This spice rubbed oven baked salmon recipe is smokey, peppery, sweet, and a little spicy. Ready in 15 minutes for a quick and easy weeknight meal. Make this today!
This is the best spice rub seasoning for this baked salmon recipe. The spice rub adds a southwest flavor that's slightly spicy and smokey with a hint of sweetness from the brown sugar. The smoked paprika and cayenne definitely add a warmth to round out all the flavors! Pair it with this crunchy colorful rainbow cabbage salad for a healthy, delicious dinner in under 30 minutes!
Tips for Spice Rubbed Baked Salmon Recipe:
To cut down on the cooking time, I cut my salmon fillets in half into 3 to 4oz pieces. You can leave them as is and increase your cooking time by about 2 minutes. Pat them really dry with a paper towel. Next cover them with oil. This helps the spice rub stick to them and keeps the outside of the salmon from drying out. Sprinkle the spice rub on top of the salmon and pat it in so that the spices really stick to the salmon. This is best seasoning for baked salmon because it's flavorful but doesn't overpower the salmon. It's great on other proteins too such as chicken and pork.
At this point, if you want to make blackened salmon, you would just cook this in a pan over medium heat. Place it rub side down for 2 - 3 minutes until blackened, then flip and cook the other side for about 3 - 4 minutes.
But for this recipe for baked spice rubbed salmon, simply line a baking pan with parchment paper and place the salmon fillets on top. Bake them in the oven until your desired doneness.
Serve this spice rubbed baked salmon recipe with rice or potatoes or this crunchy rainbow cabbage salad for a low carb meal.
I hope you enjoy this recipe! Please share, rate, and comment below. I’d love to hear from you!
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Recipe
Spice Rubbed Oven Baked Salmon
☑ Ingredients
- 2 6oz fresh or thawed salmon fillets - cut in half
- 1 Tablespoon avocado oil
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoons ancho chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne powder
- pinch salt & pepper
- rainbow cabbage salad - on the side
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
- In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, ancho chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, cayenne, and salt & pepper.
- Cover your salmon fillets with oil and then rub your salmon fillets with the spice rub.
- Bake the salmon for 6 - 8 minutes until done. For larger pieces, bake for 10 - 12 minutes until done.
- Serve with rainbow cabbage salad.
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is an estimate, calculated using online tools.
Amber
Love the flavours in this - we also tried with some chicken for our non-seafood eating friend and that worked really well also. Perfect with your rainbow salad or spicy cucumber salad. Thank you - LOVE your blog!
Jamie
Thanks Amber! So happy you found my recipe! Agreed, this spice rub is great on any protein! 🙂
Techman90
Wonderful complex smokey, spicy, slightly hot flavor to use on your salmon. I used a piece of sockeye salmon. I believe the amount of seasoning could be cut back slightly due to sockeye salmon is thinner than other types of salmon. Otherwise, this is an easy to prepare recipe. I paired the salmon with roasted balsamic glazed Brussel sprouts and brown rice.
Would totally make this quick and easy salmon recipe.
Thank you Jamie!
Jamie
Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed this! Great idea pairing with brussel sprouts and brown rice. What a delicious meal!
Jill
This is the only way I will be cooking my salmon from now on!! So tasty, and is great served hot or cold.
Jamie
Thanks Jill! So glad you enjoyed this!
Diana
This spice rubbed salmon is such an easy and delicious dinner - served with your rainbow cabbage salad, and what a lovely meal. Great flavours and looks so pretty on the plate!
Jamie
Thank you Diana! So glad you enjoyed this baked salmon. It's a favorite at our house too!
Yen
Loved the spice rub on the salmon. Super easy recipe and the family loved it!
Brynna
This came together so fast! Nice flavors in the spice rub, delicious!