Our easy Instant Pot frozen salmon recipe comes out flaky and perfectly cooked in just a few minutes. Yes we have pressure cooked fresh fish, but without thawing instructions come in handy on busy days.
It has never been easier to cook using your pressure cooker! In less than 15 minutes total you too can have flaky fish for dinner with some lemon butter on top. One of our favorite healthy Instant Pot recipes that my husband makes almost weekly.
We offer these tips when cooking frozen meat overall to which helps you make a wonderful meal for your family. Just because it is straight out of your freezer doesn’t mean dinner is ruined, it isn’t. I can cooked all sorts of things rock hard to fork tender all the time and nobody knows the difference. 😉
Here we will share you specifically how to cook frozen salmon if all you have a bag of frozen fish on hand. NO need to defrost, you can cook right out of the freezer following our tips and tricks below.
Ingredient Notes
You will want a few serving sized pieces of frozen salmon fillets. I like them cut sockeye salmon into the same size vs. a whole filet because it needs to fit on the trivet.
You will need some water or some sort of liquid of your choice to steam them, broth works too for more flavor. I like to add a few slices of fresh lemons or a splash of lemon juice on top with butter too.
How to Season
You can use our salmon dry rub if you want to add a lot more flavor. Do so before cooking or when done you could use it as a seasoning.
Can you add vegetables?
Yes you can! You’d need to choose those that too take about the same cook time. The best choices would be quartered potatoes and/or peeled and cut up carrots (cut into thirds) so everything comes out tender at the same time. Just set them around the filets overlapping the least amount possible.
How Long to Cook Frozen Salmon in Instant Pot
You only need a 5 minute cook time to get this done to flaky and tender. Remember to quick release the steam at the end or it will get too done. Placed on a trivet the hot steam is able to rotate around the whole filet to defrost, and then cook perfectly.
Should you cook frozen salmon skin side up or down?
If you purchased filets with the skin on (which is preferred to keep as moist as possible) you should pressure cook with the skin on the bottom. This way when it cooks the Omega 3 oils will get trapped by the skin so it soaks in to keep it tender.
Ninja Foodi Frozen Salmon
Can you make this as a Ninja Foodi recipe too?? Of course you can!! Any brand will do. the only difference with this multi function machine and others is that you need to use the lid that is not attached to pressure cook. However, then you can also follow our air fryer frozen salmon instructions if you’d rather.
Want to make defrosted Instant Pot fish tonight?? We have instructions for that too. They’re very similar directions and quite frankly comes out almost identical to this one.
How do you know when frozen salmon is done?
It is the same as Instant Pot Salmon, defrosted. The color should be pink and it may have some white bubbles on the top which is protein. In the middle it should no longer look opaque, but not gray either (signaling it cooked too long) with clear juices. It should flake easily apart with the side of a fork.
Tips
Choose fillets that are similar in size so they cook evenly, middle pieces will be thicker than the ends, cook them together accordingly. Do not overlap your pieces when you cook them together, you want the steam to hit all sides or the piece underneath will be underdone.
When pressure cooker fish recipes you will want to season the tops as well as the water underneath, many times I will add a bit of salt and pepper once it is done too
You can cook other meats like this to tender like our frozen roast in Instant Pot which is way thicker than this and believe it or not you can shred when done and almost just as good as if it were tender first off.
Frozen Salmon in Instant Pot Recipe
Equipment
- 1 trivet
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb frozen salmon , 4-5 fillets
- 2 medium lemons, sliced, seeds removed
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp lemon pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 cup water, or broth
- 2 tbsp butter, optional, sliced
Instructions
- Pour cup of water with 1 sliced lemon and a few sprigs of fresh parsley (optional) into bottom of pot. Place trivet inside now.
- Put 4-5 frozen fillets on rack without overlapping pieces. Season tops with pinch of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and diced fresh parsley.
- Slice 2nd lemon and put 1 slice on top of each fillet, remove seeds before placing on top.
- If you want a buttery flavor cut a thin slice of butter and place underneath each lemon slice, optional step.
- Close lid and steam valve, set to high pressure for 5 minutes followed by a quick release.
- Remove and serve immediately for best results. (timing will vary slightly depending on thickness of fish and how "well done" you like your fish)
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Other fish recipes you’ll love
You can cook salmon in the air fryer too! We love it that way with this dry rub we share here, it’s a great cooking method to use.
If you love Instant Pot tilapia the timing is pretty much the same as you’ll find below. There are a few tips I’ll share to get it perfect. The baked salmon with dry rub in the oven is here!
What side dishes go with salmon?
We personally love a mixture of steamed vegetables served with this. A side of Instant Pot white rice is always a winner too. For a great semi homemade garlic pull apart bread, follow our recipe here.
Is frozen salmon still good for you?
Yes!! Frozen salmon is good and keeps it’s great taste for up to four months in your freezer. As long as it’s properly frozen inside freezer bags with the air sucked out it will still have great flavor when cooked. Of course you can thaw fillets overnight and make smoked salmon which is amazing. We’re here to teach you how it’s done from rock solid frozen to tender though. Canned wild salmon is also an excellent and economical choice, there’s no need to cook that though.
Can’t wait to try this one! I love all of your recipes; so flavorful and easy to follow. Thank you!!
So glad
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Would love to see the comments on this recipe
I made this today because I forgot to take the salmon out of the freezer. The recipe is so simple and the salmon came out wonderful. I did in fact add the butter under the lemon slices, and then I poured some of the liquid in the pot over the fish before serving. I will definitely use this recipe again!
OH good!
Is the time the same for one filet?