With our frozen salmon in air fryer recipe, you can serve up flavorful salmon fillets any night of the week. Cooking up in less than 30-minutes, air fryer frozen salmon will only need a little bit of oil and your favorite seasoning blend before it becomes a WHOLE LOTTA YUM dinner that you are going to want to add to your weekly rotation.
Air Fryer Frozen Salmon
Air fryer frozen salmon is quickly become a household favorite. Starting with frozen salmon, and requiring no defrost time, this is the perfect quick dinner that allow us to customize our dinner plans even at the last minute.
Whether is just the two of us, or when the kids are home, these salmon fillets go quickly - both in the air fryer and on the plates.
Already having the air fryer out and ready for the salmon, we tend to serve our frozen salmon in air fryer right alongside air fryer frozen green beans or air fryer frozen corn on the cob to make a complete quick dinner that is easy to make and easy to clean up.
Why You'll Love This!
- Air fryer frozen salmon needs just 3 ingredients!
- Cooking up in just 10-12 minutes, your frozen salmon in air fryer recipe is a great way to add this super healthy food to your dinner rotation.
- Seasoned with oil and a quick seasoning blend, this frozen salmon fillet air fryer recipe is designed to allow the flavor of the salmon to shine through.
- The best part?! Air fryer frozen salmon is perfect for most major eating plans including gluten-free, low-carb, keto, paleo, and Whole30!
Have you tried making seafood in your air fryer? It's one of the BEST ways to cook up delicate meat. Be sure to try out cajun air fryer shrimp recipe and our air fryer frozen shrimp recipe to see for yourself.
On Keto? Grab our FREE keto foods list here OR Snag our Keto Binder HERE
Ingredient Notes
Your frozen salmon in air fryer recipe is only going to need just a couple of kitchen basics and then it will be ready for your air fryer!
- frozen salmon fillets - 1" thick each
- olive oil or butter
- garlic herb seasoning - we use McCormicks brand, but you can use your favorite or make your own
Variations
- Any grocery store seasoning will work for this recipe including other brands besides McCormicks. Lemon pepper, garlic salt, or cajun seasoning are great options for salmon, too.
- Brush on honey when you add the oil or butter to make air fryer honey garlic salmon.
Equipment
An Air Fryer- We have an Omni Plus oven style air fryer and a small 3.2L Farberware basket style air fryer.
Diet Adaptions
- Paleo - to ensure you are compliant with your paleo lifestyle, be sure you are using olive oil or ghee (rather than butter).
- Whole30 - Like paleo eating plans, Whole30 does allow extra virgin olive oil or ghee to be used as a cooking fat.
Step by Step Instructions
One of the best things about this frozen salmon in air fryer recipe is how easily the whole things comes together!
Prep Ingredients
Brush the frozen salmon with olive oil or melted butter.
Sprinkle the fillets heavily with a seasoning mix like McCormicks. We used their roasted garlic and herb, you can also just use garlic salt and black pepper instead.
Air Fryer Salmon Temperature
You are going to cook your air fryer salmon in a preheated unit at 390F. You can allow the unit to preheat while you are prepping the salmon fillets.
Air Fryer Salmon Cooking Time
Place the salmon skin-side down in the air fryer unit.
Air fry the salmon fillets for a total of 10-12 minutes, or until the salmon reaches a medium-rare internal temperature of 120-125 degrees and can be easily flaked with a fork. If you prefer medium salmon, cook it until it reaches an internal temperature of 130-140 degrees.
Let the salmon rest 5 minutes before serving.
***Some air fryer models will take longer to cook than others, so we highly recommend using a digital thermometer to check for doneness.
Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- Preheating your air fryer is a must, so please don't skip this step. Just like your oven, your air fryer needs time to come up to the proper temperature. This will allow for even cooking and for the salmon fillets (or any other dish you are cooking) to cook in the instructed time.
- No need for defrosting as this recipe is designed to be used with frozen salmon fillets.
- Medium rare salmon will still have a slightly bright pink texture to the fillet but it will continue cooking during the rest period. We highly recommend medium-rare for moist and flavorful salmon. Salmon cooked to medium can sometimes taste a little dry.
Common Questions
You can serve your air fryer frozen salmon with a variety of air fryer sides. We recommend air fryer green beans, air fryer corn on the cob, or air fryer asparagus.
No, you do not need to thaw salmon before cooking it in an air fryer. Simply use frozen salmon fillets and season as desired. The air fryer cooking time will take a couple of minutes longer compared to cooking fresh salmon, but there will be no difference in taste.
Leftover seafood is best if consumed within 2 days. Store any leftovers you have in the fridge in a covered container.
More Air Fryer Seafood Recipes
Looking for more air fryer seafood recipes?
Come connect with us on Instagram! Be sure to tag us (wholelotta.yum) when you make a recipe. You can also find us on Facebook, and Pinterest.
Frozen Salmon in Air Fryer
Cooking air fryer frozen salmon is easy when you start with skin on salmon fillets straight from the freezer. Just add seasoning, no need to defrost first!
Ingredients
- 3-4 (5-6 oz) salmon fillets, 1" each
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
- 2 teaspoon garlic herb seasoning (McCormicks)
Instructions
Preheat the air fryer to 390 degrees for 5 minutes.
Brush the frozen salmon with olive oil or melted butter. Sprinkle the fillets heavily with a seasoning mix like McCormicks. We used their roasted garlic and herb, you can also just use garlic salt and black pepper instead.
Place the salmon skin-side down in the air fryer unit.
Air fry the salmon fillets for a total of 10-12 minutes, or until the salmon reaches a medium-rare internal temperature of 120-125 degrees and can be easily flaked with a fork. If you prefer medium salmon, cook it until 130-140 degrees. Let the salmon rest 5 minutes before serving.
Some air fryer models will take longer to cook than others, so we highly recommend using a digital thermometer to check for doneness.
Notes
Medium rare salmon will still have a slightly bright pink texture to the fillet and will continue cooking before you serve the fish. We highly recommend medium-rare for moist and flavorful salmon. Salmon cooked to medium can sometimes taste a little dry.
Brush on honey when you add the oil or butter to make air fryer honey garlic salmon.
Any grocery store seasoning will work for this recipe including other brands besides McCormicks, lemon pepper, garlic salt, or cajun seasoning are great options too.
The first time you cook a new food in the air fryer, keep an extra close watch on the cooking time. Some air fryer models cook faster than others.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 3 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 78Total Fat 8gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 10mgSodium 159mgCarbohydrates 1gFiber 0gSugar 0gProtein 0g
William Baker says
can you please tell me which kind of air fryer is best for this recipe?
can I try this with an outdoor fryer? I bought it from : https://homecosmetica.com/
WholeLottaYum says
We used the Cosori air fryer but any air fryer will work. Some cook hotter than others so just be sure to keep an eye on the cooking time the first time you make it. I'm not familiar with outdoor air fryers!