- December 30, 2022
- 30 Minute Meals
Tandoori Salmon Recipe
This Tandoori Salmon recipe features bold spices and a yogurt marinade for a tender, highly flavorful simple salmon dinner.
What’s not to love about salmon? Not only is it healthy and full of omega-3s, but it is also so yummy and versatile.
This Tandoori Salmon recipe features bold spices and a yogurt marinade for tender, highly flavorful salmon!
Cooked in your air fryer or in the oven, this salmon couldn’t be easier and is a healthy naturally low carb or keto friendly option for mixing up your dinner routine.
Why This Recipe Works:
Bold & Flavorful: This tandoori salmon recipe takes classic tandoori spices like Garam masala, ginger, and turmeric and mixes them with greek yogurt to add a tender, creamy flavor to the salmon. The bold flavors in this salmon recipe will make you forget that it is actually good for you!
Versatile: You can eat this tandoori salmon on top of a big bed of greens along with a homemade Tzatziki yogurt sauce, or on top of some steaming hot rice! If you are keeping it low carb, try eating it with some cauliflower rice and my Low Carb Flatbread!
“School” Supplies:
- Mixing Bowl
- Air Fryer (Or Oven)
- Baking Sheet
“Class” Notes:
Welcome to my virtual classroom! Use the guided notes below where I often answer commonly asked questions I get from readers and cooks just like you.
This information is meant to help you have a stronger understanding of this recipe and the process so you can find success all on your own.
Ready to begin cooking? Simply jump to the recipe card below and begin.
What Is Tandoori?
Tandoori is a way to describe Indian-style marinated meat that is cooked in a tandoor, which is a clay oven. Tandoori can be identified by the combination of spices along with yogurt to marinate a piece of meat. Generally, tandoori meat is cooked on a grill, but this tandoori style salmon is made easily in an air fryer or oven!
Ingredients:
This easy tandoori salmon recipe uses minimal ingredients to get that classic, bold tandoori flavor. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Salmon: Choose your favorite salmon filets, and remove the skin if desired. This salmon recipe can be used with the skin or without.
- Greek Yogurt: Greek yogurt serves as the base for our tandoori marinade.
- Spices: Garam Masala, Ginger, Aleppo Pepper, Black Pepper, Salt & Turmeric. Aleppo pepper is a spicy, red pepper that is typical in tandoori style food. If you don’t have Aleppo pepper on hand, you can replace it with cayenne pepper.
- Lemon Juice: Fresh lemon juice adds a bit of acidity and rounds out the flavors of the spices and yogurt. I recommend using fresh lemon juice and not bottled juice for this recipe.
- Olive Oil: A bit of olive oil adds extra fat and flavor and keeps the salmon from sticking to the air fryer basket.
Preparation and Cooking Instructions:
Tandoori salmon comes together easily in just a few steps! Here are the simple instructions:
- Make the Marinade: In a bowl, combine the greek yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, and all the spices. Whisk well to mix until it forms a thick paste. Set aside.
- Prep the Salmon: Remove the salmon filets from the packaging. Pat them dry with paper towels. Remove any pin bones and the skin if desired.
- Marinate the Salmon: Place the salmon filets in a bowl and coat them on all sides in the yogurt marinade mixture. Cover and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
- Preheat & Air Fry: Preheat the air fryer to 425 F. Remove the salmon from the fridge and discard any excess marinade, making sure to leave a thin layer of the yogurt mixture coating the salmon. Place the salmon into the air fryer basket and cook for 9 minutes or until each piece reaches an internal temperature of 145 F.
- Serve & Enjoy: Remove salmon from the air fryer, serve and enjoy!
Expert Tips:
- Make sure to pat the salmon dry with paper towels before marinating it, so that the marinade will stick to the salmon as much as possible!
- Marinate your salmon for at least 30 minutes in the fridge for the best flavor for this tandoori salmon recipe!
- Don’t like spicy? You can skip adding the Aleppo pepper or cayenne pepper if you are averse to spicy foods!
Frequently Asked Questions
If you don’t have an air fryer, you can use the oven for cooking this salmon up! Bake the salmon at 425 F for 12-15 minutes. Avoid pan searing the salmon since the yogurt may end up burning.
I like to buy wild caught salmon but you can also get farmed salmon that is high quality! Ask your butcher or local fish market which salmon is the best option depending on your budget.
More Salmon Recipes to Try:
- Easy Whole 30 Salmon Cakes
- Grilled Pistachio Sesame Salmon
- Easy Salmon Stir Fry
- Simple Air Fried Salmon
- Coconut Crusted Salmon with Chimichurri
Tandoori Salmon Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 Salmon Fillets skin optional
Marinade
- 1/2 cup Greek Yogurt plain
- 1 tsp. Garam Masala
- 1 tsp. Ginger
- 1 tsp. Aleppo Pepper or cayenne
- 1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
- 1/2 tsp. Salt
- 1/2 tsp. Tumeric
- 1 tbsp. Lemon Juice
- 1 tbsp. Olive Oil
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine the Greek yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil and all the spices.
- Whisk it well to combine until it forms a slightly thick paste. Set it aside.
- Remove the salmon fillets from the packaging. Pat them dry with paper towels. Remove any pin bones and the skin if desired.
- Place the salmon fillets in a bowl and coat them on all sides in the yogurt marinade mixture. Cover and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
- Preheat an air fryer to 425 F.
- Remove the salmon from the fridge and discard any excess marinade. You do want a thin layer of the yogurt mixture coating the salmon however.
- Place the salmon into the air fryer basket and cook for 9 minutes or until each piece reaches an internal temperature of 145 F.
- Remove from the air fryer and serve and enjoy.