Salmon Dry Rub

This is our simple salmon dry rub recipe with brown sugar that takes your fillet from good to amazing! Rub it on then bake, smoke, or make air fryer salmon with dry rub. Adds a ton of flavor, keep mild or make as spicy as you’d like too.

Dry Rub for Smoked Salmon

We started using this when we shared how to smoke salmon. It was SO popular that we’ve used it time and time again on our grilled salmon, and would be great on any filet really.

I don’t buy fish nearly as often as I should. The reason is that I think it’s best fresh, not frozen and defrosted. I mean if that is all I have then okay, but I prefer to buy it and cook it all in the same day when making our baked salmon with dry rub.

It really doesn’t matter whether you’re going to use your Traeger and smoke it, or throw it into the oven. This dry rub for fish works perfectly every single time.

Salmon Dry Rub Ingredients

You are going to want to start with light Brown sugar to sweeten it. I haven’t swapped out for a sugar-free substitute but imagine it would work just as well.

And then to create a savory sweet flavor you want to add Salt. I prefer a bit more coarse and larger granules than table salt, and Kosher is my preference.

I don’t add a lot of Chili powder but the measurements below make it a mild heat level. You could easily adjust to more if you wanted it to become more spicy.

Paprika creates a deep flavor that goes well with a filet of fish.

And I like to add some Garlic powder too. Onion powder or granules would be the best substitute if you don’t have this.

How Long to Leave Dry Rub on Salmon

You can add it to the flesh and then bake it immediately or let it sit in the fridge (covered) for a few hours for a more intense flavor profile. I have done both and really it depends on how much time I have but I recommend 30 minutes and no longer than 1 hour.

Can you use dry rub on frozen salmon?

You could by brushing some olive oil on the filet and sprinkling this mix to stick as much as possible. We have done this when making our Instant Pot frozen salmon and it works fairly well. Alternatively you could cook in oven or grill until midway and then sprinkle on then.

Should you season salmon before or after cooking?

You can of course do both however you will get a deeper flavor if you add it before so the heat can do more work where the heat will allow the meat to absorb more of the flavors. If added before serving it will be grainier too because the sugar hasn’t had an opportunity to “melt”.

How Long to Bake Salmon with Dry Rub

If you want a bit of crisp like you see here below you can bake for 10 minutes and then adjust the high heat to broil for the last 2 minutes. That is the way I really love it!! Alternatively just keep at a steady heat for the entire 12 minutes.

Tips

In a bowl combine the brown sugar, garlic powder, chili powder, salt and paprika. Break up clumps of sugar so it’s smooth and sandlike before adding for best results so everything is mixed together evenly..

Serve with side dishes like air fryer vegetables or the best corn on the cob. I do recommend you cover the pan with aluminum foil for easier cleanup. Since the rub has sugar in it, what falls off will get quite dark and hard to scrape off. With foil you just roll it up and throw it away.

Other dry rub dinner ideas

Baked pork chops use a similar steak dry rub that we love. A low saturated fat meal that’s tender every time we make it.

Then make our baked brisket recipe with or tri tip dry rub with a killer sauce served on top once it’s done. There is a printable version of this recipe above. Feel free to keep handy or in your recipe folder or just come back so we can “see you” again and again! 😉