Air Fryer Honey Garlic Salmon

Air Fryer Honey Garlic Salmon is easy to make and cooks up in less than 10 minutes in the air fryer! The salmon is coated with a delicious glaze that's packed with flavor.

This salmon is delicious served with rice, your favorite veggie, or used as an ingredient in a grain bowl or tacos.

I always keep salmon in my freezer. It's so easy to thaw, and then marinate to make delicious dishes like this! And my favorite way to cook salmon these days is in my air fryer.

The air fryer cooks the salmon so quickly without any of the oven preheating. And no skillet messiness like when you pan-fry it! The salmon gets flaky and perfect cooked.

And the honey garlic glaze is so tasty! It uses honey for sweetness, garlic for a punch of flavor, lemon for a little brightness, and soy sauce for umami. So easy to mix up and I just want to slather it on everything! Carrots, chicken, shrimp. And in this case, salmon.

Should I keep the salmon skin on or off?

You can do either. The salmon I get usually is skin on. Sometimes I feel ambitious and slice the skin off, and sometimes I don't. In the photos here, I left it on.

Even if you leave it on, you'll still season both sides, and marinate both sides. When you're marinating for five minutes, make sure to do it skin up (if you've chosen to leave the skin on). That way the honey garlic marinade really soaks into the part you'll actually eat.

Speaking of that, in this recipe I don't typically eat the skin. I don't feel like it gets crispy enough to eat, even in the air fryer. That's because you're marinading the skin too, not just applying oil to crisp it up. So if I leave the skin on, I just leave the skin on the plate while the salmon flakes off onto my fork.

Can you use fresh garlic instead of garlic powder?

Short answer? No. In this recipe, I find that the garlic can slightly burn in the air fryer. So I don't like to mince fresh garlic. Instead, garlic powder is what you'll want to use for that garlic flavor without the burnt garlic taste.

Tips and tricks:

• This recipe can easily be doubled. The honey garlic marinade can also be used for slightly larger pieces of salmon.
• If you want a slight bit of heat, you can also season your salmon with a tiny bit of cayenne pepper before marinating. A little goes a long way!
• Not a fan of honey? You can use maple syrup instead.
• For a gluten-free version, use tamari instead of soy sauce.
• You can use parchment paper in your air fryer to keep the salmon from sticking and also allow for less mess.
• Check your honey garlic salmon in the air fryer as it cooks! All air fryers heat differently, and if you're using a thicker cut of salmon, it may take more time. However, watch carefully because the sugar in the honey can burn easily, so a little is okay, but you don't want your entire piece of salmon to be charred on the outside. Check frequently for doneness!

How to make:

First, take the salmon and dry off with paper towels. Season both sides of the salmon with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

Next, mix up your marinade. Take the olive oil, soy sauce, honey, garlic powder, and lemon juice and stir to combine.

Pour the marinade into a shallow bowl or dish. Add the salmon to the bowl, making sure both sides have been covered with marinade.

Leave the salmon in the bowl for five minutes, pink side down, to really soak up the marinade.

Place your salmon in the air fryer, skin side down (if you left the skin on), and cook at 390 degrees F for 7-8 minutes.

Remove, and serve with extra lemon if desired. Salmon should be flaky and tender, and not dry.