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Short-Order Kitchen

Air Fryer Pesto Salmon with Blistered Tomatoes

By Wes Ellis2 min read
A salmon fillet with a green herb topping on a plate with roasted vegetables, beets and creamed spinach.
Recipe card
Servings
1
Prep
5 minutes
Cook
10 to 12 minutes
Method
Air fryer
Heat
375°F to 400°F air fryer
Difficulty
Easy
Jump to ingredients & directions ↓

Part 8 of the thread Air fryer weeknights

THE SHORT VERSION4 points
  • One tablespoon of pesto is the whole sauce.
  • Tomatoes go in around the fish and blister in the same time.
  • 375°F to 400°F for 10 to 12 minutes, check at 10.
  • Serve over whatever carb you've got: noodles, rice, potatoes.
THE RECIPE · AIR FRYER PESTO SALMON WITH BLISTERED TOMATOES

Ingredients

You'll need

  • Air fryer
  • Small bowl
  • Spoon or brush

Directions

Prep

  1. Pat the salmon dry and spread the pesto evenly over the top.
  2. Rinse the tomatoes. If you like, toss them with a light spray of oil, salt and pepper.
  3. Heat the air fryer to 400°F, or 375°F if the tomatoes are going in alongside the fish from the start.

Cook

  1. Set the salmon in the basket and scatter the tomatoes around it.
  2. Air fry 10 to 12 minutes. Check at 10: the salmon should flake easily or read 145°F, and the tomatoes should be soft and blistered.
  3. Serve with the cooked carb of your choice, spooning the tomatoes and their juices over the top.
Notes Leftovers keep 2 days in the fridge, together or apart. Reheat gently in the microwave or air fryer. Roughly 390 calories and 41 g protein per serving, give or take.

wesellis.com/blog/air-fryer-pesto-salmon/

A spoonful of jarred pesto does an unreasonable amount of work here. It seasons the fish, keeps the top from drying out, and browns a little at the edges. Add a handful of cherry tomatoes to the basket and you've made a sauce without making a sauce.

Let the tomatoes pop

Whole cherry tomatoes blister and slump in the air fryer's dry heat, and a few will split open and leak sweet, concentrated juice into the basket. That's what you want. Spoon it all over the salmon and whatever's underneath. Leave them whole; halved tomatoes just dry out.

If the tomatoes aren't blistered by the time the fish is done, pull the salmon and give them two or three more minutes alone.

Tip

Running at 375°F instead of 400°F keeps the pesto's basil from scorching on thin fillets. Go hotter if your fillet is thick.

What to put under it

Anything starchy that'll soak up tomato juice. Leftover rice, a scoop of pasta, sliced potatoes. The pesto-and-crispy-topping idea also shows up in Air Fryer Chicken Bellagio, and if you want to cook vegetables in the same basket instead of tomatoes, look at Herbed Salmon and Veggies.

Try this

Double the pesto and do chicken instead. The Pesto Chicken Bake is the oven version of the same idea.

LINKED FROM2 notes

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