Chile-Rubbed Salmon Skewers With Salsa Verde Recipe

As the days grow warmer and the sun shines longer into the evenings, all we can think about is firing up the grill for smoky outdoor recipes. A chef's dream, salmon is the perfect subject for any oven, skillet, or grill. Because it's dense with a steak-like structure, salmon can also be added to skewers and cooked kabob-style, unlike flakier whitefish that would fall right off of the stick. 

Recipe developer Michelle McGlinn shares below a sweet-and-spicy chile-rubbed salmon that can be stacked onto skewers and baked for summertime dinners year-round. The spicy salmon skewers are paired with a tangy salsa verde made with blistered tomatillos, jalapeños, and lime, which you can make with just a skillet and a blender while the salmon cooks. Together, the salmon and salsa make for a punchy, flavorful meal that can be eaten on its own or served over Mexican rice and beans. If you're looking for a new way to enjoy salmon, grab your skewers — this is the recipe for you.

To begin, you'll need 1 pound of salmon. Look for thick filets that will provide 1-inch, square-ish chunks once sliced. You can use any kind of salmon here, such as Coho, Sockeye, or Atlantic, but our recipe is designed for Atlantic, which cooks slightly longer than the lean, red-hued Pacific varieties. For the salmon marinade, you'll need olive oil, chili powder, cayenne, salt, pepper, honey, lime juice, and garlic. To make the salsa verde, you'll need several large tomatillos, which should be husked and rinsed of their sticky residue. You'll also need a jalapeño, an onion, and cilantro. To finish the salsa, grab the salt, garlic, and the other half of the lime.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Combine the salmon, oil, chili powder, cayenne, 1 teaspoon salt, black pepper, honey, lime juice, and minced garlic in a bowl.

Toss well to combine.

Pierce the salmon onto skewers and arrange on a foil-lined baking sheet.

Bake for 12–15 minutes.

In the meantime, add the tomatillos, jalapeño, and onion to a cast iron skillet and sear until charred on each side.

Add the charred vegetables to a blender with the cilantro, lime juice, salt, and garlic.

Blend until mostly smooth.

Serve the chile-rubbed salmon skewers with salsa verde.

We know kabobs to be a summer cookout staple. They're a perfect mixture of grillable foods on one easy, turnable skewer (or separate skewers, for better results). Is that still the case for flaky, delicate fish? It is, and it's just as easy as baking the skewers, but you'll need to tweak the recipe slightly for the higher heat. 

Preheat your grill to medium-high heat with at least one burner on low or off. Add the salmon to the direct heat over the flames and cook, rotating once, for 6 minutes. Move the salmon over to the indirect heat to finish cooking — the salmon should not only become opaque and light pink but should also flake easily with a fork. If you're nervous about flaky salmon falling into the grates, place heavy-duty foil onto the grill over direct heat and cook the salmon on top of that. Avoid overcooking the salmon; if you're not confident about your grilling skills, cook the salmon entirely over indirect heat and double the cooking time.

Salsa verde is a staple green salsa in Mexican cuisine that is almost always made with tomatillos, green chiles, cilantro, onion, and garlic. Like anything, the formula can be changed for a thinner, creamier, spicier, or more tangy salsa based on your liking. Raw tomatillos are pretty sour, so most recipes call for roasting, broiling, or blistering before blending to sweeten the flavor. You don't have to do this, nor char any of the other vegetables, either: If you want a zippy, bold-tasting salsa, blend the ingredients raw. For something smoother, add chicken broth or water as you blend.

You can also swap the ingredients for different salsa verde flavors. Instead of jalapeños, you can try serrano peppers or even roasted poblanos. Add cumin for an earthy flavor. You can even try swapping the tomatillos, though they are the main ingredient (and the reason it's green). You can use canned green chiles, just-ripe green tomatoes, or Anaheim peppers with extra lime.