Golden brown with crispy edges, this air fryer snapper with Old Bay and cauliflower is an easy high-protein weeknight meal. I'm roasting cauliflower on the side so you get a healthy fish dinner in one pot. It's so easy to make!
Jump to:
- Air Fryer Snapper Recipe
- What You'll Need
- Roasting Fish and Veggies
- How Long To Air Fry Fish Fillets
- Should I Put Parchment Paper in The Air Fryer?
- Try This Recipe with Mutton Snapper Too 👆
- Serving Suggestions
- Storage
- Top Tips
- What Goes with Air-Fryer Fish?
- More Snapper Recipes
- FAQ
- Air Fryer Snapper with Old Bay and Veggies
Snapper with roasted vegetables is healthy and perfect for an easy weeknight meal. It is low-carb, gluten-free, and ready in 20 minutes.
Air Fryer Snapper Recipe
Cooking fish in an air fryer is quicker and healthier than traditional frying methods. It results in crispy, perfectly cooked fish with minimal oil, making it a convenient option for a lighter meal.
Here's a simple fish and roasted cauliflower recipe. It uses just a few ingredients, and you only need one pot to clean up afterward! Easy cleanup is my favorite phrase!
In the oven, this would take about 25 minutes to make and another 10 minutes for the oven to heat up.
In the air fryer, it takes 3 minutes to pre-heat and then 10 minutes or less to cook. This whole meal took under 20 minutes to make.
Fish Substitutions You can substitute any thin white fish for the yellowtail. Here are some tasty fish you should try:
- Red snapper
- Mutton snapper
- Mangrove snapper
- Flounder
- Trout
- Hogfish
- Lane snapper
- Gray snapper
- Tripletail
- Vermillion snapper
- Grouper
- Cod
What You'll Need
- Fresh or frozen thin white fillets of fish. Any thin white fish fillets will work.
- Cauliflower (you can also use broccoli, Brussels sprouts, asparagus tips, carrots, etc.)
- Olive oil or avocado oil
- Old Bay seasoning, or you can use homemade blackened seasoning for a little more spice.
- Unsalted butter
- Sea salt and black pepper
Roasting Fish and Veggies
- For the cauliflower, trim off the leaves and cut the head into little pieces.
- Toss the cauliflower in a large mixing bowl with olive oil, salt, and some Old Bay seasoning. The Old Bay is also on the fish and the two go well together.
- Roast at 390°F (199°C) until golden brown, 6-10 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces. Mine roasted in 8 minutes.
- While the cauliflower is roasting, you can prepare the fish.
How Long To Air Fry Fish Fillets
- Lightly season the fish with salt and pepper, Old Bay, and dot with cubes of butter.
- Air fry at 390°F (199°C) for 6-10 minutes, or until the fish is cooked and flakes easily with a fork.
- Garnish with chopped parsley, basil, or cilantro. Serve with lemon wedges.
Should I Put Parchment Paper in The Air Fryer?
When cooking fish in an air fryer, it can easily fall apart. To avoid this, place a piece of parchment paper underneath the fish. This makes it much easier to lift the fish out in one piece once it's cooked.
For added convenience, I use a folded piece of parchment paper. This allows me to lift the entire piece of fish out at once. Just make sure the edges of the paper are tucked under the food, so they don't move around during cooking.
If you prefer a simpler option, you can try pre-cut Air Fryer parchment sheets. These sheets are designed to fit perfectly in your air fryer basket and are available on Amazon.
Try This Recipe with Mutton Snapper Too 👆
A few days after I cooked the yellowtail, I went to the fish store and got some mutton snapper. Mutton snapper is thicker than yellowtail and it's sweet. If you ever get the opportunity, you must try it!
It's not always available, so I took two pounds. One pound went in the freezer, and I cooked the second pound in my air fryer, just like a yellowtail.
Because mutton snapper is a thicker fillet than yellowtail, it was cooked through in 10 minutes. The yellowtail was cooked for 8 minutes.
Serving Suggestions
You can garnish the dish with some fresh herbs, such as parsley or basil, and lemon wedges.
If you need another vegetable side, try green beans with garlic or a small side salad would pair well.
You can also make macaroni salad for a cold creamy side.
To make a more traditional breaded crispy fish dinner, try this almond flour-crusted pan-fried yellowtail recipe.
Storage
To save leftovers, place the cauliflower and fish in an airtight container. It will stay fresh for two days in the refrigerator.
Air-Fryer Snapper with Cauliflower is an easy weeknight meal. This dish is low in carbs, gluten-free, and tastes great!
Top Tips
- Avoid Overcrowding There's only so much you can put in an air fryer basket so keep your food in a single layer. If the basket is crowded, the food inside will steam instead of crisp. The crispy bits are the best part!
- Seasoning The snapper is seasoned with salt, pepper, and Old Bay Seasoning. Unsalted butter is dotted on the top of the fish before closing the air fryer door to keep the fish moist while cooking.
- Low-Sodium Recommendation If you're on a low-sodium diet, try using Mrs. Dash original flavor on both sides of the fish. Just skip the salt!
- Timing My air fryer cooks thin fish fillets in 8-10 minutes at 390°F. There is no need to flip the fish while it is cooking. If you have a thicker piece of fish, you'll need to cook it for an extra few minutes.
What Goes with Air-Fryer Fish?
- Sautéed Tomatoes with Shallots
- Lemon Asparagus Rice
- Mango Pico de Gallo
- Sautéed Garlic Parmesan Green Beans
- Oven Roasted Tiny Red Potatoes
- Chickpea Cucumber Tomato Feta Salad
For another easy eair fryer recipe, try air fryer sweet potatoes.
FAQ
No, there's no need to flip the fish. You risk it falling apart. There is air circulating in the machine so flipping isn't necessary.
A small head of cauliflower cut into small pieces cooks for about 10 minutes.
If you get small fillets, you might need two. Sometimes the fish are larger and 2 people can share one fillet. It all depends on the size of the fish. We only cook fresh yellowtail so we eat what we catch and the size varies.
Mutton snapper is somewhat firm and sweet tasting. It is a prized species of the warm Florida waters.
Air Fryer Snapper with Old Bay and Veggies
Ingredients
- 1 pound thin white fish fillets, defrosted
- 1 head cauliflower trimmed and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning divided
- 1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter cubed
- sea salt
- black pepper
- lemon wedges for serving
Instructions
FOR THE CAULIFLOWER
- Trim the cauliflower and cut into bite-size pieces.
- Add olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt, a few grinds of black pepper, and a big pinch of Old Bay to a large mixing bowl; whisk.
- Add cauliflower and toss with tongs.
- Pour the cauliflower into your air fryer basket.
- Air fry at 390°F for 8 to 10 minutes, without overcrowding the basket.
- Remove the cauliflower and set aside.
FOR THE FISH
- Wash and pat dry the fish with paper towels. Season the fish with salt and pepper, Old Bay seasoning, and dot with cubes of butter.
- Air fry at 390°F for 6-10 minutes, or until the fish is cooked through.
- Serve cauliflower with fish. Garnish with chopped herbs such as parsley, basil, or cilantro. Serve with a lemon wedge.
