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Summery and delicious, these Crispy BBQ Salmon Tacos with Avocado Mango Salsa and Jalapeño Cream are a new warm-weather favorite. Smoky BBQ seasoned salmon, stuffed into hard shell tacos, with a roasted jalapeño cream, and a yummy mango-avocado salsa. These spicy BBQ seasoned fish tacos are made all on one sheet pan and in no time at all. They’re quick, vibrant, and so delicious!
Taco Tuesday, but seafood style. It’s no secret that we love tacos around here, but lately, I’ve really been enjoying making more fish tacos. My family is a little picky when it comes to fish, but fish tacos are always a crowd-pleaser.
Well…aside from Asher and my mom, who steer clear of fish. I guess you just can’t win them all over.
With Memorial Day weekend only a few days away, I thought it would be fun to share a few summery recipes this week. Grilled chicken wraps yesterday – seafood tacos today. Funny, I ended up roasting the fish for these tacos, but you can easily grill them up too!
Way, way back when I first started cooking, my brother, Brendan told me about a salmon taco he really enjoyed. He said it was made with a little cream cheese smeared inside a hard taco shell.
At first, the concept seemed so weird to me. But then I gave it a try. And wow, I’ve loved doing seafood tacos with a little cream cheese smear inside ever since. They’re delicious and different, and everyone always loves them.
The steps
As I mentioned, I like to roast the fish, but grilling is a wonderful option too. Season up the fish with my favorite “BBQ” style seasoning blend. It’s a mix of Tajin or chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder. Hopefully all spices you have in your pantry.
The next step is to roast or grill the fish, along with some jalapeños. The jalapeños are going to be used for the cream cheese.
The Jalepeño Cream is just cream cheese, pickled jalapeños, a little garlic powder, and a pinch of sea salt. Trust me, it’s better than using cheese or a crema.
While the fish is cooking, I usually mix up the salsa. It’s a fresh mix of mango, avocado, lots of lime, cilantro, and a few jalapeños.
Now for those shells, I made mine, which I do recommend, because, wow, so delicious! But of course, using store-bought works too. I will say, hard shells are the secret to these tacos. They’re really what sets them apart, and they’re a little more untraditional for fish tacos.
If you want to make the shells, it’s pretty easy. Just warm corn tortillas in the microwave, then place them on top of a sheet pan and rub them with olive oil. 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, promise it’s not hard. Then can bake until crispy. I usually bake them at 425° for 12-15 minutes.
Again, store-bought shells work well too!
When you have everything ready, the last step is to spread the cream cheese into your shells. Then layer everything else inside.
As I like to say, nothing fancy, but totally delicious. And to be honest, better than anything you’d order out. Nothing beats a homemade taco. You can customize them more to your liking, and the spicy cream cheese is a game-changer.
Looking for other toco recipes? Here are a few…
Slow Cooker Braised Hawaiian Pineapple Chicken Tacos
Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos with Fried Avocado
Crispy Cauliflower Tinga Tacos with Honey Lime Avocado Crema
Crispy Cheese Chicken Tacos with Avocado Cilantro Sauce
Sheet Pan Chipotle Salmon Tacos
Lastly, if you make these Crispy BBQ Salmon Tacos with Avocado Mango Salsa and Jalapeño Cream, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Crispy BBQ Salmon Tacos with Avocado Mango Salsa and Jalapeño Cream
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 684 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 4 (4-6 ounce) salmon or white fish filets, cut into bite-size chunks
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoon tajin or chili powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- kosher salt
- 12 hard shell tacos
- shredded lettuce/cabbage, for serving
Jalapeño Cream
- 6 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 1-2 tablespoons chopped pickled jalapeños
- 1/4 teaspoon 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 tablespoon lime zest, plus 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1/3 cup salsa verde
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 450° F. 2. 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.3. To make the jalapeño cream. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Season with salt. 4. To make the salsa. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. 5. Spread the cream cheese on the bottom of your shells. Layer in the lettuce, fish, and salsa.
Perfection! This will be on our summer rotation for sure
🙂
Hey Ilka,
Fantastic!! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe out and sharing your feedback, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxT
Sooooo good! But read the narrative before the “jump to recipe” section bc she has little gems in there.
