🐟 This Glazed BBQ Salmon Recipe is made with seven simple ingredients in 15 minutes in a single skillet on the stovetop. Smoky and sweet with a little bit of heat, it’s the perfect fuss-free main course for busy weeknights!
Easy BBQ Sauce Salmon Recipe
I make salmon several times a week with recipes like my grilled honey lemon butter salmon, sheet pan Asian salmon and broccoli, and easy teriyaki salmon bowls. However, when I need a quick option that requires minimal fuss and always tastes great, this BBQ sauce salmon is the recipe I turn to.
With a five-star rating, it’s loved by everyone, and for good reason!
- The fish is ready in less than 15 minutes, and you’ll dirty one skillet.
- The glaze is sweet, smoky, and made with a tiny kick of heat, along with brightness from lemon juice that adds a tangy twist.
- 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!
- I often like to make extras and use leftovers in a cold salad, wrap, or sandwich for a quick, easy lunch.
Ingredients You’ll Need
To make the BBQ salmon on the stove, you’ll need:
- Olive oil
- Salmon filets: I prefer wild-caught salmon, but any kind will work. I look for equal-sized salmon fillets or slice a large piece of salmon into equal pieces for fast, even cooking
- Lemon juice
- Salt and pepper: To amp up the lemon flavor, you can use a lemon pepper seasoning instead of plain black pepper
- Pure maple syrup
- BBQ sauce: I used Sweet Baby Ray’s since it’s easy to find, cheap, sweet, and tangy. However, any kind of bbq sauce will work
- 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 Stovetop BBQ Salmon
If you’ve ever been intimidated 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 with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, placing it skin side down in a pan over medium heat.
- Keep the skillet covered until you estimate the salmon is 80 to 90 percent done and the skin has a nice sear. It’s edible and full of nutrients! The exact cooking time will vary depending on the size of your fish.
- Drizzle in maple syrup, bbq sauce, and Worcestershire sauce. There’s no need to whisk the mixture in a small bowl and dirty up another dish!
- Allow the glaze to bubble, thicken, and cook. You’ll know the salmon is done when it reaches an internal temperature between 125°F-130°F at the thickest part when measured with an instant-read thermometer.
- Brush any remaining sauce over the fish, cool at room temperature slightly, and enjoy warm!
Make grilled or baked BBQ salmon
Cover the salmon with the BBQ glaze, and place it on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake in the oven at 375ºF for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the salmon flakes easily with a fork.
You can also cook the fish on an outdoor grill over medium heat. Grease the grill grates, cover the salmon with BBQ sauce, and cook until it flakes easily with a fork.
My Favorite Pairings
Skillet BBQ Salmon
Equipment
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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More Easy Salmon Recipes:
Sheet Pan Salmon and Potatoes — This baked salmon and potatoes recipe is ready in 25 minutes, the lemon butter and Dijon mustard add so much FLAVOR, and it’s made on ONE sheet pan! EASY comfort food for busy weeknights!
Honey Lemon-Glazed Salmon Salad — This Honey Lemon-Glazed Salmon Salad is ready in 15 minutes and can easily be meal prepped. My whole family loves this recipe and said it’s their favorite salmon salad I’ve ever made!
Sheet Pan Garlic Butter Salmon — Juicy salmon at home in 30 minutes that’s EASY and tastes BETTER than from a restaurant! The butter is infused with lemon and garlic and adds so much FLAVOR!
Sheet Pan Honey Lemon Salmon — This baked honey lemon salmon is ready in under 30 minutes! It’s impossible to wind up with dry salmon when making this recipe, it’s just that good!
Easy Salmon and Potato Foil Packets — Juicy, moist salmon that’s loaded with flavor! Ready in 30 minutes, zero cleanup, and a foolproof way to cook salmon and look like a gourmet cook!!
Lemon Dill Salmon with Vegetables in Parchment — Tender salmon with vegetables and it’s so EASY, healthy, ready in 20 minutes, and loaded with bold LEMON and dill flavor! Put it on your dinner rotation!
Honey Dijon Salmon — EASY, ready in 20 minutes, juicy, tender, and so FLAVORFUL from the honey, Dijon, and lemon juice!! If you’re trying to incorporate more fish in your diet, this is THE RECIPE to make!
Chile Lime Salmon with Mango Avocado Salsa — Tender and INCREDIBLE salmon with mango salsa that’s bursting with Mexican FLAVORS to complement the fish! So EASY and ready in 15 minutes!
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)