What if I told you there's a healthy dinner you can make every night of the week in about 12 minutes with no prep or planning and very little mess to clean up? It's real, and it's my new go-to meal for busy nights when I don't want to blow my budget or healthy eating habits. All it takes is a trusty little device we call air fryer.
If you're sick of people telling you to eat more fish, this is your ticket to a year filled with omega-3 fatty acids and no bad pots and pans to wash. Air-frying salmon develops a nice, pan-like crust, but stays moist and tender on the inside until you overcook it.
A fresh fillet and seasonings are all you need to make the perfect air fryer salmon dinner.
The air fryer gets a lot of credit for its work with chicken wings and French friesbut it often looks like it was made in a lab to cook fatty salmon fillets. The powerful air fryer only takes 1 or 2 minutes to heat up, so if you're whipping up a quick weeknight meal for one or two, making salmon in the air fryer is ace up your sleeve.
Here's how to make the perfect fillet every time. And for more, see our favorite places order salmon online and on the best air fryers we tested for 2024. If you are wondering how these modern and efficient stoves work and which model is the best, read mine complete guide to air fryers.
Ingredients for the 10-Minute Air Fry Salmon
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce or tamari
- 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
- 1 green onion, diced
- Salmon fillet
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Parchment paper (optional)
5 Easy Steps: Perfect 10-Minute Air Frying
- Step 1: Preheat your air fryer to 380 degrees F on either “air fry” or “roast.”
- Step 2: Whisk together the olive oil, brown sugar, soy sauce and green onion.
- Step 3: Pat the salmon fillet dry and place in an air fryer on parchment paper (paper of choice).
- Step 4: Pour the soy sauce mixture over the salmon and brush to coat completely.
- Step 5: Close the basket and cook for about 8 minutes, checking for doneness with a fork or internal probe (cook an extra minute or two if you want your salmon to be medium well or well done).
Just 8 minutes in the air fryer and you have perfectly medium rare salmon.
Air fryer is my go-to for roast chicken, replacing my slow and dirty dish-heavy oven recipe. I recently learned how to make juicy bacon and air fryer cheeseburgers in less than 10 minutes and without dirtying a pan or skillet.
Air fryers are incredibly convenient and can do many of the same jobs as an oven. They only take a few minutes to preheat, contain much of the cooking mess you'd otherwise spend time cleaning up, and are generally more energy-efficient cookware.
When you plan to cook meals with an air fryer, you need to make sure that you have enough space inside your appliance for the food you want to cook. Many fritters can be assembled for a serving size for one person, but you will likely need to run the air fryer multiple times to make enough food for the whole family.