizzle from the bottle.
To amp up the lemon flavor, you can use a lemon pepper seasoning instead of plain black pepper.
If you wind up with leftovers, I recommend enjoying it cold in a salad, wrap, or sandwich!
Recipe FAQs
I used Sweet Baby Ray’s since it’s easy to find, cheap, and is sweet and tangy. However, any kind of bbq sauce will work!
You’ll first need to cook the salmon skin-side up, covered, for 6 minutes over medium-high heat. Then, add in the BBQ glaze ingredients, recover the skillet, and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes. In total, skillet salmon should cook for 9 to 11 minutes in a covered skillet.
Yes! If you sear the skin, it gets nice and crispy. Salmon skin is loaded with good-for-you fats and has tons of flavor!
Of course! You’d want to bake the salmon filets at 375ºF for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the salmon flakes easily with a fork.
What to Serve with BBQ Salmon
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Skillet BBQ Salmon
Ingredients
- 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 salmon fillets, about 6 ounces each with skin on
- juice of 1 small/medium lemon
- salt and pepper, or lemon pepper or a pepper blend, to taste
- about 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- about 3 tablespoons barbeque sauce
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Place olive oil in skillet and heat over medium-high heat.
- When oil is warm, add the salmon to sear it with skin-side up (flesh side down).
- Squeeze the lemon juice over the top
- Evenly sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Cover skillet and cook for about 6 minutes, or until fish has a nice sear and is about 80 to 90 percent done.
- Uncover skillet, lower heat to medium, and squirt in the maple syrup, barbeque sauce, and Worcestershire.
- Cover skillet and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes, or until sauce has thickened some, is bubbly, and salmon is cooked through and done.
- Plate the salmon, top with remaining glaze from skillet if desired, and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I have to try bbq sauce on salmon before (I tend to just naturally go in the direction of Asian marinades), but this looks so good!
This sounds incredible. I need to start cooking salmon again. This will be my first recipe to try. Thanks!
How GORGEOUS is this?! It’s 11:39PM and I’m ready for a second dinner with this.
Seriously though, these photos are absolutely amazing. Salmon is so hard to photograph and you completely nailed it on this!
Well thank you for saying this! This was the salmon I had told you about and I never intended to post this but after it was done, I thought it looked so pretty that I just HAD to post it. So, I did :) And hearing you say it’s hard to photograph, yeah after I was looking at these images (4 weeks later!) I realized how glare-ey most of them were. It did look way better in person than it conveys here, but I tried :)
right up my alley for my kids!
I agree-one skillet recipes = the best!
xoxo,
Elizabeth
http://www.adrian-james.com
This salmon looks amazing Averie!! I have got to try this!
Thank you for pinning, too, of course (and for all your pins!) :)
I have always been intimidated by cooking salmon (even after taking a cooking class where we did that!), but this definitely looks do-able – and delicious! I feel your pain about making the house smell…I wish there were an easy way of preventing that from happening! I made Indian food the other day, and my pillowcases and towels still smell like it :/
This sounds amazing – love the sweet + spicy combination!
Way out in the boonies we have a place that smoked fish. One of their most popular and most delicious is their maple smoked salmon. They two flavors
just go together. I live in the Pacific NW, so salmon is easily gotten.
A most excellent recipe—plus quick. Hear Hear for that.
Averie, this looks super scrumptious! We love to make salmon with orange and lemon and I’m sure yours will be our favorite too as we love all the sauces you use here! Thanks for the idea! Pinned!
Thanks for pinning!
This is the best way to cook salmon, love that glossy glaze!
Salmon is pretty much the only fish I want to eat. This looks amazing, Averie! Love the glaze idea! Pinned!
I have tried to, but I just can’t get into salmon. Unless it is smoked, and even then I’m picky. It has to be dry smoked (so flakey) and not wet (like lox). So, basically, I just avoid it. I’d be all over this sauce though. :D
And that fishy smell…I used to leave the house growing up when my mom made fish. That smell does not leave your clothes for months. Even washed in the strongest soap!
That glaze!! Love it!
I would love to try this and the tofu version – I love easy supper and maple anything! Made a half batch of you Chocolate Chip Cookies this weekend (your first go-to chocolate chip recipe because pudding mix isn’t a thing here yet) and loved them (especially the cookie dough!). I subbed a flax egg in and they turned out superb :) Thx for all the wonderful recipes Averie!
That’s great to hear you made my original favorite CCCs and that a flax egg worked well! Wonderful to know! :)
I am going to try this with tofu! Sounds delicious. I am always curious when vegan/vegetarian/gluten-free (etc) bloggers post recipes they themselves don’t eat- do you eat some salmon or just rely on your fabulous taste testers? Either way, love the glaze and will try it out.
It’s a great glaze on tofu and is versatile for really any protein! (or even veggies like sweet potatoes or brussles)