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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.
Easy but tasty
My fam loved it
Hi there,
Happy Sunday!! I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a lot for trying it out and sharing your review! xxT
Oh, wow. Made these tonight for supper and they were absolutely amazing! Made them exactly like the recipe, and they’re probably my favourite recipe of yours that we have ever had (we’ve tried and loved many). They will definitely go into our regular supper rotation.
Hey Lauren,
Wonderful!! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed!! Have a great weekend:) xx
These turned out really good! I used Pacific Cod, which baked for 12 minutes and broiled for 2. It never got crispy, due to all of the oil and moisture on the sheet pan. Next time I’ll do 2 Tbs. oil instead of the full quarter cup. I could see that this would turn out GREAT in an air fryer (which I don’t have). The bit of sweetness from the honey was great, and the amount of spices was spot on. Very tasty.
For the taco shells, I gave ’em a quick microwave between damp paper towels then spritzed them with olive oil spray and draped them through a cooling rack over a high-sided pan to avoid wasting all that tin foil. Baked at 400 for 10 min. with a little salt. Worked great.
Thought I had more time (and didn’t!) so just folded pickled jalapeños into some sour cream. Done (and my husband loved it).
For a bit of veggies, I julienned and sauteed a variety of green peppers to add to the tacos.
Did I totally FOLLOW-follow the recipe? No. Did I make what I had time for that I thought would be a success? Yep. And I’d do it again! 😉
All in all, a great,
Hey Carissa,
Wonderful!! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I love to hear that it was enjoyed!! Thanks for sharing your feedback and what worked well for you! Have a great weekend:) xx
This is literally so good. My husband, teen son and I love it so much that that we just made it two days in a row. The jalapeño and cream cheese combo is everything. We used tostadas due to laziness. Thank you!
Hey Crissy,
Happy Friday!! Thanks so much for trying this recipe out and sharing your feedback! I love to hear that it was a hit!☀️
Hi! Did I see you make the pickled jalapenos with honey in your stories the other day? Do you have instructions for that somewhere? I’d love to try. Thank you!
Hey Allison,
Those were the candied jalapeños, I just pour warmed honey over sliced jalapeños and allow them to marinate in a jar for a few hours:) Let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Wow!! My family loved this!! I made it as a bowl and served with coconut rice. All the components together made the most delicious meal and I loved that the salmon was a sheet pan method and didn’t require me to stand at the hot grill outside. Once again, a lovely dinner with so much flavour! Thanks Tieghan!
Hey there,
Perfect!! I love to hear that this recipe was a hit and appreciate you giving it a try! Such a great idea to make as a bowl:) xxTieghan
Tieghan!
You literally never disappoint! I’m always nervous cooking fish, but if there’s honey involved, i’m all in! These were easy and delicious- like all your recipes! I used tilapia- my husband thinks salmon is too fishy! We all loved it! thank you for a new summer go-to recipe!!
Hey Nina,
Thanks for your kind message:) I love to hear that this recipe was a hit and appreciate you giving it a try! xxTieghan
Hi. Feel like this is a dumb question but do you leave the skin on the salmon or peel it off before roasting? Thanks.
Hey Terri,
Not dumb at all, for this recipe I removed the skin before roasting, you can ask your butcher to do that for you:) Let me know if you have any other questions!! xTieghan
Will flour tortilla shells work instead of corn with this technique?
Hi Jules,
Yes, flour tortillas will work, they just won’t give you the same crispiness that a corn tortilla will. Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
These look amazing! Question about jalapeños, you say you roast them with the fish, but recipe doesn’t call for that in the cream cheese? Thanks for clarifying
Hey Moe,
Sorry for any confusion, you are going to use pickled jalapeños in the cream cheese:) Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope the recipe turns out amazing for you! xT
Looks delicious! What seasonings do you put on the taco shells themselves?
Hi Kelci,
I like to do a little sprinkle of tajin:) Let me know if you have any other questions!! xTieghan
Love this! This is the second recipe I have prepared this week from Half Baked Harvest and this did not disappoint. Very easy to understand with simple and easy instructions. I used cod as my husband prefers over salmon. Left over salsa was eaten the next day with tortilla chips!
Hey Alice,
Thank you so much for sharing your feedback, I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed by you and your husband! I hope you’re off to a great Sunday:) xTieghan
OMG! These are sooooo delicious! I hadn’t made a proper recipe in a couple of months and it throughly impressed our friend’s mother & my husband. It’s a new staple for us. Thank you!
Hey Emily,
Happy Sunday!! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed!? xTieghan
So good! My notoriously picky partner loved these.
Hey Haley,
Wonderful!! Thanks so much for sharing your review and making this recipe. Love to hear that it was a winner! xxT
Best dinner I’ve made in a long time. My husband said they’re the best fish tacos he has ever had, and we live close to Montauk! Easy to make, very little mess. I used red snapper. I made corn on the Cobb on the side and put some corn on the taco for added crunch. Love!!!
Hey Amy,
Wonderful!! Thanks so much for sharing your review and making this recipe. Love to hear that it was a winner! xxT
Hi, made this today and we loved it! Cream cheese, mango and crispy shells makes it. That said, the shells turned out a bit too chewy (but couldn’t bake longer or would be too dark). What type of shells did you use? I think mine had corn + wheat flour so maybe that’s the issue. Or lower and slower in over… Looking forward to getting your cookbook. Love everything you make!
Hey Nadine,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! I like to use corn tortillas, I usually have great success with Whole Foods 365 brand. I hope this helps for next time! Have a great week! xTieghan
My husband and I both say the best tacos we’ve ever had. Perfect! Thank you
Thanks so much Erin!!