Easy Grilled Salmon with Nectarines Recipe

This Grilled Salmon with Nectarines and Goat Cheese is such an easy, light dinner, especially during the warmer months.

If you’ve never grilled a nectarine or peach, consider this your start. We toss nectarine wedges with maple syrup and a pinch of red pepper flakes, then grill them until they’re soft, sweet, and absolutely mouth-watering.

Serve them on a bed of couscous with simply grilled salmon and creamy goat cheese. It’s fresh and gorgeous and it comes together so quickly. Overall winner:

Main ingredients:

• Salmon. Any salmon fillet will work for this recipe. We especially like salmon with a higher fat content, such as sockeye, king, and coho. Higher fat salmon stays tender and moist after grilling.
• Nectarines. Grilled stone fruit is delicious. We’re grilling nectar in this dish, but peaches or apricots would also be great. Look for ripe but slightly firmer fruits and save the really soft ones to eat fresh.
• Maple syrup and pepper flakes. Toss nectarines with them before grilling. The sugars in the maple syrup caramelize and smoke a little on the grill.
• Couscous. Any cooked grain or quinoa is perfect here. Couscous, rice, quinoa or orzo are great. Before serving, soften and mix with a little olive oil, lemon juice and a pinch of salt.
• Goat cheese. Use fresh, soft goat cheese, usually sold in logs.
• Basil: Fresh herbs add fresh color and fresh flavor. If you don’t have basil, use parsley, cilantro, mint, or dill.

Check out the full recipe with measurements below.

How to make grilled salmon with nectarines

You can make this recipe indoors using a grill pan or outside on an outdoor grill. Fish is delicate and can be a little difficult to grill, so I’ll tell you up front that the most foolproof option is a grill pan on the stove. That said, grilling salmon on an outdoor grill is totally doable, so I’ve shared all of my top tips below.

Tip 1: Grilling. If you’re staying indoors, you’ll need a grill pan preheated to medium heat. If you’re using an outdoor grill, don’t overheat it and make sure the grates are very clean (otherwise the salmon will stick).

Tip 2: Prepare the fish spatula. When you turn the fish, you may find it sticks to the grater (even if you’ve oiled it and preheated the grill). A flexible fish spatula is really useful for swirling under the salmon fillets so you can flip them.

Tip 3: Keep the skin on the salmon and oil the fish. In our photos, the skin of the salmon has been removed. That said, I much prefer to cook my salmon with the skin still on. It acts as a little insulator, helping to keep the inside of the fish moist and tender.

If you have salmon with skin on, keep it and place your fillets skin side down when you start cooking them. Brush the salmon with oil all over before grilling (adding oil to the fish with a grill grater prevents sticking).

Tip 4: Grill salmon to an internal temperature of 125°F. I realize this is yet another gadget I’m suggesting for this recipe, but I promise it’s worth it. When cooking delicate fish like salmon, an internal thermometer is really helpful. Poke it into the thick part of the fillet to read. Remove the fish from the grill when it reaches 125°F, which means it will still be slightly undercooked in the middle. That’s okay though, because the shipping preparation will finish it for you.

Tip 5: Grill the nectarines. After cutting into wedges, drizzle the fruit with maple syrup and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Then add them to the grill. Look for them to pick up color and grill marks, then flip.

Tip 6: Serve over seasoned couscous. Toss cooked couscous (or rice or quinoa) with a little olive oil, lemon juice, a pinch of salt and some fresh basil. It’s a simple step, but it adds more interest to the final dish.

More summer dinners!

If you’re looking to add more healthy fish dinners to your rotation, we’ve rounded up our absolute favorites. salmon recipes that you can spend most nights of the week (even the busy ones).