Air Fryer BBQ Salmon [+Video]

Impress your friends and family with this easy and flavorful BBQ salmon recipe in the air fryer. With just a few simple ingredients, you can create a delicious and healthy dish that everyone will love.

When you cook salmon fillets in the air fryer, the edges getting all crispy and delicious while center stays flaky and moist. It’s so fabulous! It only takes 3 quick (less than 15 minutes!) and easy steps to make this no hassle salmon recipe!

Ingredients for Air Fryer BBQ Salmon

You will only need 5 ingredients to make these air fryer salmon fillets and there is practically no measuring needed! This is the perfect recipe for a busy weeknight when you still want to eat something healthy. Here is what you will need:

• Salmon Fillets
• BBQ Rub or Honey Hog BBQ Rub
• Butter
• BBQ Sauce
• Honey

The details for all the ingredients can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.

How to Make BBQ Salmon in the Air Fryer

1. Prep: Preheat the air fryer and rub the fillets with the BBQ rub and butter (or olive oil).
2. Cook: Place the salmon filets in the air fryer skin side down and cook for 7-9 minutes. Time may vary based on the size of the fillets and the size of your air fryer.
3. Serve: Brush some barbecue sauce and honey on top and serve!

These instructions can also be found in the recipe card down below. The recipe can also be saved or printed from there.

Watch How to Make Airfryer Salmon

Do You Season Both Sides?

Only the flesh side of the salmon fillet needs to be seasoned since we cook the salmon with the skin on but we won’t eat the skin. And don’t hold back on the seasoning! I love my salmon with lots of flavor!

Do You Remove Salmon Skin Before Cooking?

I always cook salmon with the skin on. It’s almost like a little protective barrier in the air fryer to keep the salmon from getting dried out. Once it is cooked, it is super easy to remove the skin and serve it.

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Foil Baked Mustard Maple Bacon Salmon

Tender flaky salmon wrapped in bacon and glazed with a garlic maple mustard sauce, this baked salmon recipe is sensational! You have to try it!

My friend Megan swears by her dad’s salmon and bacon. I only like salmon when it’s got enough flavor to mask the fact that it’s actually fish. Bacon to the rescue! Everything is better with bacon!

My friend Janet makes a good one, and I love a few of our own recipes like our Salmon Bowls and Asian Sticky Salmon, but when Megan said there was bacon in her dad’s recipe, I was so intrigued!

If you have been an OSB follower for long, you will know that I am not a seafood person. It’s just not my thing. Even salmon…I have been trying to love salmon for years, and I have to say that this baked maple mustard salmon has won me over!

Recommended Equipment

• Baking Sheet
• Whisk

Before You Begin…

Grab four sheets of foil that are big enough to wrap each of your fillets in and lay 2 slices of bacon vertically on each piece of foil.

How to Pick Good Fresh Salmon

Buying salmon at the grocery store can be intimidating, but it doesn’t need to be! There are a few things to look for…

• Smell – good fresh salmon should not have a fishy smell
• Color – vibrant, deep shades of red/coral/pink is what you are after and there shouldn’t be any brown spots anywhere on the fillet
• Appearance – it should look moist and not dried out
• Touch – when you gently press the salmon, it should bounce back and not leave an indentation

What Do I Need to Make This Baked Salmon Recipe?

All the ingredients are easy to find and create the most amazing flavor. Here is what you will need:

• Salmon Fillets
• Lemon
• Kosher Salt
• Pepper
• Olive Oil Mayonnaise
• Maple Syrup: Grade A
• Garlic
• Dijon Mustard
• Yellow Onion
• Bacon
• Thyme: or parsley

The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card. You can also print and save the recipe there.

How to Make Baked Maple Salmon

1. Prep: Preheat the oven, get foil pieces ready and place the bacon on each piece of foil. Season the salmon fillets.
2. Sauce: Whisk all the ingredients of the sauce together and pour the sauce on each fillet.
3. Assemble: Top the fillets with the onions and wrap the bacon around the fillets. Fold the foil around each piece of salmon.
4. Bake: Place the sheet pan in the oven and bake, then open the foil and change the oven to broil to crisp up the top for about a minute.
5. Season: Sprinkle each fillet with fresh herbs and serve!

The complete instructions for making this recipe can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post. Keep scrolling for all the details.

Salmon marinated with balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and fresh ginger creates one of the most flavorful salmon dishes I’ve ever tasted. For a number of years, this was the only seafood meal to consistently receive two thumbs up from my entire family.

