Easy Air Fryer Teriyaki Salmon Recipe
This Easy Air Fryer Teriyaki Salmon is super quick to make and comes out perfectly cooked every time! A quick, flavorful homemade teriyaki sauce is drizzled over the top and it pairs perfectly with rice and a green veggie! Simple, flavorful, and healthy–what more could you ask for?!
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I love fish, but I feel like cooking it can be a little tricky! I have flashbacks to scraping burned fish off the bottom of the skillet before I knew anything about cooking. Ugh–not a good look. But cooking is all about practice — you have to keep at it and practice DOES make progress!!
HOWEVER! That practice time decreases significantly with the entrance of the…AIR FRYER!!!!!! I use my Cosori 12-1 Air Fryer EVERY SINGLE DAY. Not exaggerating. This thing is a Godsend.
If you love salmon but have any apprehension about cooking it, let the air fryer ease your anxiety! While cooking salmon (or any fish) in a pan, requires a few tricks, cooking salmon in the air fryer is a breeze! It’s a delicious weeknight meal!
Serve this air fryer salmon recipe with a side of my Chinese Style Air Fryer Green Beans or Bacon and Garlic Fried Rice and you have a perfect, easy weeknight meal!
If you love fish, try my Panko and Parmesan Crusted Cod with Cherry Tomatoes. Date night? You can’t miss making this Pan Seared Chilean Sea Bass with Herb Butter!
WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE
- It’s FAST! Your salmon will cook in about 7-10 minutes flat, perfect for busy weeknights.
- Simple: Only 6 simple ingredients!
- A healthy meal — this recipe doesn’t use any oil at all, making it healthier than cooking salmon in a pan!
- Zero mess and hardly any cleanup! A lot different than cooking it in the pan!
- Firm, flakey, and flavorful salmon every time. I hate mushy fish!
RECIPE INGREDIENTS
You’ll need the following ingredients to make this delicious Air Fryer Teriyaki Salmon Recipe:
INGREDIENT NOTES
Salmon: My personal preference is wild-caught salmon that is cut about 1/2″ thick or less for quick and easy cooking. Thicker-cut salmon works just fine too. Just keep in mind you’ll need to adjust the cooking time 🙂
Soy Sauce: Since the sauce will be boiled down and concentrated, low-sodium soy sauce works best.
HOW TO MAKE AIR FRYER TERIYAKI SALMON: STEP BY STEP
Here are some quick visual instructions. Remember that full instructions with exact ingredients will be in the printable recipe card below!
Step 1: Whisk together all ingredients for the teriyaki sauce and set aside.
Step 2: Cut salmon into equal(ish) pieces and pat dry with paper towels. Brush lightly with the teriyaki sauce.
Steps 3 & 4: Place salmon onto your air fryer tray lined with parchment paper or parchment paper air fryer liners like these. If you are using a basket-style air fryer, line the air fryer basket with square liners like these
Air fry at 400°F for about 7-10 minutes until the salmon is done…look for an opaque color on the side of the salmon. Or check internal temperature–it should be at about 130°F-140°F at the thickest part, depending on how you like your salmon.
While the salmon is cooking, cook the remaining teriyaki sauce for 2-3 minutes on medium heat until thickened.
Step 4: Remove salmon from the air fryer, drizzle on lots more teriyaki sauce, and serve over rice!
RECIPE TIPS & TRICKS
- If you are worried about knowing when the salmon is done, use an instant-read thermometer like this one to check the temperature. The internal temperature should be about 120°F-130°F.
- Make sure your salmon fillets are not crowded in your air fryer tray or basket. Cook in batches, if necessary.
- Try to find salmon filets that have a similar thickness. The length of the fillets isn’t as important as the thickness for even cooking. However, if you have some thinner pieces, just keep an eye on them and know you will have to pull them out a few minutes sooner. No biggie.
🌟CONFIDENCE TIP 🌟
An instant-read thermometer is the easiest way to tell if your salmon is done. Internal temperature should be between 120°F and 130°F. American Test Kitchen recommends cooking farm-raised salmon to 125°F and wild-caught salmon to 120°F.
STORAGE & REHEATING
- Storage: Store leftover salmon in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. If you plan on storing it for more than a day, wrap salmon tightly with plastic wrap or foil and put it in an airtight bag or container to maintain maximum freshness.
- Reheating: To reheat, pop salmon back in the air fryer at 375°F for about 3-4 minutes or until warmed through.
- Freezing: Cooked salmon can be frozen for up to 4 months in an airtight bag or container. Keep in mind, though, that if it is heavily covered with teriyaki sauce, the texture may suffer when reheated and the salmon may be a bit mushy. It’s best to freeze it without sauce of any kind.
ADDITIONS AND SUBSTITUTIONS
SUBSTITUTIONS:
Salmon: This recipe works with other fish and protein as well! Halibut, cod, and chicken are all great.
Bottled Teriyaki Sauce: In a super rush? No worries! Replace the teriyaki sauce ingredients with your favorite store-bought teriyaki sauce.
