Brown Sugar Smoked Salmon Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Brown Sugar Smoked Salmon Recipe

Brown Sugar Smoked Salmon combines sweet and smoky flavors to create the best salmon dinner! We balance the flavors with spicy cayenne pepper and sweet brown sugar and cook the salmon low and slow.

Course Main Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword brown sugar smoked salmon

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1

Servings servings

Calories 381kcal

Author Sue Ringsdorf

Ingredients

2 ½ pounds salmon - skin-on
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper - to taste
1/3 cup brown sugar

Instructions

Form foil packs. Use aluminum foil to make two foil packs.
Prep salmon. Slice the salmon into six equal pieces. Add to foil packs (salmon skin side down) as pictured below.
2 ½ pounds salmon
Add olive oil and seasonings. Drizzle salmon filets with olive oil. Then top with the smoked salmon rub – onion powder, cayenne pepper, kosher salt, and black pepper.
2 Tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Top with brown sugar. Sprinkle the tops of the salmon evenly with brown sugar. Pat the tops with your hands to make sure the sugar sticks.
1/3 cup brown sugar
Prep smoker. Fill the pellet hopper with your choice of hardwood pellets. Different types of wood pellets, like hickory, mesquite, apple, cherry, etc., will impart distinct flavors to the meat. Preheat the pellet grill to the desired smoking temperature, about 225 degrees.
Cook. Place the foil packs on the grill grates of the smoker and cook until the salmon flakes easily with a fork, about 30 to 40 minutes. Remove the salmon from the smoker and rest for a few minutes.
Serve. Serve salmon with a variety of sides. See below for some ideas.

Notes

Store leftover fish fillets in an airtight container for up to three days.
If you don’t own a smoker, you can grill low and slow on a charcoal grill or gas grill and place wood chips inside to add great flavor.

Nutrition