Frozen salmon in air fryer is so easy! From rock hard to flaky and tender in no time you should try fish in a Ninja Foodi or other brand. Once you try frozen fish in air fryer you’ll never go back.
Frozen salmon in air fryer turns out to be a great meal! Even if you’ve forgotten to defrost dinner you can still cook it to tender and flaky. Just one kitchen hack on our easy air fryer recipes page you’ll love. (affiliate links present, originally published 11/21)
Frozen Salmon in Air Fryer Keto
OH how we do love cooking air fryer fish! Whether you remember to thaw it out the night before or have forgetful moments like me it will always be a success.
We first made Instant Pot frozen salmon in our pressure cooker but I will admit this may be my favorite. You get that tenderness inside but a bit of a crisp on the edges this way. I swear I use this thing on a daily basis!
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- My Favorite Air Fryer is a Cosori or for a dual machine, the Foodi.
- You can find more easy air fryer recipes here, we have Ninja Foodi recipes as well; bookmark them both!
- This is the best air fryer cookbook. It’s important to know and remember how to preheat air fryer for best results.
- Here’s a printable free air fryer cooking time chart here for your fridge.
- It has temp. and times for making the best frozen foods for air fryer too.
- Then join our Facebook page below where you can share and find more ideas you’ll love.
Air Fryer Frozen Salmon
I’m sure you’ve done this before…. You buy a bag at the grocery store from the freezer section and intend on making it the next day. Then 4:00 rolls around and you remember “OH NO” I never put it into the fridge!
NO worries now my friends. Even if it is rock hard this magical machine can essentially thaw it out quickly and have it fork tender for you in no time at all.
To add flavor a marinade of sorts was made. We love our salmon dry rub but one with a bit of liquid is better to keep it moist though. If you had your own mixture that you love you could use that instead.
How to cook frozen salmon in air fryer?
Well that is what we’re here to help you with folks. 😉 Once you brush on this garlicy mixture on top you’ll want to spray your basket so it doesn’t stick. Then cook for about 10 minutes until flaky in the middle.
There is a range to the air fryer cook times though of course. The thickness of your fillet will vary obviously. Try to put the same size pieces in at a time. If some are thin and others aren’t then a few will be overcooked, yuck.
The worst to me is gray fish. I would rather have it slightly underdone than dry and tasteless so I check frequently at the end until it is just right. One extra minute will make it go from good to cooked too much so stay close.
Ninja Foodi Frozen Salmon
It doesn’t matter what brand of machine you use, they all work basically the same way. If you want to use the easy butter smear you see here, this is what you’re going to need to have handy….
- Frozen salmon fillets or of course you could just cook one at a time if need be.
- Butter should be melted but not completely liquified if you know what I mean.
- Brown sugar will give this a bit of sweetness. I tell you, savory and sweet is killer y’all.
- Garlic you can either chop really finely yourself or just do what I do and buy it in a jar. I buy this stuff in huge containers my friends, use it on everything.
- Parsley
- Lemon
- Salt and pepper
You’ll add the last one to taste of course. I like to add a tad and then re-season after it is cooked because you can’t take off too much right?
Air Fryer Frozen Salmon Fillet
I wouldn’t flip it over or else it will start to break all apart. The holes on the bottom will heat it all the way around each piece perfectly. Same goes if you make grilled frozen salmon too, you just leave as is the whole time.
Nope! You can cook it just as well as white fillets of air fryer frozen fish in just a few minutes. You probably won’t even know the difference. Just about 10 minutes does the trick.
Is frozen salmon still good for you?
It doesn’t make a difference, so that is great to know right? The vitamins, minerals and Omega 3s stay in tact whether it is rock solid or defrosted when cooked. It’s one of the healthiest foods you could ever eat really.
What is a good side dish with salmon?
I think out go to is a bed of pressure cooker rice with some air fryer cauliflower if I have it on hand. Parmesan broccoli is my daughters’ favorite too! A few other options would be;
- Perfectly cooked quinoa is higher in protein than rice but has the same texture
- Air fryer corn on the cob
- I have even made air fryer beets to get my kids to try something new and they actually liked them!
Did you remember to thaw your fresh salmon out?? We have instructions for that too with a dry rub. Follow our air fryer salmon recipe here for those steps. See which one you like best, or even if you sense a difference between the two.
Frozen Salmon Ninja Foodi Air Fryer
Here are brief instructions but more detailed and amount of ingredients is below in printable recipe card. I always recommend to preheat the air fryer but if you don’t it won’t be ruined:
Frozen Salmon in Air Fryer Lemon Pepper
Time needed: 10 minutes
Air Fryer Frozen Salmon
- Prepare
Spray inside of air fryer basket with non stick spray. Put frozen fillets inside basket without overlapping your pieces.
In a small bowl mix melted butter (you could use olive oil instead), brown sugar, garlic, salt and pepper and parsley together.
Brush this mixture on top of each piece, then squeeze fresh lemon juice on top of each. - Cook
Close basket and air fry at 360 F for 10 to 12 minutes. Cooked fish should easily flake apart with a fork in the thickest part when done.
Like I said before, cooking the salmon will have slight variations in time depending on how thick it is. Test the biggest piece before removing from the basket and serving. Some like using 400 degrees but I feel a bit lower is better for rock hard so it has a bit of time to thaw all the way to the center.
This is how to cook frozen salmon in the oven if you need instructions for that as well.
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Frozen Salmon in Air Fryer
Equipment
Ingredients
- 15 oz salmon 3-5 oz. fillets that are frozen and not defrosted
- Salmon sauce
- 2 tbsp butter melted
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp parsley chopped or dried flakes
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 lemon juiced
Instructions
- Spray inside of air fryer basket with non stick spray. Put frozen fillets inside basket without overlapping them.
- In a small bowl mix melted butter, brown sugar, garlic, salt, pepper and parsley together.
- Brush this mixture on top of each piece, then squeeze fresh lemon juice on top of each.
- Close basket and air fry at 360 degrees F for 10-12 minutes or until fish easily flakes apart with a fork in the center, thickest part. * Timing will vary slightly depending on how thick your pieces are. Try to put the same thicknesses in at a time.
Video
Nawnie1
Sunday 9th of October 2022
I tried this recipe tonight, my little Doxie and i just loved this, when you buy Salmon from the store, on a fixed senior income, you get what you can afford!!! i cannot stand a fishy taste, and between the brown sugar ,lemon, i added some lemon pepper and powdered garlic, no fishy taste!!! win, win.
The Typical Mom
Monday 10th of October 2022
So glad