Serves 2 generously (about 6 tacos)
Time: ~35 minutes

Salmon

• 1 lb salmon fillet, skin removed

• 1 Tbsp avocado oil

• 1 tsp smoked paprika

• 1 tsp regular paprika

• ¾ tsp garlic powder

• ½ tsp onion powder

• ½ tsp dried oregano

• ½ tsp ground cumin

• ¼ tsp cayenne (more if you like heat)

• ¾ tsp kosher salt

• ½ tsp black pepper

• 1 tsp brown sugar

Lime slaw

• 2 cups finely shredded green cabbage

• ½ cup shredded carrot

• 2 Tbsp finely sliced green onion

• 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro

• Juice of 1 lime

• 1 tsp honey

• 1 tsp olive oil

• ¼ tsp salt

Chipotle-lime sauce

• ¼ cup mayonnaise

• 2 Tbsp Greek yogurt

• 1–2 tsp finely minced chipotle pepper in adobo

• 1 Tbsp lime juice

• ½ tsp honey

• ¼ tsp garlic powder

• Pinch of salt

For serving

• 6 small flour tortillas

• 1 avocado, sliced

• Extra cilantro

• Lime wedges

• Pickled red onion, optional

• Queso fresco, finely grated

1. Make the sauce

Mix the mayo, Greek yogurt, chipotle, lime juice, honey, garlic powder and salt.

Taste it. If you want it:

• Spicier: more chipotle

• Brighter: more lime

• Sweeter: another tiny drizzle of honey

Refrigerate while you prepare everything else.

2. Make the slaw

Toss the cabbage, carrot, green onion and cilantro together.

Whisk the lime juice, honey, olive oil and salt, then toss with the vegetables.

Don't overdress it. You want crunchy, lightly dressed slaw rather than wet coleslaw.

Let it sit for about 10–15 minutes.

3. Season the salmon

Pat the salmon very dry and cut it into large bite-size chunks, roughly 1½ inches.

Mix all the spices, salt, pepper and brown sugar together.

Toss the salmon with the avocado oil, then coat thoroughly with the seasoning mixture.

4. Blacken the salmon

Heat a large skillet—your carbon-steel wok could work, but I'd actually use a regular skillet if you have one—to medium-high/high heat.

Add about 1 Tbsp avocado oil.

Once it's quite hot, add the salmon pieces in a single layer. Don't crowd them.

Cook for about 2–3 minutes on the first side, then turn and cook another 2–3 minutes, turning occasionally so several sides get nicely browned.

Because you're working with fresh-caught salmon, I'd aim for 145°F for food safety. If you prefer your salmon more well-done, you can take it a little higher, but try not to cook it excessively because the small pieces cook quickly.

5. Warm the tortillas

While the salmon rests, heat your tortillas in a dry skillet for about 20–30 seconds per side.

For especially good tacos, let them get a few little browned spots.

6. Assemble

For each taco:

Tortilla → chipotle-lime sauce → slaw → blackened salmon → avocado → cilantro

Then squeeze fresh lime over everything.

Add pickled red onions if you have them. They're really good with this.

🌽 Make it a complete dinner

I wouldn't make a huge side dish because the tacos themselves are pretty substantial. I'd do:

Blackened salmon tacos + Mexican street corn

You could also do cilantro-lime rice if you want something more filling.

And if you want to turn this into one of your beloved bowl dinners, simply skip the tortillas and layer cilantro-lime rice + blackened salmon + slaw + avocado + chipotle sauce + corn in a bowl. That would be excellent.

If you want to skip the slaw

If you're skipping slaw, I'd replace the crunch + freshness that the slaw provided rather than just leaving that element out. With the smoky blackened salmon and chipotle-lime sauce, there are lots of good directions.

🌮 My top choice: Corn + avocado + pickled onion

I'd build these with:

• Blackened salmon

• Creamy chipotle-lime sauce

• Avocado

• Sweet corn, preferably quickly sautéed or charred

• Pickled red onion

• Cilantro

• Fresh lime

• Small flour tortillas

The corn would be especially good because the salmon seasoning has smoky/spicy notes, while the corn brings sweetness. The avocado makes up for the creaminess you'd otherwise get from the slaw dressing, and the pickled onion gives you the acidic bite.

Other combinations that would work really well

🌽 Mexican street-corn style

• Blackened salmon

• Charred corn

• Avocado

• Cilantro

• Cotija

• Chipotle-lime sauce

• Lime

This would be really good if you already like Mexican street corn.

🥑 Simple & fresh

• Blackened salmon

• Avocado

• Pico de gallo

• Cilantro

• Chipotle-lime sauce

• Lime

The pico gives you tomatoes, onion, jalapeño and freshness without feeling like slaw.

🫘 Hearty

• Blackened salmon

• Black beans

• Corn

• Avocado

• Pico de gallo

• Chipotle-lime sauce

This makes the tacos much more substantial, almost like a taco-bowl filling.

🍍 Sweet & spicy

• Blackened salmon

• Grilled pineapple

• Avocado

• Jalapeño

• Cilantro

• Lime

• Chipotle-lime sauce

This is probably the most interesting combination if you want something different. The sweet pineapple against the spicy blackened salmon is fantastic.

What I'd make for you two

I'd personally do:

Small flour tortilla → chipotle-lime sauce → blackened salmon → charred corn → avocado → pickled red onion → cilantro → lime

And serve cilantro-lime rice alongside it.

That gives you a complete dinner without the slaw, and the combination of smoky + spicy + sweet + creamy + acidicshould be much more interesting than the salmon simply baked with butter and lemon.

Nutrition

Per serving (3 tacos)

Calories

~700 kcal

Protein

~45 g

Carbohydrates

~50 g

Fat

~35 g

Fiber

~8 g

Sugar

~7 g

Sodium

~1,300 mg