Blackened Salmon with Spiced Honey Lime Sauce

Salmon fillets are liberally dusted with an easy to make homemade blackening seasoning and grilled over high heat to get those prominent grill marks. Once plated, the salmon is drizzled with an optional spiced honey lime sauce. Simple and easy, yet gorgeous and delicious, this is not your average salmon dinner!

Once I tried my homemade Blackening Seasoning Blend on some roasted potatoes, I couldn’t wait to try it on some seafood. Even though blackening seasoning has varied uses, to me, it just screams to be paired with fish and I couldn’t wait to try it! Blackened Salmon with Spiced Honey Lime Sauce is absolute grilled salmon perfection! Don’t worry – I know it’s still winter, so if you can’t get outside to grill, I’ll supply you with alternative cooking methods too!

The thing about using blackening seasoning is that unless you are used to cooking with it, or unless you are a seasoned cook, you might think you’re burning it. But, blackening seasoning not only has the most amazingly present flavour, but it also does just what it says. It will blacken when high heat is applied, but you will not need to cook the salmon for a long time to blacken it. So, it’s not burnt, although it does look quite dark.

No worries, Dear Reader, the salmon is cooked for just a few minutes, so even though it has those very pronounced and dark grill marks, the inside of the salmon fillet is still moist and flaky. The spiced honey lime sauce is drizzled over the cooked salmon once plated. It is optional, and there’s also the option of cutting out the spiciness completely, but before you decide to omit it, try it first. Chances are, if you like blackening seasoning blend, you will love the spiced sauce too!

PREPARING SALMON

For most of us home cooks, salmon comes in the form of a whole side or fillets. Sometimes, we can find steaks too, but not too often. If you don’t know the terminology, let me walk you through it. A whole side of salmon is exactly what it says. The salmon has been cleaned and the side has been removed; hopefully bone free! In most cases, the skin is left on, which is the way I prefer it!

A salmon fillet is simple enough. The fillets are cut from the whole side of salmon, usually in two to three inch pieces. This is the most common cut. They’re great for frying or grilling. The whole side of salmon is hard to grill or fry, especially if you try to flip the whole thing onto the other side! In contrast, a salmon steak is a cross-sectional piece of the entire fish. It looks like a big letter U. This cut still has the bone in the middle. Again, this cut is great for frying or grilling.

For this recipe, I am using whole side that I have cut into fillets. The skin is left on, which, in my opinion, is the best way! I don’t eat the skin, but I tend to like it left on the salmon, especially if I’m going to pan fry it or grill it. Both of those cooking techniques can be aggressive when it comes to a delicate fish like salmon. Leaving the skin on helps to keep the salmon together, especially when flipping it over!

OTTAWA VALLEY MEATS

The salmon used in this Blackened Salmon with Spiced Honey Lime Sauce is from Ottawa Valley Meats. I used one of their Wild Caught Salmon Fillets. That equals to about a pound and half of salmon. And, let me tell you, between the three of us, we ate it all! Salmon is just one of the many products they have. I know I’ll be going back there for more salmon soon! You can find a complete list at Ottawa Valley Meats.

If you are in Ontario, be sure to take a look at the website. Ottawa Valley Meats offers seafood, beef, poultry, pork, etc. And, they deliver right to your door! I have had other suppliers deliver meat and seafood, but they were the best! It comes in a freezer-refrigerated truck, which means the box doesn’t need to be stuffed with ice packs or dry ice. And, the food doesn’t need to be packaged into those silver cooler bags. Do you know what that means for me? Less waste!

In case your curious, I have used OVM product in other recipes here at Lord Byron’s Kitchen too. Just because today is about this Blackened Salmon with Spiced Honey Lime Sauce recipe, I will make mention of this Pancake Batter Fried Fish, which I prepared using cod from Ottawa Valley Meats. The jumbo shrimp used in this Crispy Fried Shrimp recipe is from there, as is the salmon used in this Herb Butter Pan Fried Salmon with Aioli.

HERE’S WHAT YOU WILL NEED FOR THIS RECIPE:

FOR THE SALMON:

• Salmon – Halve this recipe or double it to suit your needs. Be sure the salmon is completely thawed if you’re using previously frozen salmon. Pat it dry with clean paper towels.
• Blackening Seasoning Blend – You can find my easy recipe for this seasoning blend here. Alternatively, you can buy blackening seasonings at most large chain grocers.
• Seasonings – Because my blackening seasoning has salt and ground black pepper in it, you do not need to add any additional seasonings.
• Butter – Seafood loves butter, so grilling the salmon is butter makes perfect sense. Plus, it adds so much flavour!
• Vegetable Oil – Vegetable oil will help to prevent the butter from burning.

