Cedar Plank Salmon

Cedar Plank Salmon comes out juicy, with caramelized Thai sweet chili sauce on top and incredible woodsy flavors. It is easy to make as no marinating is required and salmon doesn’t fall apart. This grilled salmon will blow everyone’s mind!

Cedar Plank Salmon Recipe

Cedar plank salmon! Have you ever tried?

Fish comes out incredibly flavorful, like from a smoker but better. Coated in delicious sauce and with caramelized edges. The smoky flavors from the grill along with the cedar flavor from the wood plank are the bomb dot com.

Remember my Thai salmon? The only difference is this cedar plank salmon is grilled vs. baked in the oven. Same recipe that will blow everyone who tries it mind. It is better than any restaurant and still wows me every time I make it.

I got this cedar plank salmon recipe 20 years ago from much more seasoned than me an Alex couple. Back then we couldn’t cook and still managed to pull off amazing tasting fish from the grill. We made it every time we had guests over until this blog came along and I finally learnt how to cook. True story! 🙂

Where to Buy and How to Prep a Cedar Plank

• Buy ready to cook cedar planks in a seafood section of almost at any grocery store. Look right by the salmon. Costco sells multipacks in their seasonal aisle.
• Buy untreated full cedar plank at Home Depot and ask an employee to cut it into 7-8 planks. Saves a lot of money.
• Soak cedar plank for 1-2 hours in a sink filled with cold water before grilling. Soaking prevents wood from burning.
• Do not re-use wood plank for food safety reasons, even if it’s not charred too much. To save money, see my Home Depot tip above. 🙂

How to Make Thai Sauce for Salmon

With this cedar plank salmon recipe, good news is you do not have to marinate the fish – “Ain’t nobody got time for that”. Make cedar plank salmon on Friday night after work!

I use my homemade version of popular Thai Kitchen sauce – sweet chili sauce. It’s super simple to make by combining all ingredients in a small pot and simmering for 10 minutes. If your grill has a side burner, you can cook entire dish outside.

Tip: If you don’t have time, use Thai kitchen sauce. I feel like the company has greatly improved its ingredients list over the years.

How to Cook Cedar Plank Salmon

• Soak cedar plank in water for at least 1 hour. I usually fill up sink with a few inches of cold water.
• While wood is soaking make sweet chili sauce, by combining maple syrup, water, vinegar, cornstarch, garlic, salt and red pepper flakes in a small pot and cook for 10 minutes.
• To cook salmon, preheat grill to medium-high heat 500 degrees F, place salmon fillet on pre-soaked cedar plank, brush with 1/4 cup Thai sauce and grill covered for 10 minutes.
• Open the grill and brush salmon with remaining or desired amount of sauce. Cover and grill for another 10 minutes.
• How do you know salmon is done? Simply watch the colors of salmon change as it cooks, and use fork to gently test if it flakes easily.

What to Serve with Wood Plank Salmon?

Thai cedar plank salmon comes out with caramelized sweet maple sauce on top and woodsy flavors. So it needs a simple and more plain side dish like:

• Mashed potatoes, cauliflower mash or mashed sweet potatoes
• Quinoa or brown rice
• Garlic green beans or sauteed broccoli
• Healthy coleslaw or potato salad is nice creamy side
• And I just have to suggest you Ukrainian classic – cucumber and tomato salad or a lettuce salad.

How to Store, Serve and Reheat Leftovers

Cedar plank salmon tastes amazing cold. Chances are if you are grilling, it is sunny and warm outside. Refrigerate slices of salmon in airtight container for up to 5 days. Then pop right from the fridge on a bed of simple greens, tomatoes and anything else you like drizzled with olive oil and any vinegar.

If you would like to reheat cedar plank salmon, add it to a skillet with splash of water. Then cover and cook on low for about 5-7 minutes or until warmed through.

More Salmon Recipes

• Grilled salmon (slices)
• Teriyaki salmon
• Honey garlic salmon
• Baked salmon in foil
• A collection of 15 healthy salmon recipes from all over the web.

Cedar Plank Salmon

Cedar Plank Salmon comes out juicy, with caramelized Thai sweet chili sauce on top and incredible woodsy flavors. It is easy to make as no marinating is required and salmon doesn't fall apart. This grilled salmon will blow everyone’s mind!

5 from 3 votes

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Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Thai

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 8 servings

Calories: 301kcal

Author: Olena Osipov

Ingredients

• 3 lbs salmon fillet skin on or off
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tbsp white or rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 small garlic clove grated
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp red chili pepper flakes

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Soak cedar plank in water for at least 1 hour. I like to fill up sink with a few inches of water.
• In a small saucepan, add maple syrup, water, vinegar, cornstarch, garlic, salt and red chili pepper flakes; whisk well.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 7-10 minutes or until thickened.
• Reserve 1/2 cup sauce for cedar plank salmon and transfer remainder to a glass jar. Use with meats, seafood, vegetables and for dipping. Highly recommend to make Thai Salmon that everyone will rave about for weeks!
• Preheat grill to medium-high heat (500 degrees F). Place salmon on pre-soaked cedar plank and brush with half of the reserved 1/2 cup Thai sauce. Place on a grill, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
• Open the grill, brush salmon with remaining sauce, cover and grill for another 10 minutes or until the thermometer inserted in the deepest spot reads 130 degrees F.
• Cut into 8 slices and serve warm right off the plank placed on a platter. You can brush salmon with more Thai sauce if desired.

Video

Notes

• Cedar plank salmon tastes amazing cold. Chances are if you are grilling, it is sunny and warm outside. Refrigerate slices of salmon in airtight container for up to 5 days. Then pop right from the fridge on a bed of simple greens, tomatoes and anything else you like drizzled with olive oil and any vinegar.
• If you would like to reheat cedar plank salmon, add it to a skillet with splash of water. Then cover and cook on low for about 5-7 minutes or until warmed through.

Nutrition

Calories: 301kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 34g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 94mg | Sodium: 368mg | Potassium: 879mg | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 68IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 1mg

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