Salmon on the Blackstone Griddle - Easy 3 Step Recipe! (2024)

Salmon on the Blackstone is one of the easiest recipes to make on the griddle. Learn how to make delicious and moist griddle salmon with some basic ingredients for a healthy griddle dinner!

The major downfall to owning a Blackstone griddle or other flat top grill is feeling like all you can cook is carb-heavy dishes like cheesesteaks and burgers. But every now and then, so as not to go up a few pants sizes, you’ve got to think outside the bun.

Remember, a griddle is just like a giant skillet… so whatever you can cook indoors on the stovetop can also be cooked on your Blackstone griddle or other flat top grill.

And that includes often over-looked healthy griddle recipes like this easy salmon on the griddle.

Fresh salmon is one of the easiest recipes to make on the griddle, which makes it perfect for griddle beginners. Just season your salmon filets to your liking, add a bit of oil to the griddle surface, and cook the salmon on the griddle until it’s done. Of course, you can add in a fancy garlic butter bath or some exotic flavor combinations as well, but the basic premise remains the same.

Here are some tips for cooking salmon on the griddle:

Ingredients for Blackstone Salmon

You really only need three things to make salmon on the griddle: the actual fish, the seasonings or spices, and a good oil. Here are some notes on the ingredients that I used for this salmon on the Blackstone:

The Salmon

For the best salmon on the griddle, look for center cut filets. When the salmon is cut from the center of the fish versus the tail end, the filets are thicker and more uniform. When your filets are thicker, you can cook the fish for longer to develop a nice char on your seasonings without overcooking.

I picked up this nice center cut portion of salmon from my local grocery store for about $9.99 per pound. You can tell that it’s a center cut portion because the overall width of the fish is fairly even – it doesn’t start to taper off drastically towards one end:

The Seasonings

The seasoning options for salmon are pretty much endless. If you’re more of a purist, you can go with a simple blend of salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Want a bit of spice? Look for a blackening seasoning or a Cajun blend. You can also use an all purpose seasoning like my favorite Cavendar’s, or even make your own blend of spices.

For this particular griddle salmon recipe, I created my own quick rub with the hodge-podge of spices down below… and it turned out awesome! In fact, my wife and I agreed that this was some of the best salmon that I’ve ever made.

The Oil and Extras

A good cooking oil is essential to ensure that your salmon doesn’t stick to the griddle surface. You may also want to finish your salmon with a simple garlic butter bath like I did. Here are some of the other ingredients that I used for my Blackstone salmon:

• avocado oil – My favorite oil for griddle cooking!
• butter
• fresh garlic
• lemon juice

Making Your Own Seasoning Blend for Salmon

For this particular salmon recipe, I chose to make my own quick seasoning blend using spices that I already had in the pantry. To make the seasoning and not have a lot of spice waste, I used a method that I commonly use for blending spices for individual recipes.

It may look crazy at first, but it actually works.

Imagine the size of the surface area of your protein (or whatever you are seasoning). Then, picture that same surface area on a plate. Sprinkle the individual spices of your choice on the plate, just as you would for a piece of meat. If you want more of a certain spice, do two passes over the plate. For instance, for this salmon seasoning, I wanted it to be a bit heavier on the black pepper, so I sprinkled two layers of pepper on the plate to create the mix.

Then, once all of your spices are layered on the plate, some in smaller amounts and some in larger amounts, mix it all together to make your blend. This is SO much easier and takes much less time than adding 7 or 8 different spices to each piece of meat individually.

Here are the spices that I used for my Blackstone salmon:

• kosher salt
• black pepper
• onion powder
• chili powder
• cumin
• dried dill weed
• cayenne pepper
• cinnamon
• paprika

*Feel free to check out this salmon video on my YouTube channel to get an idea of how I made this quick salmon seasoning blend, and see this technique in action!

How to Cook Salmon on the Blackstone Griddle

Salmon on the griddle is super easy to make, great for when you want some healthy griddle dinners! And this perfectly seasoned version with garlic, butter, and lemon won’t have you missing the carbs at all. Here’s how to make this delicious blackened-style salmon:

Step 1: Season the salmon filets.

After you’ve determined what seasoning you’ll be using for your fish (or you’ve made your own using my blend above), just season the top flesh side of the fish liberally.

