Air Fryer Salmon Patties Recipe

When it comes to easy, quick dinner recipes, you might instantly think of your air fryer–and with good reason! Air fryers have simplified cooking for lots of people, with their quick cook times and penchant for getting food nice and crispy on the outside. 

Because they preheat quickly and are much smaller than traditional ovens, air fryers have become a go-to for those who want to cook a delicious–but easy–meal. Recipe developer, chef, and food blogger Christina Musgrave from Tasting With Tina has crafted such an amazing air fryer salmon patties recipe that it's never been easier to do just that. 

From start to finish, these salmon patties take less than 20 minutes to make and are packed with tasty ingredients. If you love seafood, but don't like the hassle of cooking fresh fish (or the cost!), these air fryer salmon patties will simplify your dinner routine without sacrificing flavor. Musgrave notes that these patties are great for a quick weeknight meal, so if that's what you're looking for, here's how to make them. 

Before you can get started on making your air fryer salmon patties, you'll first need to gather the right ingredients. You'll want a couple of cans of pink salmon, an egg, panko breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, black pepper, paprika, and fresh lemon wedges for serving. Musgrave notes that while the recipe does call for canned salmon, you can easily use cooked and shredded fresh salmon if you happen to have any leftovers on hand. And, of course, you'll need your trusty air fryer to cook the salmon patties to delicious and crispy perfection!

Once you have your ingredients sorted out, you can get going on your air fryer salmon patties. Grab a large bowl and start adding your ingredients, starting with the star of the show: the canned salmon. Make sure that your salmon is deboned and drained before adding it to the bowl. 

From there, go ahead and add in your egg, breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, black pepper, and paprika. Mix these ingredients until they're thoroughly combined. You'll want to keep from overmixing, so there'll still be plenty of delicious salmon chunks in each bite, but mixed enough so that each ingredient will be evenly distributed within each patty.

Now that you have your salmon patty "batter" prepared, you can go ahead and form them into patties, shaping the batter in your hands so each patty is about 1-inch thick. You can use a measuring cup to measure out the batter, or you can eyeball it to form patties around the size in the picture. 

You should have enough batter to make about six to eight salmon patties, depending on how big or small you want to make them. 

It wouldn't be an air fryer recipe without the beloved air fryer, would it? Now that you have your salmon patties prepared and measured out, you can prepare your air fryer for cooking. Go ahead and spray the basket of your air fryer with non-stick cooking spray and allow it to preheat to 400 F. 

If you've worked with air fryers before, then you'll know that they preheat quickly. And while you technically don't need to preheat the air fryer, it'll help ensure that your salmon patties cook more evenly once they hit that basket.

Once your air fryer is preheated, go ahead and place your salmon patties into the basket and then cook them for about eight minutes or until they're golden brown. Then, you can pull them out, and serve them along with fresh lemon wedges. 

Musgrave notes that these patties pair wonderfully with a salad or French fries. And a lemon aioli, mustard, or tartar sauce are all great dipping options. Not only is this recipe super easy to make, but it requires minimal ingredients and effort, making the question of what to make for dinner after a busy day just a little bit easier to answer!

Any leftovers will keep for three to four days in the fridge, and you can always re-crisp them in the air fryer.