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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Love this quick and easy sauce recipe. I use skinless salmon and cook it on a grill pan over medium heat for about 4-5 minutes per side. Delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
Love this quick and easy sauce recipe. I use skinless salmon and cook it on a grill pan over medium heat for about 4-5 minutes per side. Delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks for the 5 star review and I am glad this is a winner for you and you enjoy the quick and easy sauce and you can do it on your grill pan!
great
Ok, so your narrative says cook skin side up the entire time, yet the picture shows the fish in the pan skin side down…why?
Cook it as I wrote and you’ll be just fine or if you want to experiment with skin up/skin down based on what you know you like and works for you, go for it.
So I too find it odd about cooking it skin up. So I’m salt and peppering the skin??
I cooked this particular recipe initially with the skin side down to sear it, yes. Salt and pepper disperses throughout a dish. Ho
Made this for dinner tonight – super easy, quick, and I’ve never cooked with salmon in my life! I may have used too much olive oil because when I plated the salmon, the oil separated from the BBQ sauce (at least, I think that’s what happened?). It definitely did not look as pretty as yours, but it still tasted delicious :)
Glad it tasted delicious and salmon is a very fatty fish and some are just fattier than others; maybe yours was in that category. Also cooking fish at a too-high temperature can cause it to separate a bit like that. Given your stove/pan, maybe turn the heat down slightly next time. Thanks for trying the recipe!
This was awesome! The salmon was very tender and the sauce was just right! We paired it with a stir fry and roasted potatoes. Delicious!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you!