Grilled Salmon with Quick Blueberry Pan Sauce

The blueberry sauce worked out quite well, excellent flavor. But the flavor of the blueberries was strong enough that it was hard to taste the salmon itself. Better to figure out a way to make the flavor of the sauce less intense.

• cmax1

• Berkeley CA

• 5/30/2021

I have a feeling this was not an epicurious original as I have the same recipe from years ago and it wasn’t a Gourmet or Bon Appétit original. It was from Allrecipes.com. Was this copied from them? I didn’t think BA plagiarized form other sites??

• alixmar

• Calgary, AB

• 7/14/2019

我调整了配方基于审稿人who eats sockeye salmon several times a week. Instead of water, I used red wine, added some lime juice, and then cut a serrano in half and left it in the pan while the sauce reduced (then pulled it out so it wasn't too spicy). I had farmed Atlantic salmon, which has a much milder flavor than king or sockeye, so my sauce overpowered it a bit, but now I have a fantastic sauce for beef, chicken, or pork. I'll definitely make it again w/o the wine and try it with a stronger salmon.

• pchisum

• Shelton, CT

• 6/1/2015

Awesome, easy and sooo healthy!! Full of omegas, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals...lotsa good stuff. I subbed fresh parsley & red onion for the mint & shallot, as I didn't have the latter on hand. It's important to watch the sauce; if you reduce too long you'll get a heavy, jam-like consistency noted by some of the previous reviewers. The recipe provides great framework for tons of fruit sauces. Keep the spice/acid/fruit measurements the same while swapping in whatever fruit or spice you're in the mood for!

• seflood

• Milwaukee, WI

• 7/25/2013

I'm so sorry to read of so many that utterly disliked it. We first saw the recipe when it came out in the print version of Bon Appetit and have loved it every summer since! One thing to note, we live in SoCal and do get great Fresh Wild Salmon (sockeye/king/coho) when in season which coincides with blueberry season, so the fresh mix is perfect. I can see how not being able to get good quality salmon will not hold up to the sauce. I say try it once at least. One tweak I do is to reduce the sauce further (granted it's then so quite as quick) but it amps up the flavors.

• Anonymous

• Southern California

• 5/22/2013

I've made this many times with blueberries and with strained fresh blackberry juice (no seeds for me!). So, instead of cooking down the berries, I just pour in the juice with the already sauteed shallots/garlic and let it reduce for quite a while. Add the other ingreds, except water, and boom, YUM. Always great raves from guests.

• MaryToombs

• Seattle

• 9/17/2012

This was wonderful! We have sockeye salmon 1-3 times a week so I'm always looking for a new recipe. Quality ingredients are definitely key, that said I made some changes: basil instead of thyme, a bit of sugar and fresh lemon juice in the sauce, and let it reduce for about 30 minutes. Husband didn't guess it was blueberries, takes on a smoky, earthier taste, very rich and layered flavours. Very delicious!

• Cynnalyn

• Vancouver

• 7/31/2012

I haven't tried this recipe but given the awful reviews, I will stick with another great recipe on this site, Brown Sugar-Chipotle Salmon with Honey-Berry Glaze. I can't get enough of the glaze/sauce.

• happyfull

• Vancouver, BC

• 7/16/2012

The combination of Blueberry sauce with Salmon sounds appetizing, but I cannot recommend it UNLESS you are somewhere where you can get extremely good salmon. For most of the US, this is not possible- and the salmon will lack enough flavor to stand up to the blueberry.

• neidich

• North Carolina

• 1/11/2012

The blueberry sauce was AWFUL! I was hoping that it would be light and tart, but instead it was heavy and...just...gross.

• dungaree

• 3/17/2011

Had to give it a try. It wan not bad but I probably won't make it again.

• littledebbie1081

• 3/8/2011

I wanted to give this a chance because berries and balsamic sounded so nice. However, it was weird, not exactly tasty, and required a lot of doctoring, the details of which I will spare you because I changed the sauce way too much for it even to be close to the same recipe. I do, however, think that this would be nice with port instead of the vinegar, which I will try next time.

• aladair

• NYC

• 12/29/2010

I was dissappointed with this one. Blueberry pan sauce lacked flavor and could hardly taste the blueberries. Fish cooked nicely but with the sauce being so flat, I won't do it again.

• corbieresfr

• 11/18/2010

As others said, I think the quality of ingredients makes the difference. I used wild salmon, organic blueberries, and 18 year old balsamic vinegar. It was fresh, light, and different.

• CaraM

• Tampa, FL

• 10/17/2010

This was one of the best salmon filets I've ever had. I cooked wild caught salmon on a cedar plank and topped it with extra sliced shallots. I also used dried thyme instead of fresh and skipped the mint. My blueberries were a little tart so I added a teaspoon of sugar at the end. The sauce doesn't taste overly "blueberry". It just has a nice sweetness and the thyme gives it a great earthiness. Slicing the shallots instead of dicing them also gives the sauce some texture so it contrasts well with the soft salmon. Served it with some steamed green beans and a crusty roll.

• thatpamchick

• Orange County, CA

• 10/7/2010