Herb Crusted Salmon
This herb crusted salmon is a perfect weeknight recipe. Cooked in an air fryer, this tender, flaky salmon is lemony, flavorful, and ready in about 20 minutes!
When it comes to cooking fish like salmon and tilapia, the air fryer is where its at. It always comes out perfectly tender and flakey, and its always ready in about 15 minutes. When you need an easy meal quickly, but you want something that tastes good, too, this herb crusted salmon recipe is where its at.
Looking for other quick and easy seafood recipes?
Ingredients needed:
You don’t need a lot of ingredients for this recipe! This recipe is simple, but the ingredients are key.
Follow the recipe without substitutions for the best results.
Make sure you have these on hand:
- Salmon – you need a salmon filet that is 1.5-2 lbs, without the skin.
- Breadcrumbs – Use unseasoned bread crumbs
- Parmesan cheese – You want good quality freshly grated cheese here, don’t substitute for the cheap pre-grated crap, it bakes weird and tends to burn. Trust me.
- Garlic cloves
- Lemons – you need whole lemons, lemon zest, and lemon juice for this recipe.
- Fresh herbs – Do not sub for the dry herbs, you need fresh for the best flavor!
- Mayonnaise – Real mayonnaise. Do NOT substitute for low fat. Mayo is fat and acid, and that combo works great with fish to help not only prevent it from drying while it bakes, but also adds a delicate tart flavor. It also helps the cheese and the breadcrumbs from burning, and helps it crisp up efficiently.
How to make this recipe
This recipe is a really quick and simple recipe to make. For the full set of directions, make sure you scroll down to the recipe card below.
- Preheat your Air Fryer to 350 F
- Season the salmon with salt and pepper
- Layer the lemon slices under the salmon to create a bed for the salmon to sit on.
- Sprinkle half of the herbs on top of the salmon.
- In a small bowl, mix 1 Tablespoon of the mayo and the lemon juice together. Brush this on top of the mayo.
- In a second small bowl, mix the lemon zest, the rest of the mayo, garlic, herbs and breadcrumbs together.
- Evenly coat the salmon with the breadcrumb mixture.
- Bake for 10-15 mins in AF, until the top is crispy and fish is cooked.
Recipe Notes:
Salmon is lean and when cooked right, it is perfectly tender and flaky. If it is cooked too long it becomes dry and just not good. It should be cooked to an internal temperature of 145 F.
Prepping ahead of time
While I don’t recommend cooking this salmon ahead of time and reheating (the breadcrumb topping is just never good reheated), there are some things you can do to make this recipe go even faster.
- Pre-slice the lemons and store, covered, in the refrigerator.
- Mix the breadcrumb topping together and store in the fridge, in an airtight container.
- Prep any side dish recipes you want to serve with this.
How to serve this to your family
This salmon recipe is really easy to serve on busy weeknights.
Serve this easy salmon recipe with an easy side dish like rice or lemon couscous or mashed purple sweet potatoes and a simple veggie like oven roasted green beans or green beans almondine.
Kids in the kitchen: How your kids can help you cook
This herb crusted salmon recipe is a perfect kid friendly dinner. It has a great tender texture, a mild but flavorful taste, and is so easy kids can help make it.
This recipe is perfect for kids to help make because it is so easy that kids can do basically the entire thing by themselves!
- Kids aged 1-3 can help you measure and mix together the ingredients.
- Kids aged 4-6 can do everything above plus arrange the lemons and salmon, brush the dressing on the salmon and sprinkle the breadcrumbs on.
- Kids aged 7-10+ can help you do everything above, plus help you slice the lemons.
*Please note that these recommendations are generalized, and to please use your personal discretion with your child’s skill level. And always, always supervise! Read more about how to have your children help you in the kitchen.
Other easy Air Fryer recipes:
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Air Fryer Herb Crusted Salmon Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lbs of Salmon skinless
- salt and pepper to taste
- ½ Cup Breadcrumbs
- ¼ Cup freshly grated parmesan cheese +more to sprinkle on top
- 3 Garlic cloves minced
- 2 Lemons zested (slice them and juice about a teaspoon)
- 3 Tablespoons fresh Oregano and Thyme minced
- 2 Tablespoons mayonnaise
Instructions
- Preheat the Air Fryer to 350 F
- Season the salmon with salt and pepper
- Layer the lemon slices under the salmon to create a bed for the salmon to sit on.
- Sprinkle half of the herbs on top of the salmon.
- In a small bowl, mix 1 Tablespoon of the mayo and the lemon juice together. Brush this on top of the mayo.
- In a second small bowl, mix the lemon zest, the rest of the mayo, garlic, herbs and breadcrumbs together.
- Evenly coat the salmon with the breadcrumb mixture.
- Bake for 10-15 mins in AF, until the top is crispy and fish is cooked.
