These grilled salmon kabobs are easy, amazingly delicious and healthy. Tender, perfectly flaky and with tons of flavor, these are nicely caramelized and cooked to juicy perfection. Learn the tricks to make the best out of your salmon grilling experience.
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Grilled Salmon Skewers
This blog features some of the best grilled recipes around the world, our popular Koobideh Kabob. Now we turn to grilling fish, so you can make your next healthy and delicious Persian feast with the best salmon kabobs. In fact, these will pair with any cuisine theme.
These flaky, juicy, and flavorful kabobs are ready in less than 30 minutes. Plus, you can feed a large gathering as it takes such a short time to cook. But you must select the best quality salmon, more on that later.
If you have never grilled fish kabobs, this is the time to try. You won’t believe how incredibly easy and delicious they are.
Ingredients
Salmon, Lemon Juice, Olive Oil, Onion Juice, Rosemary, Garlic, Spices, Vegetables, Salt
Spices: Advieh (Persian spice blend, or ground cumin + ground coriander), dried ground ginger, dried mango powder or sumac, ground black pepper
Combination of rosemary, ginger, onion and spices gives an incredible flavor to the salmon kabobs. The dried mango powder adds a hint of smoky tanginess, if you are able to find it at your local Indian grocery store. Add chili flakes if you want to make it spicy.
Marinade: It nicely flavors the fish and keeps it moist. Use leftover marinade for basting to keep the kabobs juicy.
Vegetables: We used tomatoes, red onions, bell peppers and zucchini. But you can try other vegetables too.
How to Select the Best Salmon
- Choose skinless salmon fillet that is firm, thick, bright pink in color, smells fresh and is preferably wild caught. You can have your local grocer remove the skin. If you can find and afford it, choose king or coho salmon.
- Farm raised Atlantic salmon are often more fatty and lower in nutrients due to the manner in which they are raised and fed.
How to Make: Brief Overview
- Combine the marinade ingredients. Toss salmon cubes with the marinade. Grill both sides just until salmon turns opaque.
- We prefer charcoal grill for the amazing flavor it imparts, but you can use gas grill or cook it on stove top or broil it in oven. Full recipe and instructions at end of post.
Caramelized Salmon Crust
To get that mouth watering caramelized look on your fish kabobs try adding some tomato paste into the basting mixture as we did.
Other products that also work great are pomegranate molasses, honey, brown sugar and molasses. You only need to add a little bit of these to your basting mixture. The sugars will caramelize and impart a nice crust, appearance and texture.
What to Serve with Salmon Kabobs
- We love to serve salmon kabobs with rice (Persian dill rice, lentil rice or plain barberry rice — skip the chicken).
- Make great wraps with flatbreads and this lemon dill sauce we used for tuna melt crescent ring.
- Try amazing fish tacos with salsa and guacamole on the side.
- Add it to a salad such as kale quinoa salad with lentils.
- Or simply serve it with a fresh tomato cucumber salad for a low carb meal or with tabbouleh.
- Make sure to serve some delicious beverages such as Ayran.
Health Benefits and Nutrition Facts
This recipe is dairy free, gluten free, egg free, low carb, high protein, nut free and soy free.
Salmon is a great source of long chain omega 3 fatty acids and high quality protein. Plus, it provides a good amount of other nutrients, such as B vitamins, vitamin D, selenium, and potassium.
Regular consumption of salmon has been associated with a reduced risk of heart disease and diabetes. Other beneficial effects include better weight management, reduced inflammation, protection of brain health.
As such, consuming at least two servings of fatty fish per week, such as salmon, is highly recommended.
More Fish Recipes
- Spicy Fish Cakes
- Tuna Salad with Chipotle
- Tuna Melt Crescent Ring
- Pan Seared Fish with Tamarind Sauce
★ DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? PLEASE COMMENT AND GIVE IT A STAR RATING BELOW!
