Air Fryer Salmon Recipe - Ready in 10 Minutes! (2024)

FAQs

How long do you keep salmon in the air fryer? ›

Place the fillets in the basket so that they are not touching. Cook the salmon in the air fryer for 6 to 11 minutes, depending upon their thickness and your model (fillets around 1 inch will need 8 to 9 minutes).

Cook skin-side down: salmon does not need to be flipped in the air fryer. Therefore, make sure to cook it skin-side down. Drizzle with olive oil: one of our secrets to perfect salmon in the air fryer is drizzling it with olive oil before cooking. It will make the outside crispy and blackened-like, so don't skip it!

Brush with Oil

Salmon is a fatty fish (remember, those fats are good-for-you-fats!) and therefore doesn't need a lot of oil, but I do brush the salmon fillets lightly, and mostly on the skin side so that it doesn't stick to the surface of the air fryer basket.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Season salmon with salt and pepper. Place salmon, skin side down, on a non-stick baking sheet or in a non-stick pan with an oven-proof handle. Bake until salmon is cooked through, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Remove any bones from your salmon if necessary and let fish sit on the counter for an hour. Rub each fillet with olive oil and season with paprika, salt and pepper. Place fillets in the basket of the air fryer. Set air fryer at 390 degrees for 7 minutes for 1-1/2-inch fillets.

Internal temperature: Use an instant-read meat thermometer; the salmon should register 145°F (63°C) at its thickest part. Flakiness: When gently pressed with a fork, the fish should easily flake apart. Avoid overcooking, as it can dry out the salmon.

You can totally cook frozen salmon in the air fryer if that's what you have on hand. For frozen salmon: Wrap the filets in foil and cook first at 400ºF for 7 minutes. After 7 minutes, unwrap the salmon and cook for another 6-11 minutes or until the salmon is crisped and the internal temperature is 145ºF.

Foil is safe to use in an air fryer so long as you follow three basic rules: never let foil touch the heating element; make sure the foil is weighted so it doesn't blow around the basket; and avoid contact with acidic ingredients, which can cause the foil to leach onto your food.

The white stuff on salmon is called albumin.

As the meat cooks, the coagulated albumin gets squeezed out and appears in the form of the weird, slimy, white substance that you are probably familiar with (and weirded out by).

Albumin is a liquid protein that solidifies when the fish is cooked, seeping out as the muscle fibers contract under heat, becoming thick and a bright white. Think of your salmon as a wet towel being rung out. The wringing is the heat and the water being pushed out is that white stuff you're seeing.

How do you clean an air fryer after cooking salmon? ›

To clean the inside of an air fryer, start by knocking any crumbs out and wiping up any visible oil. Then, gently wipe out the interior, including the coil, using a towel and warm water. Depending on the soil level, repeat this step with warm soapy water to dissolve any cooked-on grease.

Wrap your salmon in a parchment packet with aromatics, citrus, veggies, and a drizzle of olive oil. The steam trapped in the packet will infuse the fish with flavor and cook it gently, making it tender and juicy. Bonus: The parchment packets only take about 15 minutes at 425°F and the cleanup is minimal.

What's the Best Temperature for Baking Salmon? If baking individual salmon fillet portions, a higher temperature of 400 to 425 degrees F is best.

145°F is the temperature recommended by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which sets the food safety regulations in the States. The USDA arrived at this number because the main microorganism, Listeria, that causes food borne illness in seafood and fish is killed more or less instantly at 145°F.

Step 3Working in batches, place fish in basket of air fryer and cook at 400° for 10 to 12 minutes, gently flipping halfway through, or until fish is golden and flakes easily with a fork.

Bake salmon at 400 degrees F for 11 to 14 minutes for 6-ounce fillets or 15 to 18 minutes for a single side, until it registers 135 degrees F on an instant read thermometer inserted at the thickest part of the salmon. Remove from the oven and let rest 5 minutes.