Blackened Salmon (How-to + recipe) (2024)

FAQs

What is blackened salmon made of? ›

Popular blackening spices include garlic powder, paprika, onion powder, oregano, thyme, salt, and pepper. While I love these vibrant spices all together, if you prefer your salmon with a little less kick, try this Pan Seared Salmon recipe. My personal tip is to add a little brown sugar to the blackening rub.

Grilling involves cooking food over an open flame or gas grill, while blackening is a specific technique that involves seasoning the food with a blend of spices and searing it in a hot pan until it forms a dark, crispy crust. The main difference between blackening and grilling is the seasoning.

Pan-frying or pan-searing is one of the best ways to cook salmon fillets. It's quick, easy, and gives the fish that perfect crispy, crunchy skin. A simple pan-fried salmon is the secret to a flavorful and healthy weeknight dinner in 30 minutes or less. Season the salmon fillets with salt and pepper.

If you enjoy a crispy exterior, then pan seared salmon is the way to go. Baking salmon is a great option for a larger piece of fish (try this Baked Salmon in Foil for an easy technique).

Sure, the name says it, but Healthy Blackened Salmon is really healthy. It's made without oil, butter, or cream. Instead, it uses the natural fats in the fish to keep it juicy and moist. The mix of herbs and spices give it all its flavour.

Keep it Healthy: Frying seafood with a breaded coating is a popular way to cook fish, but not the healthiest choice. The cooking technique known as "blackening," however, provides a lot of flavor to fish (or poultry or meat), but with little sodium and no saturated fat.

Blackening seasoning is a combination of chili powders, herbs, and spices. Most recipes include some combination of paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt, dried thyme, dried oregano, dried basil, and dried thyme.

As I note below, Cajun and Blackening Seasoning are interchangeable terms for similar seasoning blends that combine paprika, dried thyme, dried oregano, onion and garlic powders, and cayenne pepper for spice.

I'm talking about brining! Soaking salmon in a simple, quick brine for as little as 10 minutes (up to overnight, if you like planning ahead) is all it takes. To make it happen you need two very basic ingredients: water and salt. Combine 1 tablespoon of salt for every cup of water.

Should I cook salmon with butter or oil? ›

Pan-fried salmon is delicious when cooked in butter and olive oil. The skin becomes wonderfully crispy, and the flesh is juicy and flavorful.

PAN SEARING

Place salmon, skin-side up, into pan and cook until browned, about 4 minutes. Carefully flip salmon and cook for another 3 minutes or until done.

Baked salmon is best when cooked at 425°F in the oven.

We recommend baking the salmon uncovered. Simply rub the fillets with a little oil, sprinkle them with salt and pepper, then place them in the roasting pan skin-side down before popping them in the oven.

Grilled salmon is typically seasoned with salt and pepper, while blackened salmon is seasoned with a spice mixture that includes cayenne pepper, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika. This gives blackened salmon a more smoky and flavorful taste.

With blackening, the salmon is cooked over medium-high heat, for a charred outer layer. Basically, grilling requires food to be cooked over heat but not necessarily needing spice. Both methods use dry heat and an open flame. Both methods also take as little as twenty minutes to prepare from start to finish.

Food that is blackened isn't burnt; it's simply coated in a special spice blend that takes on a very dark brown, almost black color when cooked in a skillet, on a grill or in an oven. Blackened food almost always means blackened meat, chicken or seafood, including fish and shellfish like shrimp.