This herb-crusted salmon is just one of the many, many salmon recipes<\/a> on the site, a sign of its sheer versatility. This recipe stands out, though, because of its elegant simplicity. It\u2019s topped with a mixture of herbs and fresh bread crumbs, and then baked until the crumbs are golden and the salmon is cooked. It comes together in under 30 minutes, so it\u2019s quick enough for weeknight meals and pretty enough for company.<\/p>\n
Heat your oven to 400\u00b0F. In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs with the herbs, garlic, lemon zest, salt, lemon-pepper seasoning and paprika. Toss the flavored crumbs with the melted butter until the butter is evenly distributed throughout the mixture.<\/p>\n
Spray a 15×10-inch baking pan lightly with pan spray. Arrange the salmon portions in the pan, skin side down. Top them with the crumb mixture, patting it gently into place without compressing the crumbs unnecessarily. Bake the salmon until the crumbs are golden brown and the fish just begins to flake easily when tested with a fork, 12 to 15 minutes.<\/p>\n
Any leftover salmon should be refrigerated as soon as possible in an airtight food-safe storage container.<\/p>\n
Sadly, this isn\u2019t a good candidate for advanced prep. The crumb topping will never have quite the same texture when it\u2019s reheated, and it\u2019s difficult to reheat the salmon without overcooking it. It\u2019s already a quick recipe, at 30 minutes or less, depending on how quickly you work, so if time is an issue, you\u2019d be better off choosing side dishes<\/a> you can make ahead. If you prepare the crumb topping ahead of time as well and have your oven hot and ready to go, you can simply top the salmon and pop it straight into the oven for its 12- to-15-minute cooking time.<\/p>\n
With fish dishes, you should always plan to eat any leftovers within 2 to 3 days at most. Pack the salmon into a food-safe storage container with a tight-fitting lid as soon as possible after the meal. Reheating your salmon in an oven or toaster oven (or even your air fryer) rather than a microwave helps restore the crumbs\u2019 texture and makes the reheated dish more pleasurable to eat.<\/p>\n
In general, breaded foods cook beautifully in the air fryer. They come out crispy and golden, but with less fat than they\u2019d have if they were fried. Unfortunately, this specific recipe isn\u2019t \u201cbreaded\u201d in the usual sense, with egg or milk bonding a thin layer of crumbs to the meat or fish. The pile of loose, fluffy crumbs on these salmon fillets is more likely to blow all over your air fryer. You may find that adding another teaspoon or two of butter helps keep the crumbs from scattering too badly, but the placement and power of your air fryer\u2019s fan is ultimately what will determine if you\u2019re successful. In the end, it may just be simpler to make something like this air fryer salmon<\/a> recipe, which has no breading.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not hard, really. You just start with a couple of slices of fresh or day-old bread, or even some hot dog or hamburger buns left over from your last cookout. Tear them apart by hand, shred them with a pair of forks, or pulse them in your food processor until you have loose, fluffy bread crumbs<\/a>.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re not a fan of the fish skin, you can skip it and use skinless portions. You should still put them in the pan with the skin (flat) side down, for the correct appearance. It\u2019s worth noting that the skin helps your cooked portions hold together as you lift them from the pan. It may be worth buying them skin-on, and just leaving the skin on your plate as you eat. Remember that the skin is rich in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids<\/a>, so it\u2019s not something to lightly discard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"