Grilled Salmon Kabobs
Ingredients
- 2 lbs skinless salmon fillet cut into 1½ inch cubes
- 1 red onion cut into quarters
- 3 roma tomatoes
- 1 green bell pepper cut into quarters
- 1 zucchini cut lengthwise and then into quarters
Marinade
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ cup red onion juice from one medium onion, see note
- 3 cloves garlic grated, optional
- 2 tablespoons dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Spice Blend
- 1 teaspoon advieh or ½ teaspoon ground cumin + ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon dried ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ⅔ teaspoon coarse salt
- ½ teaspoon dried mango powder or sumac, see note
Basting Mixture
- ⅓ cup leftover marinade from above
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pinch salt
- 1½ teaspoons tomato paste optional
- ¼ teaspoon saffron ground and dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water, optional
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine all the marinade ingredients — olive oil, lemon juice, red onion juice, garlic, dried rosemary, salt and pepper. Add the salmon cubes, toss to coat and marinate for 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, thread the vegetables on ½ inch wide metal skewers (if using wooden or bamboo skewers, soak them in water at least 30 minutes before using).
- Preheat the charcoal grill about 30 minutes before grilling. We recommend using hardwood charcoal and not briquettes for perfect flavor. The grill is ready when the flame has subsided, coals glow uniformly and covered with some ash.Tip: A small fan or hair dryer may be useful. Check this tutorial for more about charcoal grilling.
- Alternatively, grill salmon kabobs using nicely oiled grates on gas grill at medium heat. See note for stove top or broiling options.
- Thread the salmon cubes on ½ inch wide metal skewers. Combine the spices — advieh (or cumin + coriander), dried ground ginger, ground pepper, salt and mango powder or sumac. Sprinkle this mixture generously over salmon cubes on all sides.
- To make the basting mixture, combine leftover marinade with olive oil and pinch of salt. Stir in some tomato paste or saffron water, if preferred.
- Start grilling vegetables ahead of salmon kabobs. When they are about half done, proceed with salmon skewers.
- When the grill is ready, arrange salmon skewers directly over the charcoal grill without the grate, about 4 inches above the glowing coals. Grill kabobs for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, flipping them couple times, until salmon turns opaque throughout. Baste all skewers with basting mixture while grilling and at the end.
- Avoid cooking kabobs too close to the heat source or they will burn on the outside and remain uncooked inside. Do not cook at very low heat and for too long, otherwise they will become dry and overcooked.
- Serve salmon kabobs and grilled vegetables with lemon slices, lavash, rice and sumac on the side.
Notes
- Stove top: Brush a grill pan or griddle with olive oil and heat at medium. Place the skewers in one layer, spacing them apart. Cook 4 to 5 minutes on one side, flip and cook on the other side for 3 to 4 minutes until opaque.
- Broil in oven: Place salmon skewers on a baking sheet and broil on high in the top rack for about 5 minutes. Then flip the skewers and broil another 3 to 4 minutes until salmon turns opaque.
- Onion Juice: Process diced red onion in food processor until smooth, and strain the juices.
- Storage: Salmon kabobs will keep well in the refrigerator for couple days. Sprinkle some water and reheat quickly.
- Dried Mango Powder: Also known as ‘amchur’ is available at Indian grocery stores and imparts a hint of smoky tanginess to the kabobs.
Shashi
I love salmon and have had it broiled, baked, boiled, in a curry, air fried, - yep - every single way - except for in kebab form! I love this idea and cannot wait to try this with that delish lemon herb marinade!
Roxana Begum
It is a totally different experience. You will love it.
Angela
What a healthy and delicious way to serve salmon! The flavors are spot on. YUM!
Lisa Huff
Good timing, was just telling my family we need to eat more fish! These salmon kabobs look perfect for us!
Maggie
This Grilled Salmon Kabobs looks absolutely delicious! This will be perfect for our family weekend meal. I'm sure they will love this.