Air Fryer Salmon
Air Fryer Salmon is an easy recipe that’s a great fit for nights you need a quick meal. The salmon fillets cook up fork-tender every time.
Why you’ll love this recipe
This is the easiest way I have ever cooked salmon. It’s delicious, and yet it’s still quick enough to become part of your regular dinner rotation.
Salmon is a food we often save for special occasions, since our favorite way to cook it is on cedar planks. We loved how the fish was flaky, but had a slight crisp on the edges.
Trying this recipe out in the air fryer has made us converts. You get a similar slight crisp to the very edge of the salmon, but with no flames, no smoke, and a fraction of the work!
Choosing Your Cook Time
We have listed a wide range in our recipe instructions. In our testing, there were a lot of variables in the total cook time:
- The thickness of the salmon filets (ours were about 1½ inches at the thickest part and fairly uniform; if yours are thicker/thinner you’ll need to increase/decrease the cook time accordingly).
- How long we had defrosted the filets (we preferred to defrost overnight in the refrigerator; if your filets are not completely defrosted, they’ll require a longer cook time).
- The brand of air fryer you’re using (some cook hotter than others or are more efficient at circulating the air around the basket).
Since we could not account for all of these variables, we’ve listed a wide cook time range and recommend using an instant-read thermometer to know when your salmon is cooked through.
What’s the best internal temperature for salmon?
Would you guess that there is a lot of discussion on the proper doneness temperature for salmon? The USDA’s guidelines list a minimum temperature of 145°F. Yet many chefs consider that temperature the equivalent of “well done” and prefer to cook the salmon to 125°F.
Choose what you feel most comfortable with; however, if you or your guests happen to be pregnant or have weakened immune systems, consider using the higher cooking temperature. (This is due to the risk of listeria infection—the same reason deli meat isn’t recommended for pregnant women.)
Since the internal temperature of your food will continue to rise by a few degrees after you remove it from the heat, we prefer to remove our salmon once it reaches 140°F.
In our testing, there wasn’t much difference between the filets air fried to 125°F and the ones air fried to 145°F. The ones cooked to the lower temperature did release more liquid, but the difference was fairly minor (in my opinion).
How to check the salmon’s temperature: For the most accurate results, remove the sling from the air fryer basket and check the temperature from the side of the salmon (rather than top-down) with an instant-read thermometer. (Our favorite is the Thermapen One; we’ve had ours for at least 5 years and it’s still going strong.)
Frequently Asked Questions about Air Fryer Salmon
We wrote this recipe with convenience in mind—we purchased frozen salmon that we defrosted overnight in the refrigerator.
If you’ve splashed out on the fancy salmon, we recommend cooking it on a cedar plank.
While there is advice out there that suggests rinsing or washing fish, the current guidance is to NOT rinse your salmon. Doing so makes it more likely to spread bacteria around your kitchen.
Instead, simply use paper towels to pat your salmon dry before you begin cooking.
No need to preheat your air fryer for this recipe. When we were testing, I didn’t like trying to place the sling into a hot air fryer basket, so in all of our subsequent tests we started with a cold air fryer.
Honestly? Not using the foil sling changes the timing of the recipe and makes the fish harder to remove in one piece. We highly recommend using it.
In our tests, you can cook one or two salmon filets with no changes to the cook time or temperature. However, it was difficult to fit three or more filets without crowding the salmon together in the air fryer basket. We do not recommend cooking more than two filets at a time in a 6-quart air fryer.
Want more in-depth information about making this recipe? You can now find it below the recipe card.
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Equipment
Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 2 8-ounce skin-on salmon fillets , about 1½ inches thick (we defrosted ours from frozen)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 green onions finely chopped, for garnish
- Fresh lemon wedges for serving, if desired
Instructions
- Make a foil sling by folding a long sheet of nonstick aluminum foil (~12 inches) so it is at least as wide as your salmon fillets, with a little lip folded up along the long sides to keep the juices in. Press the foil along the bottom and up the sides of the air fryer basket. Fold the sides of the sling down to create little lifting handles that don’t interfere with closing the basket. Spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a small bowl, mix together the salt, lemon pepper, and garlic powder.
- Pat the salmon dry with paper towels. Rub the oil onto each of the filets, then sprinkle the seasoning mix over the meaty side of the fish and gently press it in.
- Place the fillets skin-side down on the bottom of the foil sling, spaced evenly apart. Return the basket to the air fryer, select Air Fry and set the cooking temperature to 375°F.
