Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Salmon Caesar Salad

Change your salad up! Add Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Salmon to your classic Caesar salad. So much flavor and so much nutrition!

Nothing Complicated Here. Just Your Typical Caesar Salad—Amped up With a Tender and Flaky Fillet of Salmon!

I love adding a hearty grilled protein to a salad, whether it be a nice juicy steak like with Greek steak salad or my grilled tuna steak salad. Caesar salad is commonly paired with grilled chicken—like, on menus everywhere.

But in an effort to shake things up, I decided to add a tender and flaky fillet of lemon pepper salmon that was crisped up in the air fryer, resulting in a salmon Caesar salad that can’t miss.

This combo delivers a healthy and substantial dinner with a pop of citrus, thanks to the lemon pepper seasoning. I kept things pretty simple otherwise, with chopped croutons, fresh parmesan shavings, and cracked pepper.

The result? A salad worth repeating.

All You Need Are a Few Simple Ingredients.

We haven’t changed much about the actual Caesar salad here. The big shift is with the fillet of salmon, and even that is super simple to prepare!

Depending on preference, you could use a homemade Caesar dressing, but a good quality store bought dressing is fine. Same goes for the croutons. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:

• Romaine lettuce
• Big buttery air fryer croutons
• Homemade Caesar dressing
• Lemon wedges
• Fresh Parmesan or Pecorino Romano
• Cracked black pepper
• Salmon fillets
• Avocado or olive oil
• Lemon pepper seasoning

How to Make Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Salmon Caesar Salad.

1. Take the salmon fillets out of the fridge and let them come to room temperature; this allows for a more even cook.
2. In the meantime, prepare the salad. Put your clean chopped lettuce into a large bowl, drizzle a bit of Caesar dressing over the lettuce (about a tablespoon to start), and toss to coat. Add more if desired.
3. Chop up some croutons and sprinkle them over the salad.
4. Shave some parmesan over the salad and give everything another quick toss. Crack some pepper over the salad and set it aside.
5. Pat the salmon fillets dry with paper towels. Brush them all over—be generous with oil on the skin so it crisps—with a bit of avocado or olive oil, and then season with the lemon pepper seasoning. (Most lemon pepper seasonings will include salt, so you won’t need to sprinkle your own over the fillets.) Give the seasoning a good rub/pat over the fillets.
6. Place the fillets into the air fryer basket skin-side down and air fry at 375º F for 6-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets. A fillet that is 1-inch thick should be ready at the 8-minute mark. Check the internal temperature at the 6 minute mark to be safe; you don’t want to overcook the fillets, or they will be dry. You want an internal temperature of 145º F.
7. Plate the salads, and when the salmon is ready, transfer each of the fillets to a salad plate, topping the salad.
8. Serve with lemon wedges for a fresh spritz of lemon juice before digging in!

Equipment You’ll Need:

• Air Fryer
• Meat Thermometer
• Sharp knife
• Cutting Board
• Mixing Bowls
• Measuring spoons
• Tongs
• Vegetable peeler (perfect for shaving Parmesan!)

Recipe Tips + Tricks.

1. Give your lemon pepper seasoning a little taste taste before seasoning your salmon to check the saltiness. Most lemon pepper seasonings will be salted enough, so you won’t have to salt your fillets. But you want to be sure! If the seasoning isn’t salty enough, go ahead and sprinkle a bit over your salmon fillets after brushing them with the oil.
2. Serving the salmon skin-on or skin-off is a personal preference. The skin actually offers up the highest concentration of omega-3 fatty acids on the fish, so it’s something I like to keep in the mix. But if you can’t stomach it, remove it after the salmon’s been cooked (it detaches much more easily).
3. Be generous with the oil when brushing the salmon skin so that it crisps in the air fryer; dry salmon skin will burn and stick to the basket.
4. For easier cleanup, you can line your air fryer basket with tin foil. I don’t bother with this since I like to give my air fryer basket a good scrubbing anyway, but it does simplify cleaning a little bit.

More Awesome Salmon Recipe You Need to Try:

• Caramelized Orange Ginger Air Fryer Salmon
• Sheet Pan Salmon with Moroccan Apricot Glaze
• Pan-Seared Salmon with Maple Curry Butter
• Easy Poached Salmon Fillets in Tomato Wine Sauce

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5 from 7 votes

Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Salmon Caesar Salad

By: Dana Sandonato

Change your salad up! Add Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Salmon to your classic Caesar salad. So much flavor and so much nutrition!

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes minutes

Total Time: 18 minutes minutes

Servings: 2 people

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Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 2 6 oz fillets of salmon
• ▢ 2 TBSP avocado or olive oil
• ▢ 1 TBSP lemon pepper seasoning, more if needed
• ▢ 3 Romaine hearts, rinsed, dried, and roughly chopped
• ▢ 1 TBSP Caesar dressing, more if needed
• ▢ 1 cup roughly chopped buttery croutons
• ▢ Parmesan or Pecorino-Romano shavings (about 1/3 cup, give or take)
• ▢ Cracked black pepper
• ▢ Lemon wedges, for serving

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Instructions 

• Remove the salmon fillets from the fridge and set them on out on the counter, letting them come to room temperature. This will allow for an even cook.
• Place lettuce into a large bowl, spoon about a tablespoon of Caesar dressing over it, and toss to coat; add more dressing if you wish.
• Chop up the croutons and place them over the salad; shave some parmesan over the salad, crack some pepper on to it, and give everything another brief toss; set the salad aside.
• Pat the salmon fillets with paper towels. Brush them with avocado or olive oil—be generous with oil on the skin so the skin crisps up nicely. Then season with the lemon pepper seasoning (most lemon pepper seasonings will include salt, so you won't need to sprinkle your own over the fillets.) Give the seasoning a good rub/pat over the fillets.
• Pop the fillets into the air fryer basket, skin-side down, and air fry at 375º F for 6-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets. (A fillet that is 1-inch thick should be ready at the 8-minute mark.) Check the internal temperature at the 6 minute mark to be safe; you don't want to overcook the fillets, or they'll be dry. The ideal internal temperature of 145º F.
• Plate the salads and, when the salmon is ready, transfer each of the fillets to a salad.
• Serve with lemon wedges.

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