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Easy Air Fryer Honey Salmon Recipe

Five ingredients is all you need to have this delicious and super easy Air Fryer Honey Salmon on your dinner table! Pair it with a light salad for a quick and tasty weeknight dinner.

By the way, oven-baking instructions are also included below.

Plate with Tasty and easy Air Fryer Honey Salmon on a bed of spinach.

This Air Fryer Honey Salmon recipe is:

> Delicious 
> Quick
> Easy
> Healthy
> Needs only 5 ingredients 

The 5 ingredients for this Air Fryer Honey Salmon are:

  1. Two Individual Salmon Fillets
  2. Garlic
  3. Honey
  4. Lemon
  5. Tarragon

I know tarragon might sound like an odd addition, but it added such a lovely flavor spin to the honey + lemon combo.


Ever since I stumbled on frozen skinless salmon fillets, my daughter and I have been enjoying a lot of salmon for dinner. I’m not a huge fan of salmon skin – even when it’s air fried to a crisp. 

This recipe today makes use of salmon without skin. Not having to remove the skin helps me save a lot of time. So, these skinless salmon fillets are a Godsend! 

These skinless fillets have greatly reduced the amount of time I spend on a salmon dinner ~ along with the Ninja air fryer I received a few years ago.

However, if you would rather use salmon with the skin on, this recipe would work as well.

Ingredients to make garlic honey airfryer salmon on a platter made of wood.

How to make this easy Air Fryer Honey Salmon?

  • As frozen salmon fillets were used for this recipe, the first step is to thaw them.
  • Then, place the honey in a microwave-safe dish and heat it in the microwave for 10 seconds until slightly warm and runny.
  • Using a Microplane grater, gently grate the lemon, making sure to only grate the zest (the yellow part) and not the pith (the dense white part). Gather a ¼ tsp of the grated lemon zest and add it into the warmed honey and mix very well until well incorporated.
  • Peel the garlic and using the same grater, grate the garlic as well and mix it in with the honey and lemon.
  • Add the tarragon into the honey + lemon combo and mix well too.
  • Using paper towels, dry the salmon fillets well. When salmon fillets are dry, spoon on the honey + lemon + tarragon mixture onto each, making sure to coat the sides as well. By the way, this is when things can get messy!
  • Then, place the salmon fillets in an air fryer, set the temperature to 400 degrees, and set the time to 10 minutes. If the salmon fillets are thick, then set the timer to 12 minutes. When time is up, remove salmon fillets and make sure they are cooked through. If the fillets are thick, they will need longer to cook.
  • Season with salt and pepper and enjoy!
A plate with 2 fillets of honey lemon salmon - air fried to perfection.

Wondering what to pair these Air Fryer Honey Salmon fillets with?

If you want a light and healthy dinner, pair this Air Fryer Honey Salmon with:

This fig melon salmon,

This charred zucchini salad,

This broccoli salad, or

This Sautéed Asparagus Egg Salad

If you want a heavier meal, then pair this Air Fryer Honey Salmon with:

These cast iron potatoes and this ginger cardamom carrot sauté,

These turmeric potatoes and this Brussels Sprouts apple salad,

These miso glazed sweet potatoes and some roasted broccoli, or

This creamy butternut squash pasta.

Oven-baked option:

If you don’t have an air fryer, no worries.

You can still enjoy this Honey Salmon recipe. After you coat the salmon fillets with the mixture of honey + lemon + tarragon, place them on a parchment-lined baking tray.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and bake the salmon for 15-20 minutes – until the internal temperature at the thickest part of the salmon fillet reaches 145 degrees F.

A plate with 2 fillets of honey lemon salmon - air fried to perfection.

Easy Air Fryer Honey Salmon Recipe

Yield: 2 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

Five ingredients is all you need to have this delicious and super easy Air Fryer Honey Salmon on your dinner table! Pair it with a light salad for a quick and tasty weeknight dinner.

Ingredients

  • 2 Salmon Fillets
  • 1 Garlic clove
  • 2 tbsp Honey
  • 1/4 tsp Lemon zest
  • 1 tsp Tarragon

Instructions

  1. As frozen salmon fillets were used for this recipe, the first step is to thaw them.
  2. Then, place the honey in a microwave safe dish and heat in the microwave for 10 seconds until slightly warm and runny.
  3. Using a microplane grater, gently grate the lemon, making sure to only grate the zest (the yellow part) and not the pith (the dense white part). Gather a ¼ tsp of the grated lemon zest and add it into the warmed honey and mix very well until well incorporated.
  4. Peel the garlic and using the same grater, grate the garlic as well and mix it in with the honey and lemon.
  5. Add the tarragon into the honey + lemon combo and mix well too.
  6. Using paper towels, dry the salmon fillets well. When salmon fillets are dry, spoon on the honey + lemon + tarragon mixture onto each, making sure to coat the sides as well. By the way, this is when things can get messy!
  7. Then, place the salmon fillets in an air fryer, set temperature to 400 degrees and set time to 10 minutes. If the salmon fillets are thick, then set timer to 12 minutes. When time is up, remove salmon fillets and make sure they are cooked through. If the fillets are thick, they will need longer to cook.
  8. Season with salt and pepper and enjoy!

Notes

*If you don’t have an air fryer, no worries. You can still enjoy this Honey Salmon recipe. After you coat the salmon fillets with the mixture of honey + lemon + tarragon, place them on a parchment lined baking tray. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and bake the salmon for 15-20 minutes – until the internal temperature at the thickest part of the salmon fillet reaches 145 degrees F.

Nutrition Information
Yield 2 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 426Total Fat 28gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 20gSodium 140mgCarbohydrates 11gFiber 0gSugar 17gProtein 50g

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Sunday 21st of February 2021

[…] this healthy potato salad with:• Easy Chicken & Baby Bok Choy,• Easy Air Fryer Honey Salmon,• Za’atar Ras-el-hanout Chicken Spinach Dinner,• Spicy-Sweet Air Fryer Chicken […]

John / Kitchen Riffs

Wednesday 12th of August 2020

Frozen salmon is good stuff. Fresher than fresh, unless you live close to where the fishermen dock, of course. :-) Terrific looking recipe -- definitely my kind of dish. Thanks!

Alexandra

Tuesday 11th of August 2020

Delicious addition to a meal, this is perfect with a salad. Love the flavours, and how simple it is to prepare.

Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry

Tuesday 11th of August 2020

This honey salmon looks absolutely incredible! I love that just a handful of ingredients are needed too!

Chris Collins

Tuesday 11th of August 2020

Love a 20min meal! Especially when it looks this good!!

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