Balsamic Salmon

For years, I simply prepared fish by sprinkling it with salt and pepper and then drizzling it with a bit of oil and lemon. We didn’t eat it often enough that I ever felt the need to play with different recipes. I wish I’d known then that there were so many other options!

Over the past ten years or so, my family has eaten more seafood than we would have imagined possible a few years ago. (This happens when your husband is fortunate enough to bring home 100 pounds of fresh fish from Alaska!)

For anyone who is not a big fan of fish for the sake of fish, a marinade is an excellent option for adding more flavors and changing the overwhelming “fish-factor” in the meal. I played with a couple different salmon and balsamic vinegar combinations before running across this one and let me tell you, it is a keeper.

When I made this last week, it was voted “two thumbs up and the best salmon ever” by my oldest two boys. The fact that my youngest ate every bite of his without pausing for chatter is huge praise all by itself.

Baked Salmon with Ginger and Soy Sauce

A simple marinade is a perfect way to impart different flavors to any dish. Salmon is one that does extremely well with a marinade. For this flavorful version whisk together olive oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, honey, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, and salt.

The balsamic, honey, red pepper flakes, and other ingredients create a sticky, sweet heat, Asian-inspired flavor combination.

Pour it ove

This creamy Smoked Salmon Chowder is filled with carrots, onions, celery, garlic, wine, and a hint of bacon. With thyme and dill added as well, this is a memorably rich and flavorful chowder. If you enjoy smoked salmon, you will love this chowder.

Smoked Salmon Chowder

My husband’s trips to Alaska always result in a freezer full of fish, especially smoked salmon. Its smoked salty goodness is perfect for snacking, lox, and making some of our favorite dishes like this chowder.

It’s been a few years since he was there though, so I’m thinking it’s about time to plan another visit. Pretty sure he won’t mind taking that trip in the interest of more recipe work. This smoked salmon soup is reason enough for me.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been ten years since my sisters and I met in Seattle for a getaway weekend. It was rainy and drizzling almost the entire time and we still had a fabulous three days.

The food I remember most clearly of all was the clam chowder that we ate after spending the morning at Pike Place Market.

This salmon chowder reminds me of that day and as a result, I find myself grinning every time I make it. It’s definitely time for another sister trip.

When I saw my friend Larry share this recipe, I immediately printed it to try. (And I made it just a few days later too!)

The chowder was a hit from the very first bite and we’ve made it numerous times over the years since then. The recipe below has been lightly adapted from and with thanks to Boundary Bay Brewery via Big Dude’s Ramblings.

The flavors in this chowder come from white wine, smoked salmon, and dill. They pair together so very well. For the white wine in this chowder, I’ve found that chardonnay goes best with the rich creamy base.

Not a fan of seafood? I recommend trying this Baked Potato Soup for a creamy rich soup that is guaranteed to make everyone smile. Either one of these soups is a memorable first course or a full meal by itself depending o

Quick and Healthy Teriyaki Salmon Rice Bowl

Tender chunks of teriyaki glazed salmon over a bed of fluffy rice topped with a sweet chili mayo, and you can add whatever toppings you want! These Quick and Healthy teriyaki salmon rice bowls will be your new favorite dinner!

Our daughter is really trying to learn to like fish and I’m secretly trying to as well. I rarely tell our kids that I don’t like something because I don’t want to hold them back, but seeing as how some seafood is hard for me to gag down, well it’s pretty obvious how I feel about it. The other day I was checking out Oshen Salmon and trying to decide if I should give it a whirl when the image of teriyaki salmon burst into my mind.

If ever you don’t like something, put a sauce on it.

And the funny thing is, I’m actually really starting to love salmon!!

So, friends, yay or nay to more salmon recipes?

I’ve mentioned before that I am not a sushi lover. Cade loves it, but I just can’t get behind it. If you’re like me, then this bowl is a great compromise! It has a lot of the signature sushi flavors (rice, salmon, a sweet chili mayo, sesame seeds, cucumber), but without the fish being raw and no seaweed. Winning! Though you can add seaweed on the side if you’re into that sort of thing! 🤢

When all is said and done, this salmon rice bowl is perfect for lunch or dinner and hey, maybe it will even sway you into the world of seafood like it is for me. Kind of, I’m still not behind oysters!

What is a Salmon Rice Bowl?

We love rice bowls in our family! Have you tried our cilantro lime chicken burrito bowl?? Or our Read more