Skillet Jerk Salmon

Hi all,

This Skillet Jerk Salmon is perfect for anyone who wants to make a memorable dish for their special someone this Mother’s Day.  This recipe is quick, easy, and super flavorful, and the best part is it only requires a few ingredients and comes together in one handy skillet.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there! Whether you’re a mom who doesn’t want to be in the kitchen all day today (or any day!), or someone who wants to surprise a mom in their life but has no clue what to do in the kitchen, this recipe is for you.

Jerk chicken is almost synonymous with Jamaican food, but chicken isn’t the only thing that tastes good jerked. Saying “jerked” sounds kind of silly, but I think it works! Anyway, seafood is my favorite kind of protein to jerk, because it adds so much flavor. Salmon is especially delicious when jerked, since salmon has a lot of healthy fats and really soaks up the jerk seasoning.

Typically, I like to cook jerk salmon on a grill, but I think skillet jerk salmon tastes just as good! Plus, when you cook salmon in the skillet, it’s much easier to handle and makes less of a mess. After the salmon marinates in the wet jerk seasoning over night, you just sear the salmon in a well oiled skillet on both sides until cooked. I like cooking salmon with the skin on because it adds a ton of great flavor, but you can cook your salmon without the skin if you’d like.

After the salmon cooks, remove it from the pan and add the reserve salmon seasonings to the pot. I sautéed the seasonings and added some cooked brown rice to the skillet so that the rice could crisp up. Then serve it all together and you have a whole meal in less than 30 minutes.

I’m sure there’ll be many more jerk recipes on the blog in the future, but I’m already claiming this one as one of my favorites. Try it out and let me know what you think!

P.S. – I was experimenting with a spinach pesto, which you can see in some of the photos. Gotta test multiple things at once lol. Stay tuned to see how I use it!

Ingredients

• 4 salmon filets
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 2 tbsp canola oil (or other high heat oil)

Wet Jerk Marinade

• 1 habanero (scotch bonnet) pepper, finely chopped and seeds removed
• 1 stalk green onions (scallion), finely chopped
• 10 balls, dried all spice (pimento), crushed
• 1 small cooking tomato, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 3 springs fresh thyme
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp browning
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• juice of 1 small lime
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Wet Jerk Marinade: add all of the ingredients for the marinade into a food processor and pulse, being careful not to over process. The mixture should form a thick paste.
2. Season the salmon filets with the wet jerk seasoning. Add chopped onions, green onions, and tomatoes and place in the fridge overnight to marinate.
3. Heat oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add salmon filets, skin side down, to the skillet and let it sear until the skin gets crispy, about 3-4 minutes (depending on the size of your filet). Gently flip over and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Remove salmon from skillet.
4. Add the reserve onion and tomatoes from your seasoning to the skillet and cook for 1-2 minutes. Stir until the vegetables are coated with the jerk seasoning from the bottom of the skillet. Add cooked brown rice and sauté until rice becomes crispy. Add skillet back to the pot and serve immediately for a one pot meal.