FOR THE SPICED HONEY LIME SAUCE:

• Honey – This will add a bit of sweetness and a gorgeous shine. Because honey is thick, it’s also a great ingredient to suspend seasonings into as well.
• Lime Juice – Please use fresh lime juice! It makes all the difference in the world!
• Salted Butter – The butter will add flavour and thin the honey just a bit.
• Cayenne Pepper – This is optional, but if you don’t mind a little bit of heat, you can always add more if you want. I like a bit, but not extreme.

HOW TO MAKE BLACKENED SALMON

This recipe doesn’t require much cooking time at all. In fact, the recipe only takes about twenty minutes or so. When I prepare seafood recipes, I get things like sauces, dips, marinades, etc., out of my way first. I do this, because seafood cooks quickly and I don’t want to run the risk of it drying out or getting cold while I finish up the sauce or the garnish.

So, start this recipe by preparing the Blackening Seasoning Blend. If you have not done so already, you can find the recipe here. It is my personal recipe and it is the exact recipe used on the salmon you see in these photos. It’s so easy to prepare. Basically, you measure the spices and herbs into a bowl and mix them together. Once that’s done, get the mixture onto both sides of the salmon fillets. Set those aside.

Next, add the sauce ingredients to a bowl and whisk them together until well combined. You can easily increase the amount of cayenne pepper if you want a spicier sauce or you can omit it completely. Once done, set it aside and prepare the oil and butter. Melt the butter in the microwave and pour in the olive oil. Stir to combine. You will use this to brush onto your grill, grease your skillet, or grease the foil, depending on which cooking technique you employ.

Now, it’s just a matter of grilling the salmon fillets. The following paragraphs will walk you through the different ways to prepare this recipe. They will all work and the salmon will taste great no matter which option you choose. However, blackening seasoning lends itself best to grilling, so if you have the option to use a grill, do it! It will give you the absolute best results.

INDOOR OR OUTDOOR GRILL INSTRUCTIONS:

You can use a traditional outdoor grill for this recipe, or an indoor stove-top grill. In fact, an electric grill, or panini press will work well too. Be sure to fully preheat the grill first, otherwise, by the time the salmon blackens properly, it will be overcooked and dry.

Once the salmon is ready to cook, and the grill is hot, carefully place each salmon fillet onto the grill and allow it to cook undisturbed for three minutes. Carefully flip the fillets over and cook for three more minutes on the other side. If using an indoor stovetop or electric grill, the same cooking process applies. If, however, you are using a grill with a closing top/lid, do not cook the salmon for the full six minutes. In this case, cook the salmon for three to four minutes only. Whichever cooking tool you use, once the salmon is blackened on the outside, remove it from the grill immediately.

STOVETOP SKILLET INSTRUCTIONS:

Place the prepared salmon into a preheated skillet. The heat is high so there will be bubbling and popping grease, so be careful. Allow the fillets to fry, undisturbed, for three minutes before flipping to fry for an additional three minutes.

Flipping can be a bit of a challenge. I like to slide a flipper under the fillet and place another flipper or spatula on top. It will help to keep the salmon slightly pressed together as you gently flip it over. Once it’s flipped, slide the bottom flipper or spatula out first. Then, lift off the top spatula. Salmon can be delicate and temperamental!

OVEN INSTRUCTIONS:

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Brush the surface liberally with the oil and butter mixture and place it into your oven on the middle rack. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Once heated thoroughly, remove the baking sheet from the oven and carefully set the salmon fillets onto the greased foil. Quickly get the salmon into the oven and close the door.

The oven is less desirable than a grill, but it will do the trick. Allow the salmon to cook for four minutes. Remove it from the oven and flip each fillet over. Place it back into the oven to cook for an additional four minutes. If the salmon has not blackened to your liking, remove it from the oven and set your oven to high broil. Once heated, place the salmon under the broiler for a little while to blacken.

DO NOT leave the salmon unattended under the broiler. It can burn so quickly. In my experience, it will need no more than 30-45 seconds. Once done, get it out of the oven, plate it and enjoy!

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

I think that Blackened Salmon with Spiced Honey Lime Sauce deserves to shine on the plate. That is exactly why I paired the salmon with mashed potatoes. I wanted something homey and something delicious, yet muted. How about my Herb Butter Mashed Potatoes? They are very flavourful, but they will not overtake the flavours of the salmon.

Another great side for salmon is asparagus. I tossed the asparagus with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted it on a sheet pan for five minutes. Then, I added some pine nuts and roasted them for five more minutes. When I served them with the salmon, I topped the asparagus with a little parmesan. Be sure to add a few lime slices or wedges to your plate too. It makes a lovely garnish!