Make Air Fryer Salmon Bites with a homemade teriyaki sauce for an easy weeknight dinner. This healthy dinner comes together in less than 20 minutes. Just mix your salmon with the marinade and air fry until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Toss the bites in an easy teriyaki made from the marinade.
I also like to serve this easy salmon recipe with some white rice and a simple veggie like this air fryer brussels sprouts or even air fryer asparagus.
weeknight dinner
homemade teriyaki sauce
Quick Look: Air Fryer Salmon Bites
- ⏱️ Prep Time: 5 minutes
- 👩🍳 Cook Time: 10 minutes
- 🕖 Total Time: 15 minutes
- 🍣 Servings: 2 servings
- ⚡️ Calories: 324 calories per serving (based on nutrition panel)
- 🔥 Cooking Method: Air fry at 350F
- 🛒 Main Ingredients: salmon, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar
- ⭐️ Difficulty: Easy! Just prep the teriyaki sauce and air fry the salmon bites
SUMMARIZE & SAVE THIS CONTENT ON
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy weeknight dinner – This air fryer salmon is so easy to make and comes together in just 15 minutes. It is my favorite salmon recipe when I’m short on time. They have a crispy texture outside and are so tender inside.
- Quick clean up – One of the most important parts of weeknight eating is easy clean up. You’ll just need one bowl, one pan, and an air fryer for this recipe. Make your sides in the air fryer too to have a quick and easy clean up.
- Flavorful homemade sauce – I love anything with an extra flavorful sauce. These tender salmon bites get tossed in an easy teriyaki sauce that is made from the marinade.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Salmon – use whatever type of salmon filet you would like and cut it into 1-inch cubes. I like to use farmed Atlantic salmon. I find that wild salmon cooks faster than farmed so be sure to reduce the cook time if you use wild salmon. You can buy skinless salmon fillets or use a sharp knife to remove the skin
- Soy sauce – I use low sodium soy sauce to avoid adding too much salt
- Rice vinegar – the rice vinegar adds a little bit of acidic flavor to the sauce
- Honey – the honey adds just enough sweetness to the marinade for your salmon
- Sesame oil – the sesame oil adds a bit of nuttiness and helps coat the salmon
- Ground ginger – to keep this recipe easy, I use ground ginger in the marinade rather than fresh. Feel free to use freshly grated ginger instead fora fresher taste.
- Garlic powder – using garlic powder rather than fresh garlic keeps it quick and simple to make the marinade. Feel free to use freshly grated garlic instead for a bolder, deeper flavor.
- Cornstarch – the cornstarch thickens your leftover marinade to make a tasty sauce to top your salmon
You can easily make this recipe gluten-free, by using a gluten free soy sauce like tamari or coconut aminos. Also you can use arrowroot starch in place of cornstarch.
These air fryer salmon nuggets would also be delicious in a garlic butter style sauce. You can have fun playing around with different flavors! Then pop your seasoned salmon bites in the air fryer for 6-8 minutes and enjoy.
If you enjoy this air fryer salmon recipe, try this air fryer steak bites recipe next.
How to make Easy Salmon Bites in the Air Fryer
Step 1: Cut salmon into bite sized pieces. Whisk together sauce ingredients in a large bowl and then mix the cubes with the sauce.
Step 2: After the cubes have been sitting in the sauce mixture for about 5 minutes. Transfer to an air fryer and air fry at 375F.
Step 3: While the salmon bites are cooking, thicken the simple teriyaki sauce with a cornstarch slurry and warm on the stovetop.
Step 4: Pour the thickened, warm teriyaki sauce over the salmon bites and gently toss to coat them.
Mad’s Expert Tips for the Best Air fryer salmon bites🐟
- Spread out bites in air fryer basket – it is key to arrange the salmon bites in a single layer with a bit of space between so that the marinade ingredients can brown and create caramelization on the outside of the fish.
- Mix cornstarch slurry with cold water – mix cold water with cornstarch to prepare your thickening slurry because cold water prevents clumps. Warm water can activate the cornstarch causing it to clump.
- Do not overcook the teriyaki sauce – once you add the cornstarch slurry, it is easy for the savory sauce to boil and become too tacky. You want the sauce to gently simmer and thicken.
I also use a homemade teriyaki sauce for this skillet teriyaki salmon recipe that I like to serve with broccoli slaw as well as in this teriyaki pork and bok choy.
can you make these salmon bites in the oven?
Yes! You can put the salmon pieces on a baking sheet and bake at 400F for about 10-12 minutes. Prepare the sauce the same way as instructed below and toss the baked salmon bites in the sauce. If you’re looking for another baked salmon bite recipe try these Miso Salmon Bites.
Storage and reheating
Allow the salmon bites to cool completely and then transfer to an airtight container in the fridge. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Reheat in the air fryer until warmed through. I like to serve leftovers with brown rice and any veggies I have on hand like marinated cucumbers and avocado slices. I’ve also served leftovers chilled on top of a salad.
Other Easy Air Fryer Recipes
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
Email Recipe for Later
Recipe
Air Fryer Salmon Bites
Ingredients
- 12 oz salmon – skin removed cut into cubes
- ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 3 tbsp water
- ½ tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Whisk together soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic. Toss salmon cubes in this sauce and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Remove salmon from sauce, but save the sauce. Place salmon cubes in an even layer of an air fryer tray and air fryer at 375F for 6-8 minutes depending on salmon cube size.
- Pour leftover marinade into a small sauce pan. Mix 3 tbsp of water with ½ tbsp cornstarch and pour that into the sauce pan. Heat over medium-low heat until the sauce bubbles and thickens. You know the sauce is thickened when the sauce easily coats the back of a spoon and stays on it. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Toss the cooked salmon cubes in the sauce and serve or serve with the sauce on the side for dipping.
Recipe Notes
-
- Spread out bites in air fryer basket – it is key to arrange the salmon bites in a single layer with a bit of space between so that the marinade ingredients can brown and create caramelization on the outside of the fish.
- Mix cornstarch slurry with cold water – mix cold water with cornstarch to prepare your thickening slurry because cold water prevents clumps. Warm water can activate the cornstarch causing it to clump.
- Do not overcook the teriyaki sauce – once you add the cornstarch slurry, it is easy for the savory sauce to boil and become too tacky. You want the sauce to gently simmer and thicken.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Leave a Reply