ADDITIONS
Spice: Add some spice by adding red pepper flakes or some chili garlic sauce to your teriyaki sauce.
Garnishes: Add freshness with garnishes like cilantro, green onions, or some lemon zest. Avacado is a great topping, too!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Most recipes call for marinating salmon. While this gives good flavor through the salmon, I feel that it really messes with the texture, making it less firm and a bit more soggy, for lack of a better word!
The teriyaki sauce in this recipe is super flavorful and brushed over the top while cooking AND drizzled on (heavily!) after cooking leading to the best flavor AND best texture! Plus, it saves marinating time! #winning
Fish cooks quickly in the air fryer! Of course, it depends on the thickness of the fish, but with 1/2-inch fillets, 7-9 minutes at 400°F should be about right.
There are a few ways to test to see if your salmon is done:
1) Use an instant-read thermometer!! This is the easiest way to gauge doneness when you first start cooking fish. I don’t recommend eating rare salmon so look for a temp of around 120°F to 130°F. Anything above about 130°F will give you dry fish!
2) Look at the salmon fillet sideways. Is the fish slightly opaque in color? As it cooks, salmon changes from a translucent more “shiny” red color, to a more opaque pink color. I personally like my salmon barely opaque all the way through, while others prefer theirs on the more “rare” or translucent inside. If the salmon is tooooo pink, then it’s probably overcooked.
3) Take a knife and cut into the thickest part–look for the opaque or barely-opaque color.
4) With a fork, see if the fish flakes on the outside. If so, chances are, it’s done.
Yes! When using frozen fish, skip brushing on the sauce and put the fish directly into the air fryer. You’ll need to cook it for about 12-15 minutes. Brush lightly with sauce about halfway through.
Here are a few of my favorite ways to serve this teriyaki salmon:
1) Over rice with a side of sautéed spinach and lots of the sauce drizzled over everything!
2) In a “bowl” with rice, avocado, and fresh veggies (edamame, cucumber, red onion, etc). Again, drizzled with lots of sauce! You can also use leftover salmon for this Salmon and Rice Bowl!
3) To low-carb it, whip up these Air Fryer Green Beans and call it a day!
4) Serve salmon over this delicious Bacon and Garlic Fried Rice with a side of pineapple!
5) Instead of rice, serve this salmon with a side of these veggie-packed Teriyaki Udon Noodles!
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TOOLS FOR THIS RECIPE
Check out all of my kitchen essentials in my Amazon store!
Air Fryer: I LOVE my Corsori 12 in 1 air fryer! If you prefer the basket-style air fryer, I also have and love this one from Cosori!
Instant Read Thermometer: The easiest way to know if your fish is cooked through.
TRY THESE NEXT…
I hope you love this Air Fryer Teriyaki Salmon! If you make it be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. Enjoy, xo!
Easy Air Fryer Teriyaki Salmon
Ingredients
- 1 lb. fresh salmon fillets, approx. 1/2 inch thick See Note 1
For the teriyaki sauce
- 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
- 2 tsp corn starch
- 1/4 cup water
- green onions and sesame seeds for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat air fryer to 400°F. If your air fryer doesn't have a preheat setting, just turn it to 400°F and give it about 3-5 minutes to come to temperature.Then, whisk together soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and ginger in a small bowl; set aside.
- Prep Salmon: Cut salmon into 4 equal pieces, about 1/2 inch thick (if needed). Brush lightly with sauce.
- Air Fry: Air fry salmon for 7-9 minutes. Internal temperature should be 120°-130°F.
- Make Glaze: While the salmon is in the air fryer, transfer the sauce to a small pan and whisk in water and corn starch. Over medium heat, bring sauce to a boil and cook about 1 minute until the sauce has thickened.
- Finish: Remove salmon from the air fryer and brush (or pour!!) half of the teriyaki sauce on top of the salmon. Serve over white rice and drizzle on the remaining teriyaki sauce. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds if you like!
I love salmon in the air fryer, but this teriyaki version was next level. So much flavour.
Especially in the summer, the air fryer is my favorite kitchen appliance. These came out so perfect and that sauce was amazing!
This is a great recipe! We love love love salmon, and we’ve become huge fans of making it in the air fryer. Comes out perfect every time!
I made this salmon for dinner and it was delicious. Thank you for the recipe!
The teriyaki is so good on this salmon and the instructions to make it in the air fryer were so clear. Great recipe, my whole family loved it
Loved the sticky teriyaki flavor on this salmon!
Thank you so much! The flavors are perfect and I can’t wait to try this recipe!
I made this salmon for dinner last night and my family loved it! I loved being able to use my air fryer!
So easy, so delicious, so going to be making them again. Air fryers for the win!
My life was just made easier (and tastier) with this air fryer recipe!
Delicious! I just use it as a marinade and skip cooking the sauce – plenty of flavor and perfect for that tik tok salmon bowl!
Great idea, Lindsey! xo