You’ve never had fish tacos like this before! Made with meaty salmon instead of white fish, these healthy tacos are fresh, flavorful and filling!

Heaven help me, do I love tacos. Due to this simple fact, we make a ton of different kinds of tacos at our house. These amazing (and amazingly simple!) salmon tacos are definitely among my favorites… they’re pretty neck and neck with the Chipotle Pork Tacos with Pineapple Salsa and those things are gooooooood.

Anyway, these are actually a slightly changed up version of an old Betty Crocker recipe. I know! Betty freaking Crocker! Believe me, I was surprised too. Usually Betty Crocker recipes use a lot of processed foods that we don’t really buy around here… like frosting from a can. No offense to my frosting-from-a-can lovers out there, but I can’t. I just can’t even.

So let’s talk about buying fish for a moment because maybe some of you could use a hand here. This may shock you, but I almost always buy frozen fish and seafood. I know, I know! I’m supposed to go see a fishmonger and sniff it and look the thing in the eye, but I don’t. Pretty much never. Every Food Network personality is going to tell you that this is the only way to buy fish. I have to disagree and here’s why:

1. Freshness: unless you are going to be using it that day, it doesn’t keep very long in the fridge. Up to 3 days max, but it’s greatly dependent on a bunch of factors that you probably aren’t going to know, like If it was stored properly after it was caught, how fresh the fish was when purchased or the temperatures it was exposed to in transporting from the store to your fridge.
2. Convenience: Having seafood in the freezer means you have a base for a meal ready to go at any point in time. You can thaw some fish in the sink (in cold water that you change out every so often) in 20-30 minutes depending on it’s thickness. They’re also already boneless and skinless, so no extra work needed there!
3. News flash! If you’re getting “fresh” fish from the grocer, most likely it’s thawed, frozen fish. There are some stores where this isn’t the case (Meijer comes to mind) but they seem to be few and far between.
4. I’ve had both fresh and frozen, and I have to be honest here, I don’t notice any real flavor/texture differences there, so it’s basically a no-brainer for me.

Essentially what I’m saying is that I refuse to feel shame for buying frozen fish. In fact, I think it’s kind of a miracle. So you keep that noise to yourself, Food Network!

Charring the tortillas is completely optional, but I promise, it’s SO worth it!

I also wanted to mention that I’m using the Smoky Southwestern seasoning blend here, basically because it’s amazing in almost anything and these tacos are no exception. If you want some delicious proof, you can try out my Avocado & Chicken Salad with Southwestern Ranch, because that dressing is the bomb.com.  You should make extra of this seasoning to put in your eggs, your guacamole, your bloody Mary, your pita chips… get wild and crazy here people, you won’t be sorry.

Ok, time to get my Upper Fix on for the Labor Day Fix Challenge!

Enjoy <3

Salmon Tacos with Deconstructed Guacamole

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

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Ingredients

Tacos:

• 1 large jalapeno, finely chopped
• 1 large tomato, chopped (or grape tomatoes, quartered)
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
• 2 cups shredded red cabbage - can get this in a bag pre-shredded with the bagged salads or thinly slice it yourself with a knife (a grater does NOT work here - I speak from experience, people, trust me)
• 2 limes, quartered (divided)
• 2 small-medium ripe avocados
• a pinch of salt
• Cooking spray (extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil)
• 1 lb raw salmon fillets
• Smoky Southwestern Seasoning to season
• 8 6-inch corn tortillas

Smoky Southwestern Seasoning:

• 1 Tbs chili powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (don't skip this!)
• 1 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Have all of your veggies chopped (except for the avocados) and ready to go before you cook your salmon, it won't take long.
2. Season your salmon fillets on both sides with the Smoky Southwestern Seasoning.
3. Spray a large non-stick pan with cooking spray and bring to medium heat. Place your salmon fillets in the skillet and cook for about 5 minutes on each side (no need to play with them in between, let them do their thing) or until they flake easily with a fork. Once done, remove from pan and use fork to break them up into chunks.
4. This next part is optional! While the fish are cooking away, if you have a gas stove, turn a burner on medium-low and put a corn tortilla on top of it, moving it around every so often with metal tongs until slightly charred in spots, flip over and repeat on the other side. Repeat with remaining tortillas. You could probably also do this over a grill and maybe under the broiler, but I haven't personally tried either of those.
5. Slice the avocados in half, remove the pits, score into cubes. Using a spoon, remove the cubes and put into a bowl, adding some lime juice from one of your quartered limes and a pinch of salt.

To serve the tacos:

1. Put everything out buffet style: salmon, red cabbage, jalapeno, onion, tomato, avocado, and cilantro, then everyone can fill their tortillas as they please.
2. FYI, It's best to put the cabbage in the bottom because it helps keep the tortillas from getting wet.
3. Serve with the lime wedges and enjoy!

Notes

21 Day Fix Container Equivalents: 1 RED, 1 YELLOW, 1/2 GREEN, 1 BLUE

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 2 corn tortillas, 1/4 of the flaked salmon (about 3/4 cup), 1/2 cup veggies and 1/3 cup avocado
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 400 Total Fat: 20g