- Cook the salmon until the thickest part of the salmon reaches your desired internal temperature (125°F or 140°F*), about 10 to 16 minutes depending on the thickness of your filets and the brand of air fryer you’re using. We recommend checking your fish with an instant-read thermometer at 10 minutes and then regularly thereafter.
- Use the sling to carefully lift the salmon from the air fryer. Use a spatula to remove the filets to individual serving plates, leaving the skin behind. Serve immediately, garnished with green onions and finished with a splash of fresh lemon juice, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
What to serve with air fryer salmon
We often serve this salmon with simple steamed or air fried veggies. You can also fill it out with grains like Lemon Rice, Rosemary New Potatoes, or Couscous.
This air fryer salmon recipe works in any brand
We tested this recipe in three popular brands of air fryers:
- In the Instant Vortex, the cook time does not begin to count down until your desired temperature is reached. In our tests, a 1½-inch thick salmon filet was done after about 12 minutes.
- In the Cosori TurboBlaze, the cook time immediately starts to count down, regardless of whether the unit is preheated. In our tests, the salmon was done after about 14 minutes of cook time.
- In the Instant Pot Pro Crisp, the cook time works the same as the Instant Vortex. However, since the air flows differently you may want to check it more regularly.
INGREDIENTS YOU NEED
We wanted to keep this recipe fairly simple. In our tests, fresh lemon slices and fresh green onions crisped up before the salmon was fully cooked. Therefore, we opted to make a simple seasoning blend and finish with fresh.
- Nonstick cooking spray: This is essential to ensuring the salmon removes easily from the foil sling. Use a generous amount and wipe excess with a paper towel.
- Skin-on salmon fillets: We opted for frozen salmon filets that we defrosted prior to cooking. (We preferred the ease of defrosting overnight.)
- Oil: Use an oil with a smoke point that’s higher than the 375°F cooking temperature.
- Kosher salt: We really love the larger flakes of salt in this recipe. If you need to sub table salt, use about half as much.
- Lemon pepper, garlic powder, onion powder: Make sure the spices in your spice cabinet are within their expiration dates.
- Green onions: We like these finely sliced as a garnish.
- Fresh lemon: I absolutely love fresh lemon and use two or three wedges
The simple spice blend we used for this recipe is a fairly classic flavor profile for fish. It is salty and simple so that the salmon flavor can shine through. Feel free to adapt to with your favorite seasonings!
About that Fishy Smell…
Different cooks swear by several options for preventing that fishy smell such as
- washing well,
- soaking the salmon in milk, or
- rubbing the salmon with lemon or vinegar.
In our experience, cooking fish will smell slightly fishy. We did test a batch in our Cosori Air Fryer and compared it to our Instant Vortex with OdorErase, and the OdorErase filter actually made a small, but noticeable, difference.
Serving Size
We’ve found that we get more even results when we cook two larger pieces of salmon than when we cut the salmon down into individual servings.
In general, one serving of salmon is 3 to 4 ounces. This recipe calls for about 16 total ounces of salmon.
In our experience, this recipe feeds our family of five with leftovers.
Products of Note
We give the edge to the Instant Vortex with OdorErase for this recipe.
We used Reynolds Wrap Nonstick Aluminum Foil for making the foil sling. Any brand will work well if you spray it well with aluminum foil.
An accurate instant-read thermometer is really important for this recipe. Our favorite is the Thermapen One.
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Excellent article! However, many of us own combo toaster oven-air fryers. I came across several conversion instructions that might help cooks who have the toaster oven type of air fryers. (Mine is a Breville and I’m very pleased with it.)
Thank you! We have a Breville as well, and we really love it. (We reviewed it years ago on Barbara Bakes: https://www.barbarabakes.com/breville-smart-oven-air-fryer-review/ )
I think you’re right that conversion instructions could be a helpful post. I’ll think on it!
One question I have for you—do you find the Breville frustrating to clean when you use it as an air fryer? In general, the only time we get drips on our Breville heating elements is when we’re air frying in it. So we’ll pull out a pan and a cooling rack to air fry on. But then it feels like we may as well just use your basket-style air fryers.
What works well for you?
Cam I use salmon with no skin? If so, do I need to alter cooking times?
Love your recipes!!!!
Thank you so much! We haven’t tested it on salmon with no skin, but it should work just fine. Be sure to spray the foil really well with oil to minimize sticking. Since the skin is so thin, I don’t imagine it would make much difference in cook time, but maybe start checking at 8 minutes just to be sure?
If you try it out, we’d love to hear how it goes! ❤️
My air fryer has wire racks and I just spray the rack with oil and put the salmon directly on it. Cooks great and no foil.
Thanks for sharing your tip.