How to remove salmon skin

Read on if your recipe calls for skinless salmon. Learn how to remove salmon skin in less than a minute. All you need is a cutting board, a sharp knife and a fresh salmon fillet.

I learned how to remove fish skin when I was 17 and worked my first job in a restaurant kitchen as a prep cook. We had a pike-perch sandwich on the menu, so we ate a lot of fish! Once I learned how to peel off the skin, it became one of my daily chores. Long story short, I’ve spent the summer skinning fish after fish!

I’m sharing this essential cooking skill as part of our In The Kitchen series. It’s a technique that can be used on any fish. However, today we are going to focus on salmon in our step-by-step tutorial. After all, it’s one of our favorite proteins here at Healthy Seasonal Recipes! Try our very favorite Crispy Pan Seared Salmon!

Equipment: What You Need to Disinfect Salmon

cutting board: Place the cutting board on a sticky mat to hold it in place and prevent it from shifting. I use a square shelf liner or a damp towel works great too.

needle nose pliers: If your salmon fillet has bones, you can pull them out with (clean) needle-nosed pliers.

kitchen towel: It’s optional to use a kitchen towel or paper towel to get a better grip on the slippery salmon skin.

Knife: Chef Jon taught me to skin fish with a chef’s knife, and to this day it’s my knife of choice for skinning salmon. We used our boning knives in cooking school, but I still prefer the wider blade of the chef’s knife for this task.

Tip for beginners: If you are new to learning how to skin fish, try using a slightly dull chef’s knife. If your knife is super sharp, you can accidentally cut through skin if you press on it.

How to skin salmon step by step

Usually your butcher or fishmonger will remove the pin bones from your salmon, but sometimes you will find that this is not the case. It is important to remove them first before removing the skin and portioning the fish.

If your fish still has bones, remove them now by pulling them out with your tongs. Pull in the direction they run or they break.

Start with the salmon fillet, skin-side down, and place crosswise on the cutting board. If you have a tailpiece (see picture), it should be pointing towards your non-dominant side.

Cut between the fish and the skin to “get it started”. This primary cut is intended to expose enough skin for you to grasp the skin with your non-dominant hand. You may need to cut through the fish’s flesh for this first cut to bring the knife to the surface of the skin.

Now grasp the salmon skin with your left (or non-dominant) hand and pull away firmly against the pressure of your knife. If it’s too slippery, use your kitchen towel to help.

Your knife should be at a slight downward angle (a slightly dull knife helps here!) Gently saw back and forth with the knife while applying pressure down and to the right while vigorously pulling the skin to the left. I like to think of it as if your knife doesn’t actually move forward as far as you pull it through your knife!

Now that you know how to skin the salmon, you can use the fillet whole for recipes like Baked Salmon in Foil, or you can cut it into portions. Also check out our favorite Dill Sauce for Salmon!

FAQs and expert tips

Salmon recipes to try

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Have fun cooking! ~Kati