For Instant Pot and pressure cooker aficionados out there, we have amazing news: not only can you enjoy cooked salmon in your beloved pots, but there are various ways to go about it. The best thing about using an Instant Pot or pressure cooker is that cook time doesn't really matter. You can bet that pretty much any wild salmon recipe can come together in under 20 minutes — if not half that time! — when you’re cooking under pressure.
If you don’t own a pressure cooker or an Instant Pot yet, these recipes are so ridiculously easy that you might end up running out to buy one.
Why Pressure Cookers are a Game Changer for Cooking Salmon
When it comes to cooking salmon, Instant Pots and pressure cookers make meal prep and cooking fast and easy without sacrificing taste and nutrition. These appliances can dramatically cut cooking times, turning a frozen piece of salmon into a delicious meal in just a few minutes.
Want to see how easy pressure cooking salmon is? Read on for some Instant Pot inspiration for quick and easy meals that you can pressure cook with wild Alaskan salmon, all without breaking a sweat.
Cook Salmon in an Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker with These Easy Recipes
1. Easy Instant Pot Salmon Recipe
This recipe for Instant Pot Salmon is a blank salt-and-pepper slate for wild salmon fillets, cooked perfectly and effortlessly. Eat as is alongside a side of veggies for a simple, healthy meal. Or better yet, top the fillets with fresh herbs or lemon slices before cooking. While you’re waiting for the salmon to cook and for the pressure to be released, you will also have some time to pull together a quick sauce or dressing to drizzle over the finished dish.
2. Pressure Cooker Vietnamese Caramel Salmon
If fish sauce is a staple in your pantry, you’ll love Vietnamese Caramel Salmon, a sweet and savory salmon dish inspired by the flavors of Vietnam. Serve over steamed rice or vermicelli rice noodles. An Instant Pot lets you build the caramelized sauce in the same pot in which you’re cooking the salmon.
Note: If you’re using a pressure cooker without a sauté function, simply adapt the recipe so that you’re completing the sauté steps as you normally would on your stovetop.
3. Pressure Cooker Chili Lime Alaska Salmon
No time to thaw your fillets? No problem! This recipe for chili lime salmon was designed to cook up salmon straight out of the freezer. The frozen salmon fillets will steam up in a bit of water inside the pressure cooker, cutting the total amount of time you need for this recipe — including many hours of thawing — to a mere four minutes. Four minutes happens to be plenty of time for you to combine some herbs, spices, and fresh lime juice into a bright and palate-pleasing sauce to drizzle over the fish when you’re ready to serve it up.
4. Instant Pot Lemon Salmon with Smashed Potatoes and Kale
When you're looking for a hearty dish that's fast and easy, say kale-lo to this lemon salmon with smashed potatoes and kale recipe. The Instant Pot, or any pressure cooker, makes it possible for you to cook through your potatoes and wild Alaskan salmon in about 20 minutes for a dish that'll satisfy you down to your bones.
5. Salmon Tikka Masala
A flavorful fillet of wild salmon is a worthy stand-in for chicken in this salmon tikka masala. Using a simple “pot-in-pot” tweak, making this recipe in an Instant Pot lets you cook the tikka masala sauce at the same time as you’re steaming marinated fillets of wild salmon.
For this dish, cutting the fillets of salmon into large chunks, rather than bite-sized pieces, gives you enough surface for the marinade to cover without overcooking the fish; smaller pieces will always cook faster than larger ones, so try to cut up the salmon evenly. Another juicy bonus? Steaming fish is a gentler way to cook it so that it will stay moist and tender.
More Easy Salmon Recipes and Instant Pot Meals
At Wild Alaskan Company, we're always looking for ways to turn frozen salmon fillets into easy and delicious home-cooked meals.
Our blog has it all, whether you're looking for gluten-free seafood entrees, keto seafood dishes, or one-pan seafood meals. We're always posting quick and easy recipes you can make with flash-frozen wild salmon fillets along with ingredients you already have in your kitchen.