I only seasoned the top of my salmon filets, because my wife and I don’t eat the skin, so there was no need to season the skin side. And because I only seasoned one side of the fish, I added a slightly heavier coat of seasoning than normal.

Here’s what my salmon filets looked like after seasoning them:

Step 2: Cook the salmon on the griddle.

Cooking the perfect griddle salmon is all about time management and internal temperature.

First, place the salmon filets on the oiled griddle surface and allow them to cook on the first side untouched to develop a nice char. I chose to place my salmon on the griddle flesh side down first… I’ll talk about why I chose to cook the salmon this way later:

Then, when the fish is about halfway cooked through (or after about 6-8 minutes depending on the thickness of your filets), flip to the second side. Immediately after flipping the salmon, I moved the filets closer together on the griddle so that I could dome them.

The melting dome helps to create more of an oven effect, as well as a steaming effect. My fish took about 4-5 minutes under the dome, and then it looked like this:

Step 3: Finish the salmon on the griddle with butter, garlic, and lemon juice.

When your salmon is almost done, turn off the griddle so that it doesn’t overcook… There will still be plenty of residual heat to finish the fish.

Then, make a quick garlic butter sauce by adding a few tablespoons of butter to the griddle. Add sliced fresh garlic and lemon juice to the butter, cook it down for about 1 minute, and then use your spatula to drizzle the sauce over the fish filets.

*This is similar to creating a butter bath to spoon over filets in a cast iron skillet.

And then your salmon on the griddle is ready to serve!

And yes, it was as delicious as it looked!

What to Serve with Salmon on the Blackstone

If you’re cooking salmon on the griddle, you may as well take advantage of the large surface area and cook some sautéed vegetables as a side dish.

For this particular salmon dish, we did a simple vegetable sauté with cut asparagus, yellow squash, and mini sweet bell peppers. Simply add a bit of cooking oil to the griddle surface and begin to cook the cut vegetables. Then, after the vegetable blend is cooked about halfway through, season with your favorite all purpose seasoning or a blend of salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Continue to cook the vegetables, stirring occasionally, until they’re done to your liking.

If you’re not worried about your carb intake, then diced sweet potatoes are also a fantastic accompaniment to griddle salmon. In fact, we like to season our sweet potatoes with the same spice blend that we used for this Blackstone salmon recipe. The combination of chili powder with a hint of cinnamon is fantastic on both the fish and the sweet potatoes!

FAQ’s about Cooking Salmon on the Griddle

Should I cook salmon on the Blackstone skin side down first?

This really depends on personal preference and whether or not you eat the salmon skin. My wife and I don’t eat the skin, but we do cook it with the skin on, which I feel helps to keep the fish moist.

For that reason, I do NOT cook the salmon with the skin side down first.

Instead, I add the salmon to the oiled griddle with the flesh side down first, because that is the “presentation side”, or the side that will be facing upwards and visible on the plate when the fish is served. By cooking the seasoned flesh side first, the seasonings will have plenty of time to toast on the griddle and help your fish filets develop a nice char and a beautiful rich flavor and color.

What temperature should my Blackstone griddle be when cooking salmon?

In my opinion, the perfect griddle salmon filet is moist and flaky on the inside with a rich exterior color and flavor. To develop the flavor and color on the outside, you’ll need to cook the fish long enough, but take care to not overcook it on the inside. So griddle temperature is important!

In my experience, the “sweet spot” temperature for cooking salmon on the Blackstone is a griddle temp of about 390 – 425 degrees F.

How long should I cook salmon on the griddle?

The amount of time needed to cook salmon on the griddle depends on a number of factors including the thickness of your filet, the temperature of your griddle, whether or not you choose to dome to salmon as it’s cooking, how you like your salmon cooked, etc.

But just for reference, my center cut salmon filets took about 12 minutes to cook in total.

What internal temperature should I cook salmon to?

This is another matter of personal preference, as with most things that you cook on the griddle. We like to eat our salmon medium, but the USDA recommends cooking fish and shellfish to an internal temp of 145 degrees F.

How do I know when my salmon is done?

An instant read internal thermometer is the best way to judge when your salmon is done cooking on the griddle. However, if you don’t have an internal thermometer, you can tell when salmon is done by the texture and color of the meat. The fish should be light pink in color, and it should easily flake apart with a fork.

Easy Griddle Salmon Recipe

Want to print this salmon recipe when you need some healthy griddle recipes to make? Just use the recipe card down below:

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