Four Ingredient Salmon Nuggets

These four-ingredient salmon nuggets are crispy, gluten-free, full of flavor, and so healthy. They are like my miracle nugget, and especially great if you are pescatarian but just craving a hit of fast-food flavor. C’mon, we all need it every now and then!

These salmon nuggets are easy to make, they take minutes to assemble, then bake up crispy in the oven. I love making these with wild sockeye salmon to keep them extra healthy, but they will work with any variety of salmon you have access to.

Ingredients you will need to make salmon nuggets

Here is everything I use for this super-simple recipe!

• 24 ounces wild-caught sockeye salmon, or any salmon you have access to. The skin can be on or off!
• Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup (2 oz) Greek yogurt or skyr
• 2 tablespoons (1.2 oz) mild harissa paste
• 2/3 cup (2.8 oz) almond flour
• 1/2 teaspoon flaky salt, plus more as needed
• Avocado spray oil, optional

It’s that small of a list!

How to make these salmon nuggets dairy-free and gluten-free

Now, these nuggets are already gluten-free, but triple-check your harissa paste to make sure no sneaky gluten is in there.

For a dairy-free nugget, use a coconut yogurt or cashew cream to mimic what the yogurt is doing here. You just want something with a bit of fat that can adhere to the salmon and make it tender while allowing the breading to crisp up in the oven.

How to make these crispy healthy salmon nuggets

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 425°F convection.
2. Season both sides of the salmon with kosher salt and black pepper.
3. Slice the salmon into 1-inch cubes.
4. Add the salmon pieces to a large bowl, add 1/4 cup of greek yogurt and 2 tablespoons mild harissa paste. Mix well so that the salmon is fully coated. See Note.
5. In a small dish to the side, add 2/3 cup of almond flour and season with 1/2 teaspoon flaky salt. Toss to break up any clumps.
6. Prepare a parchment-lined baking sheet to the side. Take each salmon nugget and lightly toss it in the almond flour to get it coated on all sides. Transfer these to the baking sheet. If your salmon has skin on it, make sure you place these skin side down.
7. Lightly spray the nuggets with cooking spray. This is optional, but will help them get some color.
8. Bake for 20-22 minutes at 425°F, or until golden and crisp on the bottoms.
9. Serve warm!

Tips for getting oven-baked nuggets crispy

A lot of people think you need an air-fryer to make salmon nuggets crispy, and that’s simply not true! An air-fryer is just a smaller convection oven, which circulates air in your oven to bake things more evenly and at a slightly higher heat.

Here are my top tips for getting nuggets crispy in the oven:

1. Use the convection setting on your oven! This will mimic an air-fryer and circulate air all around the nuggets, giving them an even, crispy cook.
2. Bread the exterior of your nuggets, don’t just toss the almond flour in with the coating. Dipping each nugget individually into the almond flour will make it so that the almond flour adheres to the outside of the nugget and it can hit the hot air in the oven and crisp up.
3. Spray the tops of the nuggets with spray oil, such as avocado spray oil or olive oil spray. This will help the tops brown and crisp! It’s a tiny amount of fat, but helps with both flavor and texture.

Serving suggestions

I eat these straight off the tray more often than I’d like to admit, but if you are feeling like a composed person, they are so good in a bowl moment. Think: steamy rice, sliced cucumbers, maybe some avocado if you have it, and a heavy drizzle of something creamy and a little spicy. They also fit perfectly into a tortilla or lettuce wrap situation with something crunchy (I’m always team cabbage) and a squeeze of lemon or lime to wake everything up. Or go full snack plate mode—pile the nuggets onto a plate with whatever dipping sauces you have in your fridge and call it dinner. There’s no wrong way to do this, just make sure you have something bright and fresh in the mix to balance all that crispy richness.

Looking for similar recipes?

Here are a few for the salmon or nugget lovers out there!

And that’s it for these crispy, healthy Salmon Nuggets!

If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.

And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments, or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3