Volcano Salmon
The best way to describe this Volcano Salmon recipe is that it’s exploding with flavor! The volcano sauce is sweet, tangy, and a bit spicy and it is just the most impressive 30-minute dinner you can make. I can guarantee that if you do not like salmon, this might just make you love it!

This dish draws its inspiration from one of my fave restaurants called Tikiyaki located in Orange County, California. My sisters and I were regulars there, enjoying their Hawaiian-inspired menu. Although I always ordered a mix of Teriyaki Chicken and Steak Bowls, the standout dish for us was the Volcano Chicken. After successfully recreating the recipe for the Volcano Chicken and seeing y’all love it, I was then inspired to create a shrimp variation and NOW a salmon version! I just can’t get enough volcano and I hope you can’t either. Let’s make it!
THE VOLCANO SAUCE
The first step in this recipe is to make the volcano sauce which is super simple! The most important ingredient that makes this sauce really unique is buffalo sauce.
Disclaimer, I’m not even a huge fan of buffalo sauce but I loveeeee this! So if you’re like me and are scared to try this, definitely give it a go and you might surprise yourself.
Here are all the ingredients you will need:
- buffalo sauce (my fave brand is Frank’s Red Hot)
- light brown sugar
- rice vinegar
- minced garlic
- honey
- sriracha
- unsalted butter
- red pepper flakes
- chopped parsley

To a saucepan over medium heat, add buffalo sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, sriracha, honey, and minced garlic. Bring to a boil and then drop the heat to simmer for 3 to 5 minutes so it can thicken up and some of the vinegar will evaporate. After it thickens up, add the butter, red pepper flakes, and chopped parsley and mix. Transfer it to a bowl and set aside.
NOTE: If you’d like it more spicy, add more red pepper flakes or sriracha!
Cooking the Salmon
Now time to prepare the protein! Whenever I can use the air fryer, you best believe I will be whipping it out. It makes dinner in half the time and the salmon always cooks to perfection in there. It turns out super crispy on the exterior while staying super soft and flakey in the center.

Start out with some individual salmon filets that are long and thin, about 4 to 6 filets. Add a small drizzle of olive oil on each filet and season with salt, black pepper, onion powder, and chili powder.
Turn the air fryer on to 400°F and set the time for 8 to 10 minutes. If your filets are thicker and larger, it will take more time. If they’re smaller and thinner, it will take less time so make sure to adjust it as necessary.

Once the salmon is cooked to perfection, brush the volcano sauce all over the salmon to glaze it and then it’s ready to enjoy!
NOTE: I kept the salmon skin on because I like it but feel free to remove it. You can also cube the salmon into small bites and air fry it or cook it on a pan and then toss it in the volcano sauce.
Here is the link to the air fryer I use! It is the Ninja Speedi Cooker and I absolutely love it. No preheating is required which means dinner takes even less time.
Craving More Seafood? Try These Recipes Out!
- Chipotle Shrimp Rice Bowls
- Shrimp Scampi
- Volcano Shrimp
- Honey Butter Garlic Shrimp
- Elote Shrimp Tacos
If you tried this recipe and loved it, drop by down below and let me know how you liked it with a rating and comment! Feel free to also leave a question there about this recipe and I’ll get right back to it.
To see more recipes and behind-the-scenes, follow along on Instagram and Youtube! I’m also now on Pinterest pinning away so stop by and see what’s up.


Main Course
Volcano Salmon
Ingredients
VOLCANO SAUCE- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup buffalo sauce
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 to 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes to taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 4 to 6 salmon filets, long and thin
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt, to taste
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- green onions, to garnish
- sesame seeds, to garnish
Instructions
- Over medium heat, add buffalo sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, sriracha, minced garlic, and honey to a pot or saucepan. Bring to a simmer to thicken into a glaze. Once it is thick, add the butter, red pepper flakes, and parsley. Mix to combine and then take off the heat and transfer to a large bowl. Set aside.
- Pat dry the salmon filets with a paper towel.
- Marinade the salmon filets with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt, onion powder, chili powder, and black pepper.
- Add the salmon filets to the air fryer at 400°F and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until crispy on the outside and flakey on the inside.
- Take the salmon out of the air fryer and brush a generous amount of the volcano sauce on each filet.
- Garnish with sesame seeds and green onions to enjoy!
Tips & Notes
- If your air fryer tends to stick, make sure to spray with oil before adding the filets in or add a piece of parchment paper.
This sauce is amazing!
This was sensational! So good! I used hot chili sauce because i had no buffalo sauce, but it was absolutely delicious. I devoured every bit of it. And it looks incredible too. Thank you so much for this recipe!
I loved this recipe! I was skeptical on the sauce because it just smelled like basic buffalo sauce. But I immediately loved it after the first taste!! Thanks for making easy to follow recipes for delish meals!