Hey Mia,
Fantastic!! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe out and sharing your feedback, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxT
Made with salmon…big win with our family and guests. Didn’t find pickled jalapeños so just used jarred diced ones. Great blend of flavors. Thank you!
Hi Carrie,
Fantastic!! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe out and sharing your feedback, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxT
Made these tonight. Used halibut as we do not like salmon. BEST fish tacos I’ve ever had!
Hi Carolyn,
Fantastic!! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe out and sharing your feedback, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxT
Oh. My. God. Just finished eating these and I told my family this was probably one of the best things I’ve made. Rave reviews. I admit, at first I was skeptical about the cream cheese layer, and the salmon (I’m usually one for white fish in my tacos, and know I could have subbed, but figured you called these salmon tacos, so why not go for it)….my husband talked me into making this, and so so glad I did! All of the flavors go perfectly together. It’s easy to make. It’s fresh. It has texture. Checked all the boxes for me! (p.s. I used pickled cherry peppers in the cream cheese because I had them on hand, and worked great) thanks for this recipe 🙂
Hey Caitlin,
Fantastic!! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe out and sharing your feedback, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxT
These were so bomb! I followed the recipe almost exactly. I subbed pineapple for mango because it was what I had and I used fresh jalapeño instead of pickled in the cream cheese. All the flavors meshed so well together and the salmon was to die for. Will be making again!
Hi Caroline,
Fantastic!! Thanks a lot for trying this recipe out and sharing your feedback, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxT
My 11 year old daughter made these with a tiny bit of help. They were amazing! Tangy, creamy, sweet and crunchy. So so good!
Hi Katie,
Love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it and sharing your feedback! ??xTieghan
These were so good! I definitely over toasted my taco shells though they were hard to bite into, my error. All of the flavors came together so well. I was skeptical of the cream cheese, but it was great.
Hi Leila,
Love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it and sharing your feedback! ??xTieghan
So delicious. As soon as I had my house back in order today from having my flooring redone, I made these for Saturday brunch, along with the smashed garlic and butter potatoes and strawberry ? bourbon crisp with vanilla bean ice cream. I made a big pitcher of homemade lemon-limeade and another pitcher of your margaritas. Everyone was so happy and took a luxurious nap afterwards. Then my sister, mom and I opened up the Half Baked Harvest Cookbooks on the kitchen island and leaned over and flipped through them to decide what to make next. So appreciative!!
Hey Lorena,
Happy Sunday! Thanks so much for making this recipe and sharing your feedback!! Love to hear that it was a winner:) Thanks for your kind message. xxT
I love that these are baked. I do all the cooking in our house as My husband of 49 years is perfect ? except for the fact that he does not BBQ so I am sometimes running from the BBQ to the kitchen. I am going to do some chicken chunks as well as the salmon as the grandchildren are not so fond of salmon. This should all go very well tonight. Thanks Tieghan-winning all around! Yum!
Hey Bonnie,
Happy Sunday! Thanks so much for making this recipe and sharing your feedback!! Love to hear that it was a winner:) xxT
OK yum! My fiancé and I loved these. We switched out the salmon for cod and grilled it. We loved the cream cheese on the bottom too
Hey Isabel,
Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! Have the best weekend:) xTieghan
These are delicious! The jalapeños cream spread is a must. Also, I will never buy ready made hard shells again. It was so easy t0 make your own. I sprinkled “doritos”seasoning from another one of your recipes on them in addition to the olive oil. Another great meal!!
Hey Kathie,
Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! Have the best weekend:) xTieghan
Soooo good! Amazing flavors.
Hey Gina,
Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! Have the best weekend:) xTieghan
This recipe got me multitudenous compliments from my family! They even said better than any restaurant! I ‘made’ the corn tortillas and would recommend using heavy duty foil to create the tents/molds for baking. The weight of the tortillas made my regular foil flatten, but I made due! Excellent recipe that I will make again! Thanks, Tieghan!
Hey Cindy,
Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! Have the best weekend:) xTieghan
Did you leave the skin on the salmon?
I cut the skin off. May be easier to do after cutting into cubes??
Hey Amanda,
I had my butcher remove the skin:) Let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love the recipe! xTieghan