Grilled Salmon in Foil

Learn how to grill (or bake!) salmon in foil with a very simple, yet gourmet recipe! Grilled salmon in foil packets are glazed with an easy four ingredient sweet, tangy mustard sauce to make the best salmon in 15 minutes!

Don’t know what to cook for dinner tonight? Arm yourself with a fresh salmon fillet, a large piece of foil, and be prepared to witness dinner magic in minutes.

Use salmon’s natural rich flavor to simplify your life and dinner prep! Since salmon is so flavorful on its own, there’s no need to mess around with complicated sauces, marinades, or rubs. 

Perfectly baked salmon depends on knowing when it’s done. Read the tips and suggestions below for achieving restaurant-quality salmon every time. 

If you love healthy fish recipes, try Parmesan Crusted Tilapia, Mexican Fish, or Oven Fried Fish! 

Grilled Salmon Marinade Sauce

Foil packet salmon uses four ingredients to create a sticky glaze smothered over healthy, flaky salmon.

Mix together melted butter, apricot preserves, whole grain mustard, and dijon mustard. Set aside two tablespoons and brush remaining sauce over the fish. 

After the salmon comes off the grill, spread on the reserved sauce. Quickly broil for 1-2 minutes to intensify the glaze and bring a stickiness to the sweet mustard topping.  

Alternatively, try grilled salmon in foil with these other flavorful sauces:

• Lemon Dill
• Garlic Butter
• Honey Mustard
• Simple olive oil, salt and pepper

How to Cook Salmon on the Grill

Whether your salmon fillet has the skin on or without, using foil prevents the salmon from drying out.

Heavy duty foil works best, but regular aluminum foil may be used too. For best results, use a double layer of regular foil.

1. Preheat grill to medium, or about 400-450ºF (204-232ºC).
2. Lay salmon with skin side down on a very large piece of foil. 
3. Spread on apricot mustard sauce. Alternatively, drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper, and lay lemon slices on top.
4. First fold up the long sides and roll together over the top of the salmon.
5. Roll short end sides to close.
6. Place salmon packet on grill, close cover, and cook 10 minutes.

Salmon grill time

Narrowing down exactly how low long to grill salmon for depends on the thickness your fillet and the temperature of the grill. 

A 1 inch thick piece of salmon will take about 10 minutes on a gas or charcoal grill heated to medium, which is about 400-450ºF (204-232ºC). 

Whole salmon filets usually contain variable amounts thickness in one piece. For best results, portion it out first, cutting and separating the thick fillets from thin.

Thin fillets will take as little as 7 minutes, while thicker fillets can take as long as 15 minutes. 

How to Tell When Salmon is Done

How can you tell when salmon is fully cooked? The number one mistake home cooks make when preparing salmon is overcooking it!

There are visual, texture, and precise indicators to tell if salmon is accurately cooked. 

Visual / Texture Clues :

• Flesh changes from red and raw to pink and semi-translucent on the inside. 
• Stick a knife into thickest part. The flesh should give way to the knife and pull apart.
• The inside should be slightly translucent with the exterior opaque.
• The white stuff, known as albumin, may start to push out of the flesh. That is an indicator the fish is overcooking. The more it cooks, the more albumin is pushed out.

Temperature of Cooked Salmon:

The USDA recommends for salmon to have an internal temperature of 145ºF (63ºC). However, salmon at this temperature seems a bit overdone, in my opinion.

Salmon has a more ideal texture when cooked to medium well, which reads 125-130ºF (52-54ºC) on an instant read thermometer. Let it rest for 5 minutes and it will continue to cook a few degrees more. 

Baking salmon foil packet in oven

Don’t have a grill? No problem! Salmon packets can also be oven baked!

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF (190ºC).
2. Prepare salmon packet with sauce brushed on, setting aside 2 tablespoons of sauce.
3. Place salmon packet directly on oven rack
4. Bake for 10 minutes and remove the salmon packet from oven.
5. Open packet, brush remaining glaze on top of the salmon.
6. Position oven rack to top and turn on broiler.
7. Place salmon with foil open under broiler for 1-2 minutes, or until salmon is fully cooked. 

Does it matter if salmon has skin on or without? 

No. Prepare grilled salmon in foil with or without the skin on. 

Salmon skin is perfectly fine to eat, and loaded with nutrients, such as more omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B, D, and selenium. 

If you prefer to forgo the skin, cook it with skin on because it provides an extra preventive layer from overcooking.

After the salmon has cooked, eat it directly off the skin or slide a knife between the flesh and skin to remove it. 

Click here to see the
step-by-step web story instructions for this recipe!

What to serve with salmon? 

Below are some of my favorite sides to go with salmon, but go to my what to serve with fish resource for many others!

• Roasted Zucchini – Golden, roasted summer squash is flavored with garlic and seasonings for a healthy side dish.
• Instant Pot Baked Potatoes – Baked potatoes in a pressure cooker with crispy seasoned skins.
• Baked Broccoli and Cheese – Quick and easy oven roasted broccoli recipe with melty cheese, garlic, and crispy breadcrumbs.
• Grilled Potatoes – Crispy, seasoned red potatoes in foil packets only take 5 minutes to prepare!

How To Make Grilled Salmon in Foil

1. Mix together ingredients for apricot mustard sauce.
2. Remove 2 tablespoons of sauce and set aside. 
3. Lay salmon skin down on large piece of foil and brush remaining sauce on.
4. Bring up long sides of foil and roll seam together on top. Roll together shorter ends.
5. Grill for 10 minutes. Open up packet and brush on reserved marinade. Place salmon under broiler for 1-2 minutes, or until glaze bubbles.

Tips for grilling salmon

• Heavy duty foil works best, but regular aluminum foil may be used too. For best results, use a double layer of regular foil.
• It’s best to error on the side of undercooking the fish. Salmon finishes cooking under the broiler.
• Assemble foil packets on a baking sheet to easily transport the salmon back and forth from grill to kitchen.
• Salmon is done with exterior is opaque and interior is semi-translucent. Insert knife into thickest part to check.

Click here to see the
step-by-step web story instructions for this recipe!

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