Healthy Air Fryer “Baked” Salmon
Last night we came home after a long day on-set and were debating whether to eat out or dirty the kitchen to cook dinner. The thought of cleaning another kitchen was exhausting. After photographing sweets all day we were sugared-out and craving a clean dinner. This healthy air fried salmon came to the rescue and it definitely did not disappoint.
Video of Healthy Air Fryer Salmon Recipe
We’re still overwhelmed at how quickly and perfect salmon can cook in the air fryer. In fact, almost anything cooked in the air fryer always has come out wonderful. After our air fryer brussels sprouts recipe tests, we started experimenting more with this fantastic way to cook. It’s a great way to get dinner on the table, especially for two after a long days work.
Air “Baked” salmon before and after, with very little oil
Healthy Salmon in Air Fryer with Little Oil
The salmon need very little oil and it was moist, tender and supremely delicious. Added a green salad and we were ready for dinner in less than 15 minutes. This air fried salmon had the same texture as a perfectly baked salmon. Think of simple baked salmon the air fryer for dinner and without a dirty kitchen to have to clean. Dinner was way too easy and couch-time came sooner than we realized.
Here’s our previous write up for almost everything you need to know about air flyers!
enjoy,
diane and todd
More Great Air Fryer Recipes:
What is the Best Air Fryer?
We have three different air fryers, all different brands and we definitely have our favorites.
- Size matters, especially if you’re needing to feed a family of four to six hungry people.
- We’re mostly cooking for two during the busy weeknights and the 3 qt size fryers is great for us.
- If you’re wondering what size of air fryer to get our recommendation is the 3-4 qt sizes for 2-3 people (or if you don’t mind cooking multiple batches) and the 5-6 qt for families of 4-6 (you’ll still cook somethings in batches, but not as much as the smaller air fryers).
Tidylife 4.2 qt Digital Air Fryer – This is our favorite one to cook for 2-3 people. Texture for several dishes came out noticeably better than other brands.
We love the non-stick basket style (non-wire base) & smoothness of the basket tray (makes for easy cleanup).
NuWave Brio 3 qt. Digital Air Fryer – We liked the NuWave Air Fryer too, just not quite as much as some of the other’s we’ve used. The basket has wire base (which we found sticks a bit more) and it doesn’t have the 1/2 way reminder beep of some other brands, however still cooks great.
It does have a lower temperature ability, allowing for more cooking options. The buttons are easier to see than on the some of the other’s we’ve tested.
Tiluxury 5.8 qt. Digital Air Fryer – This is a good larger air fryer. Great for cooking bigger batches (ie 4 salmon fillets instead of 2 or 2 lbs of fries instead of 1). This is a nice choice for families & hearty eaters.
This 5.8 qt air fryer has the non-stick basket (non-wire base) we prefer. Makes for less sticking for delicate meals (ie baked fish fillets).
Oster Copper-Infused DuraCeramic 3.3 qt. Air Fryer – We love the copper infused ceramic coating on the basket.
Healthy Air Fryer Baked Salmon
Ingredients
- 2 6 ounce fillets of salmon , skin and bones removed
- 1 teaspoon olive oil or light spray of organic cooking spray
- kosher salt , to taste
- black pepper , to taste
Directions
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Evenly coat salmon with oil or cooking spray. Season salmon fillets with salt and pepper on both sides.
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Place salmon fillets in air fryer basket. Air fry the salmon at 360°F for about 10 minutes or cooked to your preferred doneness.
- Serve warm. Enjoy, it's that simple.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Let us know what you think!
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I’m in air fryer heaven and salmon is one of my favorite ways to make a healthy dinner.
Your recipes are easy to follow. Having the pictures is a big help and makes the recipes come alive with flavor.
Wow, this came out great. I have to say I was skeptical, and thought it would come out dry. I usually grill the salmon, but where having a heat wave so I tried your recipe and it came out absolutely perfect. I will definitely be using this recipe again and again. Thank you for sharing it!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing David.
I never tasted better salmon than from the air fryer. I doesn’t dry out the fish and it makes it just perfect. Thank you for the recipe I can’t wait for more ideas.
Do you hit preheat and enter the temp/time? Or did you just start right away with the Salmon in the air fryer? I have the same Air Fryer as in your video. Thanks!
Hi Lauren, we usually do not pre-heat the air fryer. And this might add another 2-3 minutes of cooking time when compared to a pre-heated air fryer. We’ve never bothered with pre-heating it’s just easier for us to not have to wait to put the food in. But everyone has their preference and if you decide to pre-heat, just reduce cooking time by about 2-3 minutes.
I love cooking my salmon with the air fryer! Thanks for suggesting so. I’m also interested in buying a new air fryer for larger gatherings… I appreciate your recommendations at the end! It was really helpful!
You’ll enjoy the large one for bigger meals! Makes cooking for a crowd so much easier. And healthier. 🙂
So far, this is my favorite way to cook salmon. Thanks for providing such thorough instructions!
I got an air fryer for Christmas and tried this recipe! It was incredible how quick it was! Can’t wait to try more of your air fryer recipes.
Yay! Welcome to the world of more good air fryer recipes!
We added some broccoli and it was an amazing dinner! thanks so much!
Broccoli in the air fryer is so good! You made an instant easy air fryer dinner!
How can I cook this using frozen salmon fillets?
I couldn’t believe how perfect cooked the salmon was! Hubby and I are convinced now about all the healthy cooking in the air fryer we can do!
We loved this! It’s so easy to make and truly used a little bit of oil. We’ll be making this again. Thank you!
Hi Jaime, so glad you guys loved it. And yeah, it’s pretty amazing how little oil you need.
Recipes like this make me want an air fryer! Thanks for sharing!
When you finally do get one, it’ll open up a whole new world of easy air fryer recipes for ya!