Oh, irresistible bite-size Crispy Baked Salmon Nuggets coated with panko breadcrumbs and baked until golden! No mess and freezer-friendly. Enjoy with tartar sauce or ketchup, with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. They’re perfect for lunch boxes too!
Crispy Baked Salmon Nuggets (Salmon Katsu, 鮭フライ) are a great alternative to my Crispy Baked Chicken (aka Chicken Katsu) if you love seafood. My mom used to make this often when I was growing up, but she deep-fried it. To make it healthy and simpler to prepare, I created a baked version of my mom’s recipe.
You won’t believe that these tasty salmon nuggets taste just like the deep-fried ones, with the crust staying crunchy and the salmon remaining moist. What a treat when dipped in creamy tartar sauce!
Table of contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- A great salmon recipe to introduce to kids, even picky eaters! It quickly becomes a family favorite.
- No mess in the kitchen!
- Perfect for freezing or packing into lunch boxes, so you might want to make extra.
Ingredients for Crispy Baked Salmon Nuggets
- For the crust: panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), extra virgin olive oil, garlic powder, dried thyme
- Skinless salmon fillet — You can ask the fishmonger to skin the salmon fillet for you or it yourself
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- All purpose flour & an egg for breading the crust
- For dipping: tartar sauce (homemade or store-bought) or ketchup
Overview: Cooking Steps
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and prepare your baking sheet.
- Toast the panko breadcrumbs with olive oil, garlic powder, and dried thyme.
- Cut the salmon fillets into bite-sized pieces and season with salt and pepper.
- Prepare the flour, whisked egg, and the toasted panko in separate shallow dishes.
- Dredge the salmon first with the flour, then in the whisked egg, and finally coat with the toasted panko.
- Bake the well-breaded salmon until just cooked through, about 15–20 minutes. Serve with tartar sauce or ketchup.
Homemade Creamy Tartar Sauce
If you enjoy making your own condiment, I have a homemade tartar sauce recipe that hits all the right notes and is amazingly creamy. I used Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise and Japanese karashi mustard, which make a difference in flavor and texture.
What to Serve with Crispy Salmon Nuggets
Since this recipe is such a kid favorite, I’ve put together other dishes that pair well with the salmon nuggets and are also enjoyed by kids.
- Carb: Japanese Corn Rice, Yakimeshi (Japanese Fried Rice), Soba Noodle Salad, Japanese Sweet Potato Rice, Steamed Rice topped with Homemade Furikake
- Vegetables or Salads: Kani Salad, Apple Walnut Salad, Japanese Potato Salad, Simple Salad with Sesame Dressing, Blanched Broccoli, Roasted Kabocha Squash, Roasted Miso Garlic Cauliflower
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Crispy Baked Salmon Nuggets
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp garlic powder (or 3 cloves garlic, minced)
- ½ tsp dried thyme (or any herb of your choice)
- 1 lb skinless salmon fillet (ask a fishmonger to skin the salmon fillet for you)
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell)
For the Dipping Sauce
- Homemade Tartar Sauce
- ketchup
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. If your salmon still has the skin on, skin the salmon fillet.
- Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). For a convection oven, reduce cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine 1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, ½ tsp garlic powder, and ½ tsp dried thyme in a frying pan and toast over medium heat until golden brown. Transfer browned panko into a shallow dish and allow to cool.
- Cut 1 lb skinless salmon fillet into blocks 2 inches (5 cm) wide, then cut diagonally into about ½–inch (1.3-cm) slices. Sprinkle Diamond Crystal kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper on both sides of the salmon.
- In a shallow dish, add ¼ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour). In another shallow dish, whisk 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell). Dredge each salmon piece in the flour to coat completely, pat off the excess flour. Then, dip into the egg and finally coat with the toasted panko. Press on the panko flakes to make sure they adhere to the salmon.
- Place the salmon pieces on the prepared baking sheet. Bake at 400°F (200°C) until the salmon is just cooked through, about 15–20 minutes (check at 15 minutes). Serve with ketchup or Homemade Tartar Sauce.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in a freezer for a month.
I’m sending this recipe immediately to my daughter, whose children love salmon! My daughter also needs to learn the breading technique. This will be perfect practice. Also, loved your video! Even without what I’m sure is a lovely voice, the instructions were clear and easy to follow. I like to watch how you sliced the salmon filet.
Thank you Linda! I hope your grandchildren enjoy this dish! Thanks so much for your kind words about my video. 🙂
I am currently an English teacher in Japan and I always look at your website when I cook Japanese food! I always thought Japanese food was really difficult to make, but it’s actually very simple. Thank you for posting clear and easy to follow recipes.
