This air fryer teriyaki salmon is crisp, sweet, and perfectly cooked every single time. It’s simple, packed with flavor, and healthy, especially when served on a bed of rice and green veggies.
Love air fryer recipes? Be sure to check our Air Fryer Chicken Breast!

This teriyaki salmon recipe is really fast to make. It should only take you about seven to ten minutes. You’ll need just a few simple ingredients to make it, and because we’re using the air fryer there’s barely any oil involved. Minimal clean-up required and the perfectly firm, flaky salmon every time? That’s a winner for sure!
Air Fryer Teriyaki Salmon Ingredients
To make this dish, you’ll need the following ingredients…
- Salmon
- Soy sauce
- Sesame oil
- Ginger
- Garlic powder
- Brown sugar
- Rice vinegar
- Corn starch
❗ Before we start looking closely at this awesome recipe, a quick note. Wild-caught salmon, cut to about a half-inch thick makes for quick, easy cooking. Thicker cuts of salmon are OK too, of course, but they will take a little longer to cook through. In Japan, they’re very specific about the thickness of their cuts of meat and fish for this very reason.
We also recommend using a low-sodium soy sauce for this recipe as we’ll be boiling down and concentrating the sauce. You don’t want an overwhelmingly salty taste, even if this is a seafood dinner.
How to make Air Fryer Teriyaki Salmon
- In a small bowl whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic powder, ginger, and sesame oil.
- Brush salmon lightly with the sauce on both sides.
- Air fry for 7-9 minutes or until cooked through. The internal temperature should be 130-140 F.
- While salmon is air frying, transfer remaining sauce to a medium pan. Mix the cornstarch with ¼ cup water and add the mixture together with rice vinegar into the pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and cook the sauce over medium heat until slightly thickened, whisking continuously ( 2 minutes). Remove from the heat.
- Remove the salmon from air fryer and add to the skillet with the sauce. Garnish with scallions and sesame seeds if desired.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can You Freeze Teriyaki Salmon?
You can freeze cooked salmon surprisingly easily! This firm, oceangoing fish freezes much better than many of its white-meated cousins. You can freeze cooked salmon for up to four months in an airtight container or a freezer bag.
If you freeze your salmon while it is immersed in teriyaki sauce, the liquid in the sauce may freeze into tiny crystals, which will leave microscopic holes in your salmon. That can cause it to go mushy. So freeze your salmon without sauce and you should be fine.
How To Store And Reheat Leftover Teriyaki Salmon
- Storage:This cooked air fryer teriyaki salmon ought to keep in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. To store properly, wrap the salmon tightly in plastic or foil to seal the freshness in. Then put that salmon package into an airtight bag or container to ensure that none of the fishy goodness escapes. This has two benefits: one, your salmon stays fresh, and it won’t make the rest of your fridge smell like a fishing trip.
- Reheating:For reheating, all you need to do is put your salmon back in the air fryer at about 375 F for three to four minutes. That’s it!
Can I Marinate Teriyaki Salmon?
While many salmon recipes call for you to marinate the salmon, this can mess with the fish’s natural texture. Sometimes the moisture can over-marinate the fish and leave it a little too soggy for our liking.
Our teriyaki sauce is absolutely bursting with flavor and we brush it along the top of the salmon. We also heavily drizzle the teriyaki sauce after cooking, which allows the flavor to permeate the salmon without compromising its texture. Plus you even save time on marinating.
How Do You Know When Air Fryer Teriyaki Salmon is Cooked?
Air fryers are beloved because of how quickly they cook everything from fish to French fries. It depends how thick your fillet of fish is, but with the half-inch fillets we recommend, seven to nine minutes at about 400 degrees| 200 C should do the trick.
Of course, there are a few surefire ways to guarantee that your salmon is perfectly cooked.
- An instant read thermometer is the best way to make sure your food is cooked properly every time. This isn’t a sushi recipe and we don’t want our salmon medium rare. You want it cooked through, which means an internal temperature of 130 to 140 Farenheit. Above 145 can dry your fish out. To take the salmon’s internal temperature, slide the needle end of your thermometer into the fish and let the reading do the rest!
- Another way to do this is to take a look at the side of your salmon fillet. If the fish is opaque in color, it’s probably cooked. Raw salmon has a translucent, slightly shiny color, while cooked salmon is opaque and pink. It should be pink all the way through. If the salmon is too pink then your salmon is almost definitely overcooked.
- To check color, take a knife, cut into the thickest part of the salmon and look for an opaque color. The best color for the middle of the salmon should be a barely-pink opaque color.
- The final method is to take a fork and see if the fish flakes on the outside. Flaky fish means it’s cooked and ready to eat!
Can I Use Frozen Salmon for this Recipe?
If you’re using frozen fish, you can skip the sauce-brushing stage and just put your salmon straight into the air fryer. For a frozen salmon fillet just cook it for twelve to fifteen minutes and brush the salmon lightly with the sauce at the six or seven minute mark.
Sides for Salmon
Sauteed Green Beans with Garlic
Herbed Basmati Rice in Instant Pot
Cheesy Garlic Roasted Asparagus
If you make this recipe be sure to leave a comment or give this recipe a rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐! I will be happy to hear from you!
PrintAir Fryer Teriyaki Salmon
- Total Time: 17 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to make this delicious air fryer teriyaki salmon! It emerges from the air fryer crisp, sweet, and perfectly cooked every single time.
Ingredients
- 4 x 6 oz. ( 170 grams) skinless salmon fillets, about ½ inch thick
Teriyaki sauce:
- ⅓ cup low sodium soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon sesame, peanut or canola oil
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- scallions and sesame seeds for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Preheat your air fryer to 400 F ( 200 C). If your air fryer doesn't have a preheating option, set the temperature to 400 F ( 200 C) and give it 3-5 minutes to come to this temperature.
- In a small bowl whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic powder, ginger, and sesame oil.
- Brush salmon lightly with the sauce on both sides.
- Air fry for 7-9 minutes or until cooked through. The internal temperature should be 130-140 F.
- While salmon is air frying, transfer remaining sauce to a medium pan. Mix the cornstarch with ¼ cup water and add the mixture together with rice vinegar into the pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and cook the sauce over medium heat until slightly thickened, whisking continuously ( 2 minutes). Remove from the heat.
- Remove the salmon from air fryer and add to the skillet with the sauce. Garnish with scallions and sesame seeds if desired.
- Serve salmon over steamed rice or vegetables and pour teriyaki sauce over the top.
- Enjoy!
Equipment
Notes
We highly recommend using an instant read thermometer to be 100% sure that your salmon is cooked through. You don’t want to serve overcooked or undercooked fish, right? You’ll have plenty of peace of mind when you’re sure of the internal temperature of your gorgeous, perfectly cooked piece fo fish.
Avoid crowding the basket of the air fryer with salmon fillets. If you don’t have enough room for all of them, cook them in batches. Crowded salmon fillets won’t cook right or get that lovely crispy sear.
Use salmon fillets of a similar thickness. This will ensure a similar cooking time for all the pieces of fish, even cooking for each of them, and an easier cooking experience for you. If some pieces are thinner than others, bear in mind that they will cook before the rest, so take them out a minute or two early and check their internal temperature.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 7 min
- Category: Salmon recipes
- Cuisine: Japanese
Nutrition
- Calories: 501kcal
- Sugar: 5g
- Sodium: 850mg
- Fat: 22g
- Saturated Fat: 4g
- Carbohydrates: 9g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 67g
- Cholesterol: 181mg
Keywords: teriyaki salmon, air fryer salmon teriyaki, salmon recipes
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