Teriyaki Salmon in Air Fryer

I make amazing Teriyaki Salmon in my Air Fryer, and it’s so good! This is my husband’s favorite way of eating salmon. And one of my favorite quick and easy recipes for busy weeknights.

I live in Seattle, and if you’re not familiar, this city is very well known for Teriyaki. Teriyaki is originally from Japan, though we Seattleites are obsessed with teriyaki. There are so many teriyaki restaurants in my area and I can confidently say that I have had my fair share of Teriyaki dinners. So when you say you need to make good Teriyaki Salmon in your Air Fryer, trust me, I’ve got you!!

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Home-made Teriyaki Sauce for Salmon

I make the teriyaki sauce from scratch because it’s so much easier than you think. And it tastes so much better than store-bought. I always find store-bought Teriyaki sauce too salty. It is also too liquidy, so I can never use it as a glaze for my salmon or other meat. Truly, that glaze I add at the end takes the salmon to a whole new level. I can never get that from store-bought Teriyaki sauce.

The sauce I made is very simple. I use:

• Light soy sauce or regular soy sauce
• Sodium free, sugar free Rice vinegar (a good substitute would be – apple cider vinegar)
• sugar (white or brown sugar), or you can use honey too. For every 1 tbsp of sugar, use 3/4 tbsp honey
• Toasted sesame oil. This adds the smokiness to the sauce
• Corn starch – helps with thickening the sauce as well as makes the sauce glossier
• Water. You need to dilute this to serve with salmon. Otherwise, it could be a little too salty.
• Garlic and ginger powder – You can use fresh garlic and ginger too but then keep in mind the sauce will have small pieces of ginger and garlic in it.

All you have to do is mix them up, then heat in a small saucepan for a couple of minutes until the sauce thickens. Simple as that. This works really well as a teriyaki glaze for other meats as well. If you need it as a marinade, you can use it without heating.

Salmon with Store-bought Teriyaki Sauce

Though I highly encourage making the sauce at home, I totally understand if you want to use a store-bought teriyaki sauce. It is very convenient when you want to make Teriyaki Salmon in a hurry. Or don’t want to buy or can’t find all those ingredients to make the sauce.

I find most of the store-bought teriyaki sauce too salty. So if you’re looking to buy one, I recommend getting a low-salt/ reduce-salt teriyaki sauce such as this ‘Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki Less Sodium Marinade and Sauce‘

I also find it to be too runny. In that case, add about 1 tsp of corn starch dissolved in 2 tbsp of water, for 1/2 cup of sauce. Heat it until the sauce thickens. This works much better as a glaze or a dipping sauce than using Teriyaki sauce straight out of the bottle.

Cooking Time for Teriyaki Salmon in Air Fryer

Air Fryer cooking time may vary depending on the air-fryer brand/model as well as the thickness of the salmon fillets you use. I use my Cosori Air Fryer and for me it takes roughly about 8 minutes total (375°F – 6 mins and 390°F – 2 minutes after applying the glaze. Please use this as a base when you cook your salmon fillets. Always check the doneness with your instant thermometer. Cooked temperature for Salmon is 145°F. You can stop cooking salmon when it reaches 140°F, and the temperature will continue to rise up as you let the salmon fillets rest.

Serving Ideas with Teriyaki Salmon

I love a good rice bowl with Teriyaki Salmon. I usually serve it with Jasmine rice or brown rice, along with some steamed or roasted vegetables, and more teriyaki sauce on the side.

You can also serve it with a side salad such as Asian coleslaw. Perfect for lunches.

Teriyaki salmon also goes well with fried rice or noodles.

Print Recipe

Teriyaki Salmon in Air Fryer

Author: Roshani Wickramasinghe Cooking Method: Air Frying, Simmering Cuisine: Asian Recipes, Famous Across multiple cuisines, Japanese Recipe Keys: Dairy Free Gluten Free

Difficulty: Beginner Prep Time 5 mins Cook Time 12 mins Rest Time 10 mins Total Time 27 mins

Servings: 4

Description

Better-than-restaurant Teriyaki Salmon in your Air Fryer with just a few minutes of prep and cook time. Perfect for a weeknight dinner when you want something special yet easy to make.

Ingredients

Servings

• ¹⁄₄ Cups Light or regular soy sauce

• 1 tbsp Rice Vinegar (sodium and sugar free)

• 3 tbsp Granulated white sugar or brown sugar

• ¹⁄₂ tsp Toasted Sesame oil

• 2 tbsp Water

• 1 tsp Corn starch

• ¹⁄₈ tsp Garlic powder (optional)

• ¹⁄₈ tsp Ginger powder (optional)

• 4 Salmon pieces - roughly 5 oz (140g) each

• Oil spray to spray the air fryer basket

• 1 tsp Sesame seeds (optional)

Instructions

1. Make marinade

   Mix soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, water, cornstarch, garlic powder, and ginger powder in a bowl. Make sure all the cornstarch lumps are dissolved.

   

2. Marinate salmon

   Pat the salmon pieces dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture. Take only 2 tablespoons from the marinade and mix with the salmon pieces. Let it marinate for 10 minutes.

   

3. Make the teriyaki sauce

   Pour the remaining marinade into a small saucepan and heat it on low. Once it starts to thicken into a thin, sauce-like consistency (about 1–2 minutes), turn off the heat. It will continue to thicken slightly as it cools. 

   

4. Air Fry Salmon

   Spray the air-fryer basket with oil. Lay the salmon pieces in one layer, skin-side down. Air Fry for 6 minutes at 375°F / 190°C. 

   

5. Glaze and air-fry again

   Then take about 1 - 2 tbsp of the teriyaki sauce you made. Brush it over the salmon with a silicone brush. Air fry for another 2 - 3 minutes at 390°F / 200°C. Check the doneness of salmon using an instant-read thermometer. The internal temperature should reach 140F. It will continue to rise slightly as the salmon pieces rest.

   

6. Serve

   Sprinkle some sesame seeds on the top. Serve salmon pieces warm with more Teriyaki sauce on the side, or pour about 2 tsp of sauce on top. 

   

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