Crispy Seared Salmon Tacos
Crispy Seared Salmon Tacos are a summery, warm-weather delight. Is it Taco Tuesday? No matter…these beautifully spiced salmon tacos are amazing any day of the week!
Salmon bites that have been flavored with barbecue seasonings are combined in a homemade hard-shell taco with a jalapeño cream spread and topped with a bright mango salsa. Very hard to beat these!
It’s tempting to buy hard-shell tacos but I suggest you make them yourself. It’s so easy! Just form cylindrical shapes from aluminum foil and drape some corn tortillas that have been brushed with olive oil over the forms. Bake them for about 15 minutes in a hot oven. You can even sprinkle with sea salt combined with a little Tajin, if desired. Otherwise, I recommend buying Siete shells. They are the best!
On a baking sheet, toss the salmon bites with olive oil, honey, Tajin and the rest of the spices. These spices will give the salmon a barbecue flavor which we adore in this recipe.
In a hot oven (450°F), sear the fish for 10-15 minutes, depending on how well cooked you like your fish. Then, turn the oven to broil to crisp up the fish. Watch the fish so that it doesn’t burn.
If you’re not a salmon fan, feel free to try halibut or any other white fish. They will all work beautifully but it needs to be a firm fish.
The base of the taco gets covered in a jalapeño cream. Now, I must confess that I’m not a cream cheese lover, especially with fish (you will never catch me ordering a sushi roll that has cream cheese in it!) but I have a new appreciation with this combination.
Cream cheese mixes with pickled jalapeños, a little garlic powder and sea salt. Pickled jalapeños aren’t something that I had in my pantry and I was a little hesitant to buy a jar just for this recipe, but after trying these tacos with the jalapeño cream, I know that jar will be gone in no time.
It might be tempting to skip this step and eliminate the cream, but I want to dissuade you from this. The cream makes all the difference and elevates these tacos from a typical fish taco.
Finally, mix up a fresh mango salsa by combining, diced mango and avocado, jalapeños, cilantro lime juice & zest and salsa verde. You can make it as spicy as you like (you know I’m heat-adverse, so I just put a tiny bit of jalapeño in the salsa and it was fab!).
Top the jalapeño cream with shredded lettuce or cabbage, chunks of fish and mango salsa.
Taco Tuesday, look out!
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Crispy Seared Salmon Tacos
Makes: 4 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 4 (4-6 ounce) salmon or white fish filets, cut into bite-size chunks
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tsp tajin or chili powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- kosher salt
- 12 hard shell tacos (see Chef’s Note)
- shredded lettuce/cabbage, for serving
Jalapeño Cream:
- 6 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 1-2 tbsp chopped pickled jalapeños
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- sea salt
Mango Salsa:
- 1 & 1/2 cups diced mango
- 1 avocado, cubed
- 1-2 jalapeños seeded, if desired and chopped
- 1/2 cup cilantro roughly, chopped
- 1 tbsp lime zest, plus 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1/3 cup salsa verde
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 450° F.
On a baking sheet, toss the fish pieces with olive oil, honey, Tajin, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and a pinch of salt. Arrange in a single layer. Roast 10-15 minutes or until the fish is cooked to your liking. During the last minute, switch the oven to broil and broil until lightly charred. Set the fish aside.
To make the jalapeño cream, combine all ingredients in a bowl. Season with salt.
To make the salsa, combine all ingredients in a bowl.
Spread the cream cheese on the bottom of your shells. Layer in the lettuce, fish, and salsa.
Chef’s Note:
For hard taco shells, buy Siete shells if you can find them or make your own. They are so easy and healthy in that they aren’t fried! Just warm corn tortillas in the microwave, then place them on top of a sheet pan and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle with a little Tajin, if desired. Then use some tin foil to make a “mold” for the shell to sit on. Simply mold the foil into a cylinder shape and drape the tortillas over the foil. Use my photos for reference. Then bake until crispy. I usually bake them at 425° for 12-15 minutes.
Recipe by Half Baked Harvest
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