Last Updated on January 17, 2023 by Anne-Marie

Grilling salmon in foil is easy to do! You only need marinade, fish, and vegetables to cook salmon in foil on the grill.

Why this recipe works

I accidentally came up with this Grilled Salmon in Foil recipe during a camping trip.

In the rush to get out the door, I left our food home. On our way up to the campsite, we stopped at a supermarket and bought a weekend’s worth of groceries.

At the store, I quickly came up with with a salmon in foil recipe that we could cook over the campsite fire pit grills.

For seasoning, I used a store-bought bottle of lemon pepper marinade and some vegetables to slice and use as a side dish.

The marinade flavored both the salmon and the vegetables. One pot cooking – except it wasn’t a pot but a foil pouch!

This juicy salmon recipe is now a staple of our camping trips. I hope salmon in foil packets will also become a tradition at your campsite.

Ingredients

• bottle of good quality Italian vinaigrette or fish marinade
• large salmon filet
• vegetables 

How to make this recipe

1. Chop up vegetables into slices or strips. Use enough to make a good-sized side dish for two people.

2. Place two large sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil on the table. Fold the sides, so the marinade doesn’t run off the piece of foil.

3. Place the fillet of salmon on top of the piece of foil. Cover fish with marinade. Then cover the fish with the vegetables.

4. Carefully wrap your piece of salmon and the vegetables in foil to make a packet. Use more foil if necessary. Pinch the edges of the foil packet, so the marinade doesn’t leak out.

5. Place the foil packet on the grill grates over a roaring fire or hot coals.

6. Turn the packet over after 10 minutes. Depending on the size and thickness of the fish – and how hot your fire is – cook the fish for 15-20 minutes.

7. Remove the foil-wrapped salmon from the grill. Carefully peel or slice it open. Remove cooked salmon and vegetables and serve on plates.

8. Keep any leftover salmon in an airtight container in a cooler or refrigerator. Serve for breakfast with scrambled eggs the next day.

FAQs

What kind of fish?

You can make this recipe with any kind of fish – mahi mahi, catfish, or freshly caught trout from a nearby lake!

Don't worry about removing the salmon skin. If there is one, most people can easily remove the cooked salmon with their fork and leave the skin on their plate.

What kind of marinade?

Use your favorite bottled marinade or a good-quality Italian vinaigrette salad dressing.

If you don’t have marinade or salad dressing on hand, you can use olive oil, sea salt or kosher salt, black pepper, juice of one lemon, dried or fresh dill, onion powder, and/or Old Bay.

You can also make a homemade marinade. Try my Easy Chicken Marinade Recipe, which works for fish, too.

You can try this with BBQ sauce and make a baked barbecue salmon. I would add water or olive oil to a thick BBQ sauce to keep the vegetables and salmon moist.

If you don't want to have BBQ veggies, make packets with vegetables separately.

What kind of vegetables?

You can use peppers, mushrooms, onions, broccoli, carrots, summer squash, zucchini, and tomatoes.

To make it even easier, bring a pack or two of frozen veggies along camping to make this grilled salmon in foil recipe. There's no need to chop anything since it's already done for you, so it saves prep time.

I like bringing frozen foods along when camping to help keep food cold in the cooler. Frozen food usually thaws in a day or two.

What kind of foil?

Use heavy-duty aluminum foil to make the salmon foil packets. If you don’t have any, fold over a regular sheet of foil to make a double layer. Then use two double layers.

You can also make individual salmon fillets. Make individual salmon foil packets with smaller portions of fish, veggies, and seasoning (one-person portions). Reduce the cooking time - maybe 10-15 minutes.

Cook time

Cooking time for salmon foil packets can be hard to judge. I cooked our thick salmon fillet for 20 minutes, and it was perfect. However, it was cold out, and the fire wasn’t all that big.

If your campfire is roaring or your fish fillet is thin, you may want to cut down the grilled salmon cooking time.

Cooking this salmon recipe over a gas grill? Use medium heat to medium-high heat. Cook for 10-20 minutes.

Again, cooking time depends on how thick your piece of fish is and how hot the grill is. Use your best judgment. Yes, cooking fish in foil can be tricky, but it's worth it!

Additional seasonings

You can add thin lemon slices or fresh herb sprigs on top of your fish before cooking. Fresh dill would be amazing!

How to serve

Serve the salmon filet and veggies with homemade Tartar Sauce or this easy, 5-minute Alabama White BBQ Sauce Recipe.

Or just season salmon with lemon wedges. It's easy to bring a whole lemon with you camping. Just slice and serve!

Bring some watermelon feta salad, garbanzo bean salad, easy skillet cornbread, or brownies for dessert from home. All should travel well to the campsite.

Serve these drinks with grilled salmon in foil

Looking for refreshing drinks to serve with your fish? Try these:

● Peach Whiskey Cocktail

● White Wine Sangria

● Fruit Stand Watermelon Cocktail

● Lemonade Sangria

All can be prepared beforehand and poured into a plastic jug.

Love salmon? Try this Easy Oven Baked Salmon Recipe. What's your favorite way of cooking salmon?