Salmon is a good choice if you’re wanting to add more protein to add to your diet. It’s high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are polyunsaturated healthy fats that can promote heart health. I regularly buy various fresh salmon options from Aldi, and one of my family’s favorites is the Mediterranean herb salmon. We also like just about any of the fresh unseasoned salmon choices at Aldi, and I season them with a special salmon rub before baking or air frying them.
In fact, air frying has become my preferred way of cooking salmon. It doesn’t splatter oil like when I cook salmon in a skillet on the stovetop, and it cooks more evenly than the stovetop method. Cooking salmon in the air fryer rather than in my oven frees up my oven if I want to bake other side dishes. The air fryer has the added benefit of not heating up my house like the oven does when the weather is hot.
So I was intrigued when I saw Aldi selling salmon in a “air fry friendly tray” as a limited-time special. These are single-serving salmon portions that literally cook in their own included small trays, making for convenient cooking and easy cleanup. This salmon comes in two flavors: Maple Bourbon Bacon or Brown Sugar. I bought one of each to try for some quick and easy lunches at home.
This Fremont Fish Market Atlantic Salmon with Air Fryer Friendly Tray is an Aldi Find, so it’s only in stores for a short time. Each store gets one shipment, and after that sells out, it’s gone unless Aldi decides to bring it back later. You can’t order this online from Aldi if it’s sold out at your local store.
This cost $3.99 for a 4-ounce, single-serving package at the time of publication. That’s about $1 an ounce.
If you’re looking out for allergens, naturally this contains fish (salmon).
This salmon was farm raised, as almost all Atlantic salmon is because this specific salmon species is endangered in the wild because of habitat destruction and overfishing. Whether you prefer wild-caught or Atlantic salmon may be a matter of personal choice. This Aldi salmon does bear the Best Aquaculture Practices seal for “safe, responsible and ethical farm-raised seafood.” The label also notes the salmon was processed in the U.S.
The packages have directions for air frying these from frozen. Remove the plastic film from the tray and place the tray with fish in the air fryer. Cook the salmon at 375 degrees for 15-17 minutes or until it reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees. Carefully remove the tray from the air fryer. The tray will be hot. Let stand for 2 minutes and serve.
The packages also note that while every effort has been made to remove the bones from these products, incidental bones may remain, so use caution when eating.
I air fried these separately in my 6-quart Ambiano Air Fryer from Aldi. They each took 17 minutes to come to an internal temperature of 145 degrees in the center of the fillets. That’s longer than it usually takes to air fry other types of salmon I’ve cooked in the past, so I was a little concerned about whether these might dry out. They came out a bit dark on some of the edges, but the interior was moist and tender. Also, these have the skin removed.
Keep reading for more information about each salmon flavor.
Fremont Fish Market Maple Bourbon Bacon Air Fryer Salmon:
Maple Bourbon Bacon salmon after air frying.
This was probably my favorite flavor of the two options. It has good maple flavor but doesn’t taste overly sweet, and I like how this flavor is different from what’s in most store-bought salmon rubs.
Maple Bourbon Bacon Salmon nutrition information, ingredients, and air fryer instructions. (Click to enlarge.)
Ingredients are Atlantic salmon (with color added), sugar, natural and artificial flavors including maple and bourbon, maltodextrin, sea salt, and spices. It would be helpful to know what “spices” are used in this.
This does have some added sugars. One serving, or one full container, has 260 calories, 13 grams of total fat (17% DV), 3 grams of saturated fat (15% DV), 380 mg of sodium (17% DV), 13 grams of total carbohydrates (5% DV), no fiber, 10 grams of added sugars (20% DV), and 20 grams of protein.
Fremont Fish Market Brown Sugar Air Fryer Salmon:
Brown Sugar salmon after air frying.
The rest of my family liked this flavor the best, as evidenced by the fact that this one disappeared faster. This has a mild brown sugar flavor that reminds me of some of the salmon rubs I buy at the grocery store, which often include brown sugar.
Brown Sugar Salmon nutrition information, ingredients, and air fryer instructions. (Click to enlarge.)
Ingredients are Atlantic salmon (with color added), brown sugar, sea salt, and spices. Again, it would be useful if we knew what “spices” are in this.
This also has some added sugars. One serving, or one full container, has 260 calories, 13 grams of total fat (17% DV), 3 grams of saturated fat (15% DV), 470 mg of sodium (20% DV), 13 grams of total carbohydrates (5% DV), no fiber, 12 grams of added sugars (24% DV), and 20 grams of protein.
The Verdict:
Fremont Fish Market Air Fryer Salmon is sold in Maple Bourbon Bacon or Brown Sugar flavors. These single serving meals cook in their own paper-based trays in the air fryer, making for easy cleanup. They come out the air fryer moist and tender, and we like the flavors.
I purchased each flavor but only tried the brown sugar one so far. I air fried per instructions at 375°F at the minimum time of 15 minutes. The salmon was very dark around the edges and was, to my taste, dry and overdone (but no bones). Even though the salmon was overcooked it still had a nice flavor and texture. I have another package of each of the flavors so next cook I will try a shorter fryer time.