Air Fryer Salmon

My kitchen is…well, pretty stacked with all kinds of cooking gadgets, and all of which have to make a strong case for maintaining their stake of counter real estate. That is, except for my air fryer. Nope, my trusty air fryer doesn't have to worry about being relegated to the cupboards, namely because it cooks up restaurant-quality salmon faster than you can get a table these days, and is perfect for a date night, weeknight dinner, or meal prep for the week.

If you’ve yet to convert to Team Air Fryer, my go-to recipe might change that for you and fast. This salmon cooks in just 10 minutes(!) and comes out perfectly tender and flaky on the inside with an amazing, crackly brown sugar-mustard crust on top. Plus, now that your air fryer is out, you might as well go ahead and make some air fryer potatoes to go with it (or even some chocolate chip cookies).

What People Are Saying:
“Guys I made this tonight as prescribed. Cook time was 16 minutes but the ingredients [were] the same. Family loves it! My oldest daughter thought it was better than a restaurant salmon she recently ate. Will be making this again, here is to the air fryer!!” - rrj5299

"This was excellent! I will definitely make it again and again. My salmon fillets were a bit larger so I cooked them for 15 min...they were perfect.” - Brandie

How To Make Air Fryer Salmon

INGREDIENTS

• Salmon Fillets: To ensure that the salmon cooks evenly, I like to aim to get fillets that are about the same size. And since I’m keeping the seasoning simple here (to really let the salmon shine), it pays to get the highest-quality salmon you can find. If you need help sussing out the best practices for sourcing high-quality salmon, turn to Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch for more guidance.
• Brown Sugar: Key to the crackly, crispy outer crust, brown sugar is how to achieve a perfectly caramelized fillet.
• Whole Grain Mustard: Playing off the sweet notes of the brown sugar, whole grain mustard also imparts a textural element from the mustard seeds along with a bit of heat and tang. Don’t have whole grain mustard? No sweat, a Dijon-style or spicy brown mustard would both work amazingly here.
• Thyme: Aromatic and peppery thyme imparts a hint of woodsy freshness here, but most fresh herbs will fare well in your garlic-mustard-brown-sugar mixture, like fresh oregano or marjoram. Only have dried thyme on hand? You can swap in 1/4 tsp. dried thyme in place of the fresh thyme.
• Garlic: Flavorful bestie of all things savory, fresh garlic cloves are my favorite to use when cooking salmon, but feel free to use jarred garlic or garlic powder here instead.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

First item on our agenda? Starting to build a flavor foundation with some good ol’ salt and pepper. Season each of the salmon fillets all over and set aside. Then, in a small bowl, whisk together the garlic, mustard, brown sugar, olive oil, and thyme to combine, then spread garlic mixture on top of the salmon, making sure to coat each fillet evenly.

Now, the magic air fryer makes its grand debut. In the air fryer basket, arrange your salmon fillets with a bit of space in between—if you want to make your life even easier (and with less clean-up), layer in a sheet of parchment paper before adding your fillets.

Then, set your air fryer to 400° and cook the salmon until they’ve reached their desired degree of doneness, which will take about 10 minutes for a 6-oz. fillet. Depending on the size of your fillets, you might want to defer to a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature, with 145° being ideal for salmon.