Hi Kat! Thank you for reading my blog! I’m happy to hear you enjoy my recipes. A lot of Japanese dishes are pretty simple. And you have all the ingredients that I use for my Japanese recipes! 😉 Thank you for your kind words. Hope you are enjoying your life in Japan!
Hi Nami,
Toasting the panko was key for tasty crispy salmon bites. I now prefer eating the crispy salmon instead of chicken nuggets.
Hi Darlene! I’m glad to hear you liked this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
This is such a lovely and simple cooking! I like! 🙂 Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thank you for your kind words, Elaine! Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Hi! I made this Crispy Salmon for my family on Saturday, along with your ginger rice recipe and daifuku mochi for dessert. Everyone loved it and there were no left overs. Your recipes are so healthy and easy to follow, I enjoy watching all of the youtube videos before hand and using the print-outs in the kitchen. Just wanted to say thank you!! I am looking forward to making another dish soon.
Hi Melissa! AWESOME! I’m so happy to hear your family enjoyed this dish! Thank you so much for testing out my recipes and I’m glad they all came out well. And thank you for watching the YouTube videos too. 🙂 Looking forward to hearing about your next dish when you try! xo
Hi Nami,
We made these tonight and everybody loved them, thanks so much for the great recipe! I was wondering, how would you proceed to freeze and then thaw and serve? Any tips? Thanks again for all the yummy food!
Hi, just saw the comment above 🙂 We’ll try doing this then!
Hi Jennifer! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Enjoy the leftover too! 🙂
Hi Nami,
If I wish to prepare this dish in advanced/night before for lunch on next day, how should I store this? And then we can reheat it in oven? Tks, Michelle
Hi Michelle! You can store in the airtight container and reheat in the toaster oven or oven to make it crispy again. Hope this helps! 🙂
Wow !! Looks really really yummy !!
Hi ! I’m from Indonesia, really happy to meet this amazing page, bookmarked 🙂
But, what should I do If I want to keep the nuggets for future meal ?
And can I fry this ? if i choose to fry the nugget either baked it. ( sorrry for bad english ) Thanks so much !! 🙂
Hi Ing! Thank you so much for stopping by my blog! 🙂
You bake first (complete the cooking process till the end) and let them cool first. Then pack in air tight container and freeze it. When you’re ready to eat, you take out whatever you need, then bake again (I usually use a toaster oven) to re-heat. Do not use microwave because it only gets soggy. Hope this helps!
WOW! I don’t ever remember seeing a recipe for salmon prepared this way and I’ve never thought of doing this with salmon and I try to eat a lot of it. Can’t wait to try this.
Hi Cindy! Salmon Fry (that’s how we call in Japan) is very common in Japan. I hope you enjoy this dish! 🙂
Hi Nami,
I just subscribed to your site the other day. Today I made the Crispy Salmon and it was great! I seasoned my salmon differently I used old bay, garlic powder, and lemon pepper. I seasoned the panko flakes the way you suggested I just added pepper. My family enjoyed it very much and instead of dipping in ketchup or tartar sauce they chose a jack daniel’s sauce or sweet soy sauce. Anyway thank you for the recipe and this will definitely be part of my line up 🙂
Hi Lara! Thank you so much for subscribing to my site! I’m glad you tried this recipe and enjoyed it! Your seasonings sound fabulous!! Thanks for the kind feedback, Lara! 🙂
JUST made this! So tasty and crispy! Thank you!
Hi Dominique! So happy you tried this recipe and enjoyed it. Thank you for your feedback! 🙂
Made this last night – it was a hit! I am not even a huge fan of fish, and I was not sure about the thyme, but I followed the recipe, and am so glad I did. Everyone loved it. Thank you!!!
Hi Saskia! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m so glad to hear everyone liked it. Thanks for letting me know! 🙂
Mmmm…looks delicious!
I love salmon…
I d love to test this recipe!
Even if the salmon is very rare in our country, I can bring it from my mother s country:Finland.
Have a nice week!
Thank you Helena! Hope you get to try it one day. Have a nice week too! 🙂
Salmon nuggets?! How clever! And I love that they’re baked, too!
Thank you Donna! 🙂
Looks soo yum, gonna try this as soon as I get some panko!
Hi Khadija! For the best result, try Japanese brand panko like this brand (https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry/panko/). It is available at Japanese or sometimes Asian markets . Hope you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
great, thanks for the suggestion! Good thing there are a lot of Asian supermarkets here 🙂