Hot Honey Grilled Salmon
- Alexis Krilla
- Aug 25
- 4 min read
Sweet, savory and just a little spicy, this easy grilled salmon is glazed with hot honey and soy sauce, topped with fresh lemon and cooked right on the grill in foil.
Recipe 40 of The 100 Recipe Project
Once the weather gets warm, I try to use our grill as much as possible. It makes dinner feel easier, keeps the heat outside, and somehow even the simplest meal feels a little more like summer when it comes off the grill.
Salmon is also one of those rare dinners that everyone in my family will happily eat, so I’m always looking for new ways to make it without making it complicated.
This hot honey grilled salmon might be one of the simplest versions yet. A beautiful side of fresh salmon gets drizzled with hot honey and soy sauce, left to marinate for a few hours, then topped with fresh lemon and grilled right on a piece of foil.
That’s really it.
The hot honey gives the salmon a little sweetness and heat, the soy sauce brings the salty, savory flavor, and the lemon brightens everything up as it cooks.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Just a handful of ingredients. Salmon, hot honey, soy sauce, and lemon do almost all the work.
No flipping required. The salmon cooks right on the foil with the grill closed.
Perfect for skinless salmon. The foil keeps the delicate fish from sticking to the grill grates.
Easy to prep ahead. Marinate the salmon in the afternoon, and dinner is already halfway done.
Big flavor without a complicated glaze. There’s no saucepan or separate sauce to make.
A Few Ingredient Notes
Salmon: I like to make this with one large, beautiful side of fresh salmon. A roughly 2 to 2½-pound piece is perfect for feeding a family. Mine was skinless, which is why the foil method works particularly well here.
Hot honey: Use your favorite bottled hot honey. It adds sweetness and just enough heat without a long list of spices.
Soy sauce: This balances the honey's sweetness and gives the salmon a savory, almost caramelized flavor as it cooks.
Fresh lemon: I slice a whole lemon into thin rounds and lay them directly over the salmon before it goes onto the grill. As the salmon cooks, the lemon softens and releases its juices right over the fish.
MY FRANKLIN KITCHEN
Hot Honey Grilled Salmon
An incredibly simple summer dinner made with fresh salmon marinated in hot honey and soy sauce, topped with lemon and grilled in foil until tender.
Prep Time: 10 minutes Marinating Time: 2–4 hours Cook Time: 10–15 minutes Serves: 4–6
Ingredients
1 large side fresh salmon, about 2–2½ pounds, skin removed
¼ cup hot honey
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 lemon, thinly sliced
Olive oil, for the foil
Additional hot honey, for serving, optional
Instructions
Place the salmon in a shallow dish or rimmed sheet pan.
Drizzle the hot honey evenly over the salmon, followed by the soy sauce. Cover and refrigerate for 2–4 hours.
When you're ready to cook, preheat the grill to medium heat, about 375–400°F.
Place a large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil on a sheet pan and lightly brush it with olive oil. Transfer the salmon to the foil and spoon a little of the marinade over the top.
Arrange the lemon slices over the salmon. Fold the edges of the foil slightly upward to create a shallow tray around the fish, but do not cover or seal the top.
Transfer the salmon and foil to the grill. Close the grill lid and cook for about 10–15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the salmon. No need to flip it.
The salmon is done when it flakes easily and is cooked to your liking. For moist, tender salmon, I like to begin checking it around 125–130°F in the thickest part. For fully cooked salmon, per USDA guidance, cook to 145°F.
Remove from the grill and let rest for about 5 minutes. Drizzle with a little extra hot honey before serving, if you'd like.
Franklin Kitchen Tip
Leave the foil open.
You might be tempted to fold the foil over the salmon and turn it into a packet, but keeping the top open makes a difference. The foil protects the skinless salmon from the grill grates and catches all those delicious juices, while the closed grill creates the heat it needs to cook.
Sealing the foil completely would trap more steam and give you a different result.
What I Serve With Hot Honey Grilled Salmon
My favorite way to turn this into an easy summer dinner is with fluffy rice and creamy cucumber and red onion salad.
The rice catches some of the sweet and savory juices from the salmon, while the cold, creamy cucumber salad is exactly what you want next to the hot honey, the cool, tangy crunch balances everything out.
It’s one of those dinners that looks beautiful on the table but doesn’t ask much of you.
Make Dinner Halfway Done
This is also exactly the kind of recipe I think about when I’m doing a little Franklin Kitchen Reset.
Put the salmon in its hot honey and soy marinade sometime in the afternoon and slide it into the refrigerator. When dinner rolls around, all that’s left is slicing a lemon, making some rice and getting the grill hot.
Sometimes having dinner “halfway done” is really just having made one good decision a few hours earlier.
More Easy Summer Dinners
If you're cooking outside as much as possible this summer, try:
Simple ingredients, something cold to drink, and dinner outside whenever we can. That's about as complicated as I want summer cooking to be!
From,
Alexis of My Franklin Kitchen — Recipe #40
Simple, seasonal recipes for real family life.
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