Honey Ginger Cedar Plank Salmon
What Makes My Honey Ginger Marinated Cedar Plank Salmon
Cooking on a cedar plank is a technique worth knowing on its own. Instead of sitting directly over the flame, the fish essentially steams gently in the heat trapped by the wood, which keeps it moist and makes it much harder to overcook than salmon straight on the grate.
- The cedar plank does double duty: it protects the delicate salmon from direct heat and infuses it with a light, smoky flavor at the same time.
- The marinade turns into a sauce, so nothing about the flavor gets left behind once the salmon comes off the grill.
- It’s a genuinely fast dinner. Most of the prep time is just letting the plank soak.
Key Ingredients and Notes
- Salmon fillet, skin on – the skin holds the fillet together on the plank and helps protect the flesh from the heat underneath. Peel it off after cooking if you don’t want to eat it.
- Fresh ginger – grate it fresh rather than using ground ginger, since fresh ginger gives a brighter, more noticeable flavor in a marinade this simple.
- Low sodium soy sauce – regular soy sauce can make the marinade overly salty, especially once it’s reduced down into a sauce.
- Honey – balances the soy sauce and ginger with sweetness, and helps the sauce thicken as it reduces.
- Cedar plank – make sure it’s untreated and labeled for grilling, not decorative cedar from a hardware store.
How to Make Honey Ginger Grilled Cedar Plank Salmon
- Soak the cedar plank – Submerge the plank in water for 30-60 minutes before grilling. A weighted plate or heavy mug on top helps keep it fully underwater. A dry plank can catch fire on the grill, so don’t skip this step.
- Marinate the salmon – While the plank soaks, combine the marinade ingredients in a zip-top bag, add the salmon, and seal, pressing out the air. Let it marinate while the plank finishes soaking.
- Preheat the grill – Heat the grill to 400-425°F.
- Place the salmon on the plank – Lay the salmon skin-side down on the soaked plank. Reserve the marinade.
- Grill, covered – Place the plank on the grill and close the lid. Cook for 18-25 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillet, until the salmon reaches 145°F at the thickest part. There’s no need to flip it.
- Reduce the marinade into a sauce – While the salmon cooks, simmer the reserved marinade in a small pot, either on the stovetop or on the grill, for about 10 minutes, until it thickens slightly. Watch it closely so it doesn’t over-reduce.
- Baste and serve – Spoon some of the sauce over the salmon partway through cooking and again near the end. Save a little extra sauce to serve alongside.
Storing and Reheating Recommendation
- Refrigerator: store leftover salmon in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
- Reheating: reheat gently in a covered pan over low heat or in the oven, rather than the microwave, to avoid drying it out.
Marinated Grilled Cedar Plank Salmon Recipe FAQ
No, most sources on cedar plank grilling recommend against it. The plank chars and picks up the flavor of whatever was cooked on it, so it’s best treated as single-use. Let it cool completely before throwing it away.
Cedar planks can be used in the oven, but the flavor comes through more subtly than it does on a grill, since there’s no open flame, just steam from the soaked wood. If you go this route, place the plank on a baking sheet and bake at around 400°F, checking for the same 145°F internal temperature.
Yes, based on reader experience with this recipe, marinating in the refrigerator for a few hours instead of just the 30-60 minutes it takes the plank to soak works well and can make the salmon even more flavorful.
Yes! I personally only have charcoal grills and I use cedar planks on them all the time. Remember to soak your planks!
Since the marinade sits in contact with raw salmon, it needs to be fully cooked before you serve it as a sauce or drizzle it on the finished dish. Simmering it for about 10 minutes brings it to a safe temperature and also thickens it into more of a glaze.
More Grilling Recipes From Me
- Cedar Plank Shrimp
- Cedar Plank Grilled Salmon
- Grilled Salmon with Garlic Butter
- Grilled Salmon with Brown Butter Citrus Sauce
- Grilled Spicy BBQ Chicken Skewers
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Honey Ginger Cedar Plank Salmon Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb salmon fillet skin on
- 3 tsp fresh grated ginger
- 3 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/3 cup soy sauce low sodium
- 1 cedar plank
Instructions
- Start by soaking the cedar plank in water for 30-60 minutes.
- While cedar plank is soaking, marinade salmon fillets as well. To do that combine marinade ingredients in a zip lock bag, mix them well and add salmon. Move air out of the bag and close it. Let salmon marinade while cedar plank is soaking.
- While cedar plank is soaking and salmon is marinading, prepare the coals and preheat the grill. (Or, simply turn on the gas grill to preheat it.) Grill temperature should be around 400℉-425℉ degrees.
- Place salmon fillets on the cedar plank, skin down. Save the marinade.
- Place cedar plank on the grill and close it. Let salmon cook until just done. Depending on the thickness of the salmon, it will take 18-25 minutes.
- For marinade: you can cook the marinade to create sauce for topping off salmon and you can cook it on stove top or on the grill. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Spoon some sauce over the top of salmon while it's cooking, about half way through the cooking and towards the end.
- Save a little sauce to top off the side you will be serving with the salmon.
Nutrition
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All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
The BEST salmon I have ever made. The cedar plank infused the fish with an amazing smoked flavor. It was a big hit with the family. I did everything exactly as stated in the recipe, the only thing I did different was to marinate the salmon in the frig for a few hours. Wonderful!
Wow! Thank you, Carol! I am so happy your family liked it!
I made this tonight and it was great. Kids loved it.
That’s great! So happy they liked it! 🙂
We made this on a charcoal grill!!! Its was best Ive ever had! It had a smokey flavor from the charcoal. Amazing!
Thank you for the sweet compliment, Lora! I am so pleased you liked it! 🙂
Est-ce que je peux avoir les recettes en français svp merci