These salmon skewers are coated in an irresistible bang bang sauce and couldn’t be easier to make!

If you’ve never had salmon skewers before, your life is about to change for the better. Follow me…

overhead shot of bang bang salmon skewers with rice and cucumber salad

Bang Bang Sauce

The key to these skewers being so delicious is the bang bang sauce. It’s incredibly simple to make – here’s what you’ll need:

  • Mayo – The backbone of the sauce. Make sure it’s full-fat for the best flavour!
  • Sweet Chilli Sauce – You’ll find this in every supermarket. It adds a lovely, complex sweetness to the sauce.
  • Sriracha – This brings everything together with a light kick of spice. You can adjust this to your preference.
  • Soy Sauce – I don’t always add this, but if I’ve got in on hand it seasons the sauce, whilst adding flavour.

You can absolutely make this sauce ahead of time, just tightly store it in the fridge for a few days until needed.

overhead shot of bang bang sauce ingredients with text labels

Salmon Skewers

To make the skewers, you’ll first just need to dice the salmon, ensuring each piece is a similar size to make sure all the pieces cook at an even rate.

From there, you’ll season the salmon with a simple concoction of spices. I also like to stir through some of the bang bang sauce too. This will help prevent the salmon from drying out.

Cooking the skewers

There are a few different ways you can cook the skewers:

  • Air fryer – My preferred option. Quick, efficient and you get a nice colour of the salmon without it overcooking.
  • BBQ/Grill – A little more hands-on as you’ll need to turn the skewers and be vigilant that they don’t overcook.
  • Oven – Perfectly acceptable option. It just takes a little more time and it’s not as easy to keep checking if the salmon is cooked.

Process shots: dice salmon (photo 1), add seasoning (photo 2), toss to coat (photo 3), stir in some sauce (photo 4), thread onto skewers and add to air fryer (photo 5), cook (photo 6).

6 step by step photos showing how to make bang bang salmon skewers

Serving Bang Bang Salmon Skewers

The salmon is cooked when it turns from bright pink to opaque (you can check one of the pieces). It should still very easily flake and still be quite soft to touch though. Be careful you don’t overcook the salmon.

Once they’re cooked, just grab a brush and coat the skewers in that glorious bang bang sauce. From there, just use a fork to gently ply each piece off the skewers onto the plate. I wouldn’t try and push them all off at once, as the salmon will likely turn to mush. If it doesn’t, it’s probably overcooked!

close up overhead shot of hand holding salmon skewers whilst brushing it with sauce

To serve these skewers, you’ve got a few different options. You could serve on top of a leafy salad, or even in a flatbread. My favourite way, however, is to serve with some rice and a tangy cucumber salad. I’ll pop the cucumber salad recipe in the recipe card, but it’s really simple, and the vinegary flavour balances out the sweet and spicy salmon really nicely.

For another bang bang recipe check out my Classic Bang Bang Shrimp!

For more air fryer skewer recipes check out my Garlic Parmesan Chicken Skewers, Chicken Souvlaki and Lemon Butter Chicken Skewers!

Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for these bang bang salmon skewers shall we?!

bang bang salmon skewers served on small white plate with rice and cucumber salad

How to make Bang Bang Salmon Skewers (Full Recipe & Video)

overhead shot of bang bang salmon skewers with rice and cucumber salad

Bang Bang Salmon Skewers

These salmon skewers are coated in an irresistible bang bang sauce and couldn't be easier to make!
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 7 minutes
Total: 22 minutes
Servings: 4
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Equipment

  • Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
  • Small Mixing Bowl (for sauce)
  • 2x Medium Sized Mixing Bowl & Spatula (one for salmon, one for cucumber salad)
  • 4x Skewers
  • Air Fryer or BBQ/Grill
  • Brush

Ingredients 

Bang Bang Sauce

  • 120g / 1/2 cup full-fat Mayonnaise
  • 60ml / 1/4 cup Sweet Chilli Sauce
  • 2 tbsp Sriracha
  • 1 tsp Soy Sauce

Salmon Skewers

  • 500g / 1lb boneless skinless Salmon, diced into 1-1.5" chunks
  • 1 tsp Smoked Paprika
  • 1/2 tsp EACH: Onion Powder, Salt, Chipotle Powder (see notes)
  • 1/4 tsp EACH: Garlic Powder, Black Pepper
  • Oil Spray, as needed

Cucumber Salad

  • 400g / 14oz Cucumber, thinly sliced into small pieces (see notes)
  • 1/2 small/medium Red Onion, finely diced
  • 3 tbsp Rice Vinegar (sub white wine vinegar)
  • 2 tbsp finely diced Fresh Dill
  • 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp Sugar
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1/4 tsp Black Pepper

To serve

  • Cooked Rice

Instructions 

  • In a small mixing bowl, mix together the mayo, sweet chilli sauce, sriracha and soy sauce until evenly combined.
  • In a medium-sized mixing bowl, coat the diced salmon in the seasoning until evenly covered. Take 1/4 cup of the bang bang sauce and mix it through. Leave to marinate whilst you prep the salad (or just for 15 mins or so).
  • In another medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the vinegar, oil, sugar, salt and pepper. Add the cucumber, onion and dill and toss until well-coated.
  • Thread the salmon onto 4 skewers, ensuring you leave a gap at both ends. Place in the air fryer, spray with oil then cook at 190C/375F for 6-8 minutes (timings will depend on the size of salmon pieces). Check at 6 minutes to see if the salmon easily flakes and is just about cooked through the centre. Continue cooking if needed, but be careful it doesn't overcook. If in doubt, pull it out early to check, as it can always go back in.
  • Remove the skewers and brush with your preferred amount of sauce. Use a fork to gently ply the salmon off the skewer, then serve with rice and cucumber salad. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

a) Chipotle powder – You’ll find this in most supermarkets. I use ‘medium’ spice. If you can’t find it just sub with regular chilli powder.
b) Cucumber salad – This is a fab addition because the tangy flavour balances out the sweetness of the bang bang sauce. It’ll be quite tangy at first, but it mellows out as it rests. If you still find it too sharp, you can easily adjust with more sugar. You can make this ahead of time, just be aware the cucumber will sweat and it gets a little watery (I actually like this so you can drizzle the excess over the rice).
c) Slicing the cucumber – I like to slice it in half lengthways, then slice each half lengthways into thirds (so you end up with 6 long strips). Then just line them up and thinly slice into small pieces. 
d) Air fryer alternative – You can cook these on the BBQ/Grill, just make sure you soak the skewers in water beforehand so they don’t burn. You’ll also need to keep turning the skewers so the salmon cooks on all sides. Just use your best judgment for timings based on how hot the BBQ is. You could also bake them at 200C/400F for around 10 minutes (timings will vary depending on size so just be vigilant past around 8 minutes).
e) Calories – per skewer with sauce.

Nutrition

Calories: 404kcal | Carbohydrates: 3.36g | Protein: 27.77g | Fat: 30.71g | Saturated Fat: 4.775g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 16.215g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7.882g | Trans Fat: 0.036g | Cholesterol: 66mg | Sodium: 1174mg | Potassium: 526mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 2.71g | Vitamin A: 559IU | Vitamin C: 2.3mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 1.02mg

Looking for more?

You’ll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’

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