This salmon rub recipe is a little bit spicy, a little bit smoky and a whole lot good. Salmon is rubbed with love, grilled and then topped with a delightful Cilantro Lime Butter. This just might become your favorite Summer salmon rub recipe.
We love the results of grilled food, both from our gas and charcoal Webers. And think the aroma of a steak or burger wafting from those hot grates is about the best smell ever.
But have to admit I’m not a fan of the task of grilling. I’d much rather be in the air-conditioned kitchen chopping, dicing, fussing, sautéing, stirring, simmering, stewing, and braising, or sitting in the shade in my lawn chair with my glass of wine, watching someone else grill. ::::shrug
So with all that said, I’m so very excited to announce that we now have a griller in the house.
Bob received a gift of a certificate to a cooking class and what he came home with was a salmon rub that simply WOW’d the crowd. Let’s take a look.
Ingredients to make Salmon Rub
First of all, take a look at the line-up of ingredients for this impressive and rich-colored blend of spices for the salmon rub. The aroma was intoxicating.
- Chili Powder
- Paprika
- Smoked Paprika
- Cayenne
- Garlic Powder
- Cumin
- Black Pepper
Yes please.
Pat salmon filets dry, slather in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, sprinkle on rub and rub into salmon. Shake off the excess rub and grill to desired doneness.
For the grand finale, dollop each salmon fillet with Cilantro Lime Butter.
It’s easy to make. Softened butter mixed with cilantro, parsley, honey, lime and salt and pepper. = DIVINE.
This is a photo after that wonderful Cilantro-Lime Butter oozed itself over and into the salmon. This salmon was perfectly cooked, juicy, tender and crazy with flavor. Hands down some of the best salmon I’ve ever had.
An impressive outcome for Bob’s first grilling project, especially since the wind was blowing a gale and it was cold out there and fish can be tricky to start with.
Look at this guy, one class and he’s a better chopper than I’ve ever been.
Recipe for Salmon Rub for Grilled Salmon with Cilantro Lime Butter
I hope you give this salmon rub recipe a try. And if you do, please come back and give the recipe a star rating and leave a comment about your experience with the recipe.
And if you have a favorite recipe for spice rubbed salmon, let me know, I’d love to give it a try.
More Grilled Salmon Recipes
- Cedar Plank Salmon with Mushroom Red Wine Reduction Sauce
- Grilled Copper River Salmon
- Mexican Salmon with Salsa Verde
and this recipe I found for Sesame Chili Grilled Salmon from The Reluctant Entertainer sounds divine.
And if you’re looking for more super fast seafood dinner ideas, you won’t want to miss this broiled halibut recipe, Heavenly Halibut.
Salmon Rub for Grilled Salmon with Cilantro Lime Butter
Ingredients
- 4 Salmon Fillets
- For The Salmon Rub
- 2 Tablespoons Chili Powder
- 2 Tablespoon Paprika
- 1 Tablespoon Smoked Paprika
- 1 teaspoon New Mexico Chile Powder or Cayenne, or Ancho
- 2 teaspoons Garlic Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper fresh ground
- For the Cilantro Lime Butter
- 4 Tablespoons Butter room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons Cilantro chopped
- 2 Tablespoons Italian Parsley chopped
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
- 1/2 Lime juiced
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine all ingredients for the spice rub. Set aside.
- Bring butter to room temperature.
- In a bowl, mix all ingredients for the Cilantro Lime Butter. Set aside.
- Sprinkle the spice mix over the salmon fillets and gently rub into the meat. Shake the excess rub off the salmon fillets.
- Light a grill and preheat to 500 degrees. Turn heat down to 350 degrees. Place salmon fillets on grill. Cook 12 – 15 minutes or until salmon is just starting to flake.
- Serve immediately and top each salmon fillet with a dollop of the cilantro lime butter.
Nutrition
Salmon Rub for Grilled Salmon with Cilantro-Lime Butter…It’s What’s for Dinner.
My hubby is the griller in the family and we grill a lot of salmon. This is a must make. I’m always looking for new ways to cook it. I can see it served with a mango salsa on the side to go with the cilantro lime butter.
Kristi
Looks delicious! That cilantro lime butter I will be making for sure. I don’t have Cilantro so instead I’ll use our Chadon Beni. The taste is the same as Cilantro just stronger so I will have to adjust it a bit 🙂
The cilantro lime butter looks great. It reminds me of a brunch that i attended. There was a bowl of green condiment. I thought it was avocado, but it was wasabi sauce. Oh my!
Well hello there ChiliB! Ohmy about that wasabi. No need for coffee, Bet that woke you right up. 🙂
Lea Ann, it looks like Bob is just a natural. Maybe he should just join all the cooking classes and share the recipes with us, that would make our blogger life a lot easier!
I really like the ingredients of the rub and cilantro is one of my favorite, too. I still have several very nice pieces of wild caught pacific salmon in my freezer. Can’t wait to start grilling.
Yes, we will definitely have a big Swedish meatball lunch as soon IKEA opens its doors. I can hardly wait.
Love the cilantro lime butter. Perfect for the dish.
That butter is going to be on top of so many more things Ellie, it’s delicious. As always thanks for stopping by and the comment.
I dislike grilling myself. I leave that up to the hubby. That salmon looks fantastic, I may need to forward this recipe over to him 😉
Thanks for stopping by and the comment. Lots of good flavors here.
Whoa.
I chose the baking class and was hit on by multiple chicks…
But man, from now on, if Bob’s grillin’ it, i’m swillin’ it.
Well, if YOU were hit on multiple times, I can’t imagine the harassment Bob would have received… 🙂
He grilled the same meal last night just so he could make sure he “had it down”. Mmmmmm I swilled! Delicious.
Howdy, neighbor! It was great to meet you today. What a fantastic group!
This salmon is the kind of meal that makes me long for summer. It looks like a crowd pleaser too. I’ll have to give it a go when the winds die down and the temperature climbs a bit… I’m a fair-weather griller. 🙂
It was really nice to meet you too. Can’t believe how close we live. I’m with you, I’m a fair weather griller. Bob is braving the winds and heading out there to do it all over again. Nice to be the recipient of such a great meal two weekends in a row. He just wants to make sure he has perfected this thing. 🙂
looks like he has aced his grilling course delicious meal
Boy I sure think so Rebecca! We’re getting ready for Saturday night round 2! 🙂