I've spent four years developing seafood recipes, but I'll be the first to admit grilling is the part I'm still figuring out. For years it intimidated me. The sticking, the falling apart, the overcooked shrimp. I've been there. Then I moved to Portugal, where cooking fish over an open flame is basically a life skill people are born with, and I've been learning ever since.
Here's what's worked for me so far, and it's the thread running through a lot of these Grilled Seafood Recipes for Summer: we have to stop fighting the grill.
A lot of these are wrapped in foil, which is the closest thing to foolproof I've found. No flipping, nothing falling through the grates. When I put salmon straight on, it goes skin side down and stays there, lid closed, the whole time. Cedar planks do the same job. The fish never touches the grate, so there's nothing to stick and nothing to babble over.
These are the grilled seafood recipes I come back to again and again. They're not complicated, and they don't require a fancy setup or years of practice. Quick Tuesday dinner or a full weekend spread for friends, this is the lineup that delivers.
1. Easy Grilled Calamari
This is the one that tastes like vacation. Tender squid with proper char marks, then drizzled with a Portuguese-inspired garlic olive oil sauce, finished with a squeeze of grilled lemon. It comes together in about 15 minutes, and the secret is simple: dry your squid really well and don't overthink it. Hot grill, quick cook, drizzle and done.
2. BBQ Salmon Recipe
This BBQ Salmon Recipe is built around one technique that really works: skin-side down, the whole way through. The skin acts as a natural barrier between the delicate flesh and the hot grates, while a closed lid does the rest. No flipping, no guesswork, no disaster. PS this is the perfect protein to add when you're hosting a cookout - BBQ salmon pairs well with all the usual cookout sides!
3. Grilled Branzino Recipe
Grilled Branzino was one of the first whole fish recipes I tackled after moving to Portugal, and it completely rewired how I think about cooking fish at home. This recipe is proof that whole fish doesn't have to be intimidating. This simple method is gives you that combination of crispy skin, tender flesh, and proper char marks that you'd get at a coastal fish shack. If you've never grilled a whole fish before, this is the one to start with.
4. Cedar Plank Salmon
Cedar Plank Salmon is the recipe I'd send to anyone who's still nervous about grilling fish. The plank acts as a buffer between the salmon and the heat, which means no flipping, no overcooking, and little-to-none of that white albumin seeping out (you know the stuff). What makes this one stand out is the combination of a quick salt brine to keep the fish tender and juicy, plus a garlic herb marinade that builds flavor.
5. Garlic Herb Salmon & Asparagus in Foil
This Grilled Salmon is the one to make if you've ever pulled a dry, overcooked fillet off the grates and sworn off grilling fish forever. The foil does something clever, creating a gentle steam room that keeps the salmon impossibly moist while locking in all that buttery, herby flavor from our sauce. No flipping, no sticking, no stress: just great salmon, every single time.
6. Garlic Butter Steak Sandwich (TUNA!!)
These Garlic Tuna Steaks are inspired by one of the most iconic sandwiches in Lisbon - the tuna prego at Sea Me in Time Out Market. My at-home method involves a garlic butter and scallion marinade, tuna cooked in foil packets so it stays tender and basted the whole time, no dry or tough fish allowed. It's the answer for anyone who's always pulled back from cooking tuna because they were afraid of ruining it. Pile it on a ciabatta roll with a simple salad and fries, and you've recreated a Lisbon lunch in your own backyard.
7. Grilled Shrimp with Chili Honey Butter
Grilled shrimp gets a bad reputation for turning rubbery, but a hot grill and a quick chili honey butter drizzle fix that fast. The sauce came out of a trip my husband and I took through Singapore and Malaysia, where chili, honey, lime, and ginger show up together constantly, and it works just as well over a backyard grill. Fantastic flavor and dinner's done in under 10 minutes.
8. Greek-style Grilled Octopus
Octopus scares people because it seems difficult, but it doesn't have to be. Start with the pre-cooked octopus most grocery stores carry (I include instructions for cooking from raw if you'd rather), then char the tentacles on a hot grill and finish with a bright herb vinaigrette and grilled lemons. It's all the seaside-restaurant flavor of the Mediterranean coast, right in your backyard.
9. Grilled Shrimp Skewers with Chimichurri
Argentine red shrimp are the closest thing to lobster I've found at shrimp prices: sweet, meaty, and a little richer than the usual pink shrimp. Thread them on skewers, get a good char going, and serve them with a pistachio chimichurri that's the real reason this one stands out. Use whatever shrimp you can find, but if you can get Argentine red, this is the recipe to do it.
10. Grilled Salmon Salad
This grilled salmon salad pairs BBQ-glazed salmon with a salad that earns its spot in your dinner rotation: charred corn, creamy avocado, salty feta, and crispy shallots on top. The salmon's mostly hands-off on the grill, so you pull the rest together while it cooks and dinner's ready by the time the fish has rested. Nice enough for company, easy enough for a weeknight when turning on the oven is the last thing you want to do.
11. Grilled Fish with Olive Herb Sauce
A Mediterranean olive and walnut sauce is what sets this whole grilled fish apart from the usual lemon-and-done treatment. It works for most whole fish your fishmonger has on hand, tilapia included. No grill? I include step-by-step instructions for a grill pan on the stovetop, so this one's not just a summer recipe. Whole fish is far less work than it seems: season, cook, take the credit.
12. New Orleans-style Grilled Oysters
These are my take on the famous chargrilled oysters from Drago's in New Orleans: oysters on the half shell, grilled in garlic butter until they sizzle, then finished with cheese and parsley. The recipe scales down to a manageable 18, so you don't need a restaurant kitchen to pull them off. Fair warning, you'll be expected to make them every time now.
Grilling Seafood Gets Easier From Here
The thing I've learned about grilling seafood is that almost every disaster comes from fighting the grill instead of working with it. Wrap it, leave it skin side down, give it a plank to sit on, and most of what used to scare me off just stops being a problem. Pick one recipe from this list, start there, and you'll see what I mean. By the second or third, you'll be the one telling someone else it's easier than it looks.
More Seafood Recipes to Try
If you want more seafood to keep the momentum going: 30+ Easy Salmon Recipes if salmon's your comfort zone, My Favorite Tacos & Toppings for nights the grill's not an option, and the Best Sauces for Seafood since half the recipes here live or die by the sauce.
And if you make one of these, come back and tell me how it went. I read every comment and can't wait to hear from you!
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