• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • meet the team
  • blogger resources
  • Contact Me
My Account
Member Dashboard
40 Aprons Premium (Ad Free!)

40 Aprons

Delicious, Healthy-ish Meals for the Whole Family

  • All Recipes
  • Most Popular
    • Cheryl’s Favorites
    • 30-Minute Recipes
    • Creamy Soups
    • Copycat Recipes
    • Casseroles
    • One-Dish Wonders
  • Method
    • Air Fryer
    • Baking
    • Crockpot
    • Grilling
    • Instant Pot
    • Sous Vide
  • Course
    • Appetizers
    • Cooking Basics
    • Breakfast
    • Condiments
    • Dessert
    • Main Course
    • Meal Prep
    • Side Dishes
    • Soups
  • Cuisine
    • American
    • Asian
    • Indian
    • Italian
    • Mediterranean
    • Mexican & Latin
    • Southern
Home Blog Course Main Course

Blackened Salmon

Jasmine Comer
Jasmine Comer Posted: 06/22/21 Updated: 03/22/22
Leave a Comment
Jump to Recipe
DF Dairy Free GF Gluten Free K Keto LC Low Carb P Paleo

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

Pin graphic for blackened salmon
Pin graphic for blackened salmon
Pin graphic for blackened salmon
Pin graphic for blackened salmon
Pin graphic for blackened salmon
Pin graphic for blackened salmon
Pin graphic for blackened salmon
Pin graphic for blackened salmon
Pin graphic for blackened salmon
Pin graphic for blackened salmon
Pin graphic for blackened salmon

Perfectly flaky blackened salmon is an easy and delicious way to spice up a fish dinner. A blend of savory spices coat tender salmon fillets as they’re pan-seared in butter to develop a beautiful crust. This dish is a great source of filling protein, healthy fats, and incredible flavors.

Angled view of blackened salmon on a white plate. The corner of the salmon has been cut into with a fork.

What Makes This Recipe So Good

  • The combination of butter and incredible spices form the most beautiful, crisp, delicious crust on the salmon fillets.
  • It’s a super quick and easy recipe! Salmon doesn’t need much cooking at all, so you’ll have an amazing dinner on the table in no time at all. Easy enough for after-work dinners, tasty enough for guests.
  • The blend of spices used on this blackened salmon are bold but perfect. That being said, you can absolutely adjust them to your perfect ratios and blends!

Try These Salmon Recipes

Pan-Seared Salmon in a Creamy Red Pepper Parmesan Sauce

Air Fryer Salmon with Brown Sugar Crust

Smoked Salmon Bagel Salad

Chef’s Tips

  • To get a really good crust on your blackened salmon, the butter and skillet need to be hot. Don’t put the salmon in the skillet too early! You’ll also want to pat the salmon fillets dry before seasoning them. If they’re very wet, they won’t crisp up.
  • If you like a little heat-meets-sweet action, add some brown sugar to your spice mixture. We love, love, love salmon with a brown sugar crust.
  • The easiest way to check whether your blackened salmon is ready to eat is to use an internal meat thermometer. For medium-rare salmon, you’ll want it to be about 120-125° Fahrenheit at its thickest point. Well-done salmon should be 145° Fahrenheit internally. If you don’t have an internal thermometer, you can eyeball it! Well-done salmon will be pink and completely opaque, but rare salmon is translucent and more of a bright red. Images like these give an idea of what each temperature looks like. In addition to coloring, check the texture! Fully cooked salmon will flake easily when you dig into it with a fork.
3 blackened salmon filets on a white plate with a lemon wedge

Other Delicious Recipes You’ll Love

  • Marry Me Chicken
  • Blackened Shrimp with Remoulade Sauce
  • Everything Bagel Chicken with Scallion Cream Cheese Sauce (Keto)
  • Blackened Chicken
  • Instant Pot Carne Asada
  • Best Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe (Restaurant Style)
  • Easy Sous Vide Chicken Breast Recipe
  • Cajun Shrimp

Hey – you’ve made it this far, so now we’re basically best friends! If you make this recipe, I’d love for you to give it a quick review & star rating ★ below. Make sure you follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and Facebook, too!

