Breaded Air Fryer Salmon Bites

How to cook salmon bites in air fryer or in Ninja Foodi is here! Breaded bite size air fryer fish nuggets lightly breaded and fork tender with tons of flavor. If you love seafood as much as we do you and your kids are going to love these for dinner.

Air Fryer Salmon Bites

Below in the recipe card we will explain how to make salmon in air fryer cut into smaller chunks like this here. You will need to make sure it is defrosted or a fresh fillet or else the coating on the outside will not stick well. I mean plain with just seasoning is wonderful too but this way it will stay together better to be picked up like a finger food if you want.

We have made frozen salmon air fryer style before too but breaded isn’t an option for that. A great option when you forget to thaw it ahead of time but you’d need to follow the recipe above if it is still solid. Our family just cannot get enough fish for dinner. It is likely my fault. I grew up in Hawaii and that was usually a part of each meal. I know, lucky girl.

Ninja Foodi Salmon Nuggets

I don’t like to deep fry anything because it isn’t healthy and in this case the breading will sluff off a bit too. You really can get the same crispy texture using a Ninja Foodi or Cosori. With the foodi you will use the lid that is attached with the air crisp button to make this way.

I’m super grateful my girls have acquired a taste for it too and even will say that their favorite meal would be salmon sushi. Seriously, raw or cooked they are all about this pink fish. In the past I always made baked salmon with dry rub, which I may say is AMAZING.

Ingredients

• 1 lb salmon cut into cubes, bite sized
• 1/4 tsp salt and garlic powder and/or other seasonings of choice
• A pinch of coriander is great
• Olive oil spray will crisp up more near the end
• 6 tbsp breadcrumbs – you could use gluten free Panko breadcrumbs if you’d rather
• 1 tbsp lemon juice is a nice touch

Seasoning

If you didn’t wanted low carbs you could just coat with or salmon dry rub. Like I said above though it won’t be easy to pick up so you’d need a fork to eat those babies. Honestly we love both but we are going to explain the other in more detail here.

That is what we used for this batch. Now if you just wanted to fry these you totally could. I would recommend using a deep pan or cast iron skillet with just 1″ of hot oil inside before you add them just to crisp the outsides. It doesn’t need long, please do NOT overcook seafood, that is tragic.

How to Make Breaded Salmon Bites in Air Fryer

• Rinse salmon filet with water, dry excess moisture on outside with paper towels well.
• Remove the skin with a sharp knife if it has some, then cut into cubes about 1×1 inch thick.
• Place the salmon fillet pieces in a bowl.
• Add spices, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt on top and toss together gently.
• Leave for 15 minutes to marinate in the bowl, or you can immediately proceed to the next step.
• Add your breadcrumbs into a deep bowl
• Roll salmon cubes one at a time in breadcrumbs so that the crumbs completely cover it.
• Spray basket with some olive oil or another type of non stick spray.
• Transfer coated pieces to the air fryer basket, that has been preheated to 360 F for 6 minutes on one side.
• Turn over and bake for another two minutes until lightly golden brown.
• It is very important not dry them out by cooking too long, better a bit underdone than grey.
• Serve the immediately while the breadcrumbs are still warm and crispy with dipping sauce or as is.

How do you make salmon crispy but not dry?

You never want to cook fish too long or it will dry out. The best way to get it crisp but not grey is to stay close in this case. After the first 6 minutes is up, check by breaking one in half. If it is not translucent inside they are done. Light pink is what you want.

It is important that the basket when you’re making Ninja Foodi salmon bites is coated well or else the breading will stick and pull off when you remove them. So sad. You don’t necessarily need anything to dip them in but no matter what comes out of the sea that I make, my kids want tartar sauce so there’s that……

Salmon Bites Bowl

Beyond just serving them on a plate you could make them into salmon kabobs with roasted vegetables or make a salmon bowl out of it too!! OMG this is so good, our favorite creation. Picture a poke bowl of sorts except the protein is cooked. So make a bed of arborio rice to serve it on and then the other sides are many, your choice. A few favorites would be;

1. Kimchi was always a favorite of my dads
2. Any type of vegetable cooked to tender is what I like to pile, simple ingredients is where it’s at
3. Mini marinated corn are fun for the kids
4. I love air fryer cabbage of some kind whether it is raw like coleslaw or cooked down
5. It is nice to have something cool sometimes like sriracha mayo drizzled over everything

Honey Salmon Bites

Want to add some sweetness to your savory meal? Drizzle a bit of this on top and guaranteed your kids will go crazy over them. We have many other variations to this like air fryer teriyaki salmon recipes, with a mustard sauce, smoked etc… You can use the search feature up top to find and try them all.

How to Save Leftover Cooked Fish

Since these are breaded the texture on the outside, when you reheat them the outside will be soft. Best way to crisp it back up is in this same countertop machine for a minute or two. When you save in the fridge lay them in a piece of foil in a single layer for up to 48 hours, then you’ll want to enjoy them again.