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The Fastest Weeknight Salmon Uses Your Air Fryer

A mostly hands-off meal ready in 30 minutes.
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Published July 6, 2022.

The Fastest Weeknight Salmon Uses Your Air Fryer

You’re probably familiar with how great air fryers are for cooking things like french fries and chicken wings. But did you know you can also use it to cook salmon?

In the newest episode of our YouTube series Today’s Special with Ashley Moore, she teaches you how to cook Air-Fryer Pistachio-Crusted Salmon with a pilaf-style couscous for a tasty dinner you’ll want to fit into your weeknight rotation. And what's more, the air fryer doesn't heat up your kitchen like an oven would.

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While she cooks, Ashley sprinkles helpful prep tips throughout: 

  • Amp up the crunch in the topping with panko instead of the sometimes dusty regular bread crumbs.
  • No pistachios? No problem. If you’ve got almonds on hand, those will work just fine.
  • Thick Greek yogurt acts a tangy “glue” to help the topping stick to the fillets (plus, it adds a nice acidity to balance the rich salmon).
  • Use a simple foil sling to make it easy to transfer your salmon fillets in and out of the air fryer.  
YouTube

Today's Special with Ashley Moore

In this delightful YouTube series, Ashley shares her favorite easy, fun, and family-friendly recipes and shortcuts.
Watch on YouTube

And that’s not all. While the air fryer does all the hard work, Ashley makes perfect couscous using the pilaf method of toasting the couscous in butter before adding broth and water. It’s the easiest side dish: the hardest part is melting the butter and stirring in the couscous (seriously, it’s that simple). The rest of the cooking time is completely hands-off—you just let the couscous rest and absorb the liquid off-heat.  

Ashley shows you how to time everything so the couscous is ready as soon as the salmon comes out of the air fryer, saving you time and ensuring everything gets to the table hot. And thanks to that foil sling, serving and cleanup are a breeze.

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