Angled view of blackened salmon on a white plate. The corner of the salmon has been cut into with a fork.

Blackened Salmon

Prep:15 minutes
Cook:10 minutes
Total:25 minutes
Perfectly flaky blackened salmon is an easy and delicious way to spice up a fish dinner. A blend of savory spices coat tender salmon fillets as they're pan-seared in butter to develop a beautiful crust. This dish is a great source of filling protein, healthy fats, and incredible flavors.
Print Save Saved! Click Here to Remove Ads
4 fillets

Ingredients

For the Seasoning

  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon white pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

For the Salmon

  • 1 pound salmon cut into 4 fillets, patted dry
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • ½ of one lemon sliced

Equipment

  • Small bowl
  • Cast iron skillet
  • Tongs

Instructions 

  • Combine all spices together in small bowl. Whisk or stir to evenly distribute.
    Blackened seasoning blend in large glass bowl
  • Liberally coat flesh of salmon fillets with spice mixture, gently massaging spices into salmon to ensure they stick.
    Spice rubbed salmon filets on a cutting board
  • Melt butter in cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add seasoned salmon fillets to skillet, spice-side down. Cook 4 to 5 minutes, then flip and squeeze lemon juice onto flesh of fillets. Cook skin-side down 2 to 3 minutes, depending on thickness of fillets.
    Blackened salmon filets in cast iron skillet

Notes

  • Make it Dairy Free: Use dairy free butter.
  • Make it Paleo: Use ghee instead of butter, and make sure your spices don’t include any sugars or non-paleo additives.
 
Recipe yields 4 servings. Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1fillet, Calories: 248kcal, Carbohydrates: 3g, Protein: 23g, Fat: 16g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 5g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 85mg, Sodium: 716mg, Potassium: 616mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 766IU, Vitamin C: 7mg, Calcium: 32mg, Iron: 1mg, Net Carbs: 2g

Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.

 

Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.

 

To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.

© Author: Jasmine Comer

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @40aprons on social and be sure to leave a review on the blog post!

Rate Recipe Tag Me on Instagram
Jasmine Comer

Meet Jasmine Comer

Jasmine Comer is a food photographer and recipe developer from North Carolina. She grew up in the kitchen watching her mom cook all types of delicious meals. In 2016 she established Lively Meals, a food blog where she creates healthy recipes. This led to creating recipes for other blogs as well. In her free time she enjoys exploring new places and spending time in nature. Ultimately she’s grateful to be doing work she loves—cooking good food and sharing it with people.

Read more...

You may also like...

  • 3 miso salmon fillets on a white plate
    Miso Salmon
  • Canned Salmon Salad
  • Salmon Salad

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Have a question? Submit your question or comment below.

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

What’s Popular?

Reusable meal prep trays with sweet potato, scrambled eggs, and sausage for a whole30 breakfast

Whole30 Breakfast Meal Prep

Crispy, golden air fryer tater tots in a large white serving bowl next to a small ramekin of bright red ketchup.

Air Fryer Tater Tots

Overhead view of marry me chicken in a cast iron skillet

Marry Me Chicken (Chicken in a Sun Dried Tomato Cream Sauce)

Instant pot chicken and rice in a bowl

Dreamy Instant Pot Chicken and Rice

In Season

Whole30 In-n-Out burgers close up

Whole30 Burgers – Burger Joint Style (Paleo, Low Carb)

Overhead photo of keto chicken tortilla soup in a rustic bowl

Keto Chicken Tortilla Soup (Low Carb, Gluten Free)

Air fryer chicken wings on a platter with sauce

Crispy Air Fryer Chicken Wings in Buffalo Sauce

Instant pot frozen chicken breast - easy chicken recipes for dinners with few ingredients

Instant Pot Frozen Chicken Breast

As seen on:

More Goodies + NO Ads!

Become a 40 Aprons Premium Member!

All the 40 Aprons content you love - now even better.

  • Member-Exclusive Recipes
  • Meal Plans & Grocery Lists
  • eBooks
  • NO ADS!
Join now

Privacy Policy

Accessibility

Disclaimers

Contact

© 2023 40 Aprons
Site Credits Designed by Melissa Rose Design Developed by Once Coupled
Back to Top
136 shares