GrillinFools
We take some uber-fresh salmon, season it, and grill it to perfection before putting the fish into toasted corn tortillas and topping it with semi-fresh salsa. The salsa has grilled fresh pineapple, fresh red onion, charred red pepper and roasted corn. What makes it ‘semi’ fresh? Just a time-saving hack you will see below in this grilled recipe for salmon tacos with semi-fresh salsa.
We love salmon and I mean really love it. From our family charter every year in Northern Michigan to cooking that glorious salmon all year once we get back home. And here’s the proof:
Brown Bag Salmon that shows one of our charter expeditions. To something as simple and yet amazing: Dijon and Dill Salmon. Also, if you are a bit more daring, this coffee rubbed salmon is amazing. Last, but certainly not least, this orange whiskey salmon is DIVINE.
And as I write this, it’s about 104F outside and maybe you are craving salmon but don’t want to stand next to a hot grill. How about air fryer salmon from our sister site CookinFools.com where do the same step-by-step, pic-by-pic, foolproof recipes, albeit inside. Lots of comfort food for those bitterly cold months as well as lots of chicken wings and a segment we call, “Will It Egg Roll?” where we take odd ball ingredients and see if they will make a good egg roll.
But maybe you are just looking for new taco recipes. We’ve got some recipes there too. From the beyond amazing, although gimmicky sounding, Big Mac Tacos to Nopales Tacos (yes, cactus tacos), chipotle tacos with lime sour cream, and carne asada tacos with fresh, fire roasted salsa. Oh, almost forgot the beef cheek tacos.
OK, back to the recipe at hand
Grilled Recipe for Salmon Tacos with Semi-Fresh Salsa Ingredients
Salmon Tacos Ingredients:
- 1 side of salmon
- Salt
- Your favorite BBQ seasoning or seafood rub
- 1/4 cup olive
- 20 corn tortillas
- Lime wedges for garnish
Simply carve 4-6 ounce portions from the side of the salmon:
Basically, just carve off about 2 inch wide filets and you will be good on portion size. That is until you get toward the tail where the last piece will need to have a larger piece, but because it is thinner it should still be in the 4-6 ounce range.
Also, season with salt and your favorite seafood or BBQ seasoning:
Semi-Fresh Salsa Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons jarred salsa
- 3 ounces grilled pineapple, chopped
- 2 ounces red onion, chopped
- 2 ounces roasted red pepper, chopped
- Kernels of 1 ear of roasted corn
- 1.5 tablespoons fresh cilantro
See, this is how it went down. We were shooting a bunch of recipes for this site and some other projects. We had the grilled salmon and some tortillas but we were almost out of salsa. There was just a little bit in the bottom of the jar.
So I started looking around for options to add as toppings to the salmon tacos. I spotted the remains of some of the other recipes we’d done. One was pork kabobs with grilled pineapple, roasted red pepper and some red onion. We also had a few ears of roasted red corn for a side and a bunch of cilantro:
I began by spooning the remainder of the salsa into a bowl, then kicked it up with all those ingredients to make one incredible semi-fresh salsa. Starting with a little bit of premade salsa I already enjoy and then kicking that up with whatever fresh ingredients are lying around took these salmon tacos from good to beyond spectacular.
Let’s Grill some Salmon Tacos
There are two schools of thought on grilling salmon. Flip and no flip. I’m OK with either, but I’m more in the flip category. Thus, most of my salmon grilling videos have me doing the flip. So for this grilled recipe for salmon tacos, I decided on the no-flip method.
The advantages of flipping are the fish gets browned on the top and we cook it through before the skin blackens too much. The downside is if the fish sticks then that beautiful filet just became a mess on the grill. For those of us who love the skin, this is the way to go. For those of us who don’t eat the salmon skin, leaving it skin side down is a foolproof way of cooking the fish. Even if the skin burns to a crisp, the fish will still be perfect.
SearMagic Grids
So I cooked these on an MHP Hybrid grill which has an infrared sear station on one side and two regular gas burners on the other. It also has this clever SearMagic grid system which are grill grates that make epic grill marks on steaks and such on one side, but if you flip them over they are more like a griddle which makes them perfect for fish as you won’t lose any of flaky fish in the gaps because the gaps are super tiny.
Here is that SearMagic system in action on this tomahawk steak.
I set the standard burners on the grill to medium low, left the sear burner off, then put a little oil on the skin side of the salmon and placed the salmon skin side down:
Two-Zone Grilling
If you want to cook the skin-side down only and still keep the skin edible, then go with two-zone grilling. Leave one burner off, in this case the sear station which can easily get to north of 800F. Once the skin crisps up, slide the salmon over to the cool side of the grill and close the lid. Thus, the fish will bake the rest of the way from the indirect heat and the skin won’t burn.
Once the salmon hits 145F remove it from the grill:
Then toss some corn tortillas on:
Toasting corn tortillas will keep them from tearing as much. I highly recommend it.
Finally. to finish our grilled recipe for salmon tacos, add a couple lime wedges.
Grilled Recipe for Salmon Tacos Summary
I could eat these twice a week, and maybe a third day if I had any leftovers. The salmon was meaty and juicy, while the salsa just added so much to the flavor profile. The toasty char on the components of the salsa really add some lovely smokiness to the fish tacos. A little lime crema would be the only thing I’d think about adding.
If you have any questions or comments about this grilled recipe for salmon, feel free to leave them below or send me an email.
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Recipe Card:
Grilled Recipe for Salmon Tacos with Semi-Fresh Salsa
Ingredients
Salmon Tacos
- 1 side Fresh salmon
- Salt
- Your favorite seafood or BBQ seasoning
- ¼ cup Olive oil
- 20 Corn tortillas
- Lime wedges for garnish
Semi-Fresh Salsa
- 3 tablespoons Jarred salsa
- 3 ounces Grilled pineapple, chopped
- 2 ounces Red onion, finely chopped
- 2 ounces Roasted red pepper, finely chopped
- Kernels of one ear of roasted corn
- 1.5 tablespoons Fresh cilantro, finely chopped
Instructions
- Slice the salmon into two-inch filets (approximately 4-6 ounces). Season the salmon with the salt and BBQ seasoning.
- Put all the salsa ingredients in a mixing bowl and combine. Set aside.
- Set the grill for two-zone grilling with burners on one side set to medium to medium-low and the burner on the other side set to off. Oil the skin of the salmon and place the filets, skin-side down, on the hot side of the grill. Once the skin gets crispy, move the salmon to the side of the grill with no direct heat and close the lid. When the salmon reaches 145F, remove the salmon from the grill and then toast the corn tortillas.
- Assemble the fish tacos with the salsa. Feel free to add sour creme or lime crema. Enjoy
Extra Pics
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