I mean have you ever been sorry you ate tacos? I love them with all my heart. It’s just the perfect food formula, right? And these blackened salmon tacos topped with fresh mango and creamy lightened-up cilantro lime ranch are NO DISAPPOINTMENT.
What you’ll need for the Blackened Salmon Tacos
- Extra thin Mission corn tortillas if you’re watching your carbs and can find them. Just eight carbs per corn tortilla (+ gluten-free), and they’re not that annoying, tiny, street taco size you could swallow whole. Just don’t forget to warm them–because warm tortillas are everything!
- Blackened salmon — find it over here! Make extra… I used to think I didn’t like seafood left over, but I’ve discovered I LOVE keeping this blackened salmon in my fridge to use in sandwiches and fish tacos, or salads like this farro and sweet potato one, or on top of this Mexican Ceasar! The possibilities are endless. While the salmon is cooking, you can start chopping your toppings!
Toppings for Your Salmon Tacos
- Avocado – duh (dice it up to add to your Pico if you want an avocado salsa situation!)
- Fresh mango, diced… adds so much with so little!
- Fresh or roasted corn if you’ve got it on hand- if not you’ll live… but yum!
- Cotija cheese because it absolutely makes every taco ten times better. Ok but if you can’t find it, I’m sorry I made you feel bad. Use feta. Sounds weird if you haven’t heard that before but trust me. I know we like cheddar and monterey jack but just TRUST ME.
- Cabbage and some extra lime and cilantro for good measure.
- Pico de gallo! Any pico will work. The macros are NOT gonna vary much. And if you don’t feel like prepping it, just chop some tomatoes, onion, and cilantro and call it good. Ok but then you’ve practically made it, so maybe you should just go all the way. I should let you know if you ARE going to make your own pico, or this cucumber salsa (that I’m OBSESSED WITH) you will absolutely want this alligator chopper. One of the few gadgets I pulled the trigger on…and would die without now. I cannot believe it took me this long. Tiny perfect diced veggies in a few swoops. (chop the onions separately if you like large pieces of onion like me… and maybe even a dash of onion powder) And of course, salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Details make a BIG difference.
- OH BUT DON’T FORGET the lightened up creamy cilantro lime ranch. That plus the salmon and mango combo is the magic. (So much better than sour cream in my opinion!)
Make-ahead Tips for the Blackened Salmon Tacos
This can be the easiest meal ever. But it will taste like you’re at a restaurant. A good one. Like one with a lot of stars on Yelp AND a lot of reviews.
But to really make these salmon tacos taste restaurant-worthy, you’ve got to pay attention to the details. Here’s what you need to know…
- Use a good dressing on your salmon tacos. Pro Tip: I love to have the dressing on hand for the week. It’ll keep about that long. I even freeze some in small plastic ramekins to have for later. I’ll just pull it out and let it thaw on the counter, then fridge. It’s slightly runnier once it’s been frozen but we still drench everything we eat in it and fight over the last drops so I’m gonna say it works. Literally the KEY component to making macro-friendly food flavorful. You can find more sauces here.
- You can make the pico ahead. It’s best on the first day, but we’ll use it for a few days after.
- The salmon tastes amazing fresh, but inside this taco, I would never know if it’s leftover! I promise. (Side note: add just the smallest dash of olive oil to keep it nice and moist) Feel free to double the recipe, if you’re planning to use it once for salads, and once for tacos etc. It’s so easy and takes every meal to the next level!
Meal Planning and Macro-Counting
These tacos are the PERFECT example of how I love to meal prep to make macro-counting easier. If I had to make everything from scratch every single time I cooked, I just wouldn’t. That’s why I love bulk-prepping my salmon and dressing, that way I can use it in multiple meals throughout the week.
If you want to learn more about how I make meal prepping easier, you can find that info here.
If you want more recipes that will work with this blackened salmon or dressing that I use in this recipe, I’ll list them below!
Similar Recipes
For the blackened salmon…
Farro and Sweet Potato Salad with Blackened Salmon
Easy Salmon and Chive Salad (this uses canned salmon, but you could use fresh too)
For the dressing…
Air Fryer Cilantro Lime Chicken Tenders
If this feels like too much, then you can always get my dinner-only meal plan where I do all the dinner planning for you!
Blackened Salmon Tacos
Will these salmon tacos be on the menu next taco Tuesday? Don’t forget to invite me if they are! Or at least tag me on Instagram. I love to see what you’re making!
What other taco recipes do you love? Let me know in the comments!
Blackened Salmon Tacos
Ingredients
- 3 extra thin Mission corn tortillas
- 3.5 oz blackened salmon 100 g. If using leftover, microwave for just 15-30 seconds.
- 1 oz avocado 28 g
- 1/2 tbs cotija cheese 7 g
- 3 tbs pico 45 g – recipe below
- Pinch of fresh corn 20 g
- Chopped fresh mango 20 g
- Shredded cabbage
- 2 tbs lightened up creamy cilantro lime ranch
- Fresh lime and cilantro
- For the Pico de gallo just chop everything small and combine in a bowl!: (Macros for 60 g=12 Cal/ 2.4C/0F/0.6P– pretty much nothing)
- 2-3 roma tomatoes scoop out insides with your fingers 240 g
- 1/2 a small onion red or white! 140 g
- 1 bunch cilantro 20 g
- 1 jalapeño 30 g
- Pinch ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 1 lime juiced
Instructions
- Heat tortillas in a pan over medium/high heat until hot and flexible, spraying each side with a mist of cooking spray. Sprinkle with a little salt. OR if you love them charred, cook them right over your stove top flame till you’ve got little burned spots and flip!
- Build tacos by dividing each component between the three tortillas. Start with salmon, then a slice of avocado, sprinkle of cotija cheese, pico, corn, mango, cabbage, and a drizzle of cilantro lime ranch. Spritz with fresh lime juice and add extra cilantro if you love it!
Notes
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?
Tag @LillieEatsAndTells on Instagram with #LillieEatsandTells! We’d love to see your creations!
This came out sooo yummy! I used frozen wild caught salmon from Costco and since I had Bolthouse Farms ranch on hand, I just added lime juice & cilantro to that.
These are amazing!! Everything blends together so much to make a fish taco you can’t find in the restaurants!
my first glance at the pictures of this dish was like: i must try it as soon as possible xD
These look so good! I love combining avocado and salmon. Delicious!
I made the salmon, pico and creamy cilantro dressing and it was all fabulous. This combination of toppings worked perfectly together. I’m already looking forward to eating this again 😉
Music to my ears!