Skillet Blackened Salmon
Butter, cajun spice, and a hot pan. Salmon that comes out black on the outside and still soft in the middle.
- calories
- 480
- weight
- 7 oz
- cal / oz
- 69
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 25 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Salmon fillets | 4 pieces, about 6 oz each | skinned and boned at home, kept cold in the cooler |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 6 tbsp | melted; ghee holds up better in hot weather |
| Cajun seasoning | 3 tbsp | any blackening blend works |
Method
- Build the fire early and let it burn down. You want a bed of coals, not flames, and a grate that sits steady.
- Melt the butter in the skillet or a small pot, then pour most of it over the salmon. Hold back about two tablespoons.
- Coat both sides of each piece with the seasoning while the butter is still liquid. Once it cools it stops sticking.
- Put the reserved butter in the skillet and set it over the coals for three to five minutes, until it sizzles. Sprinkle half a teaspoon of seasoning into the fat.
- Lay the fillets down and leave them alone for five to ten minutes. The crust needs contact time.
- Flip once and cook until the center flakes apart, another four to six minutes depending on thickness.
- Pull the pan off the heat before the butter starts smoking hard. Wipe it out warm.
Blackening is a crust, not a burn. The butter carries the spice against the fish and the dry heat of a cast iron pan toasts the paprika and pepper in it until they go dark. That is the whole mechanism, and it only works if the pan is genuinely hot before the fish goes down and if you leave the fish still once it does. Moving it early tears the crust off and leaves it in the pan.
This one stays in the cooler category. Salmon is not shelf-stable and there is no way to make it so at camp, so pack it against ice at the bottom and cook it the first night. Butter is the other cooler item; ghee in a jar solves that if you are out for more than a couple of days. Fire management matters more than the recipe here. Cook over coals, because flames will char the butter before the fish is done.
Packing
Portion the fillets into a zip bag at home and pack them flat against the ice, bottom of the cooler. Pre-melting butter is pointless at home; carry it as a stick or a jar of ghee. Measure the seasoning into a film canister so you are not hauling a full shaker.
Variations
- No cast iron, use a foil packet on the coals. You lose the crust but keep the fish.
- Trout or steelhead behave the same way and are often cheaper.
- A squeeze of lemon at the end cuts the butter. Limes travel better than lemons.
https://campfirefoodie.com/skillet-blackened-salmon-recipe