This recipe for air fryer salmon tacos transforms into a sweet, spicy, and savory protein addition for tacos, taco bowls, and salads. While most fish tacos are made with lean and flaky white fish fillets, like Pacific halibut or wild Alaska pollock, sockeye salmon is often overlooked.
Why Sockeye Salmon Is the Best Fish for Your Tacos
Sockeye salmon is a perfect main protein for fish tacos considering that it’s packed with flavor, high in protein, low in fat, and a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. It also has a firm texture, which makes sockeye an ideal candidate for air frying.
The dry rub for this recipe is made with a handful of pantry spices like cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, and just a touch of brown sugar. It’s a homemade blend of seasonings that becomes a quick and easy seasoning for sockeye salmon.
Salmon tacos are a refreshing take on a fish taco or fish taco bowl. Air frying salmon is quickly becoming a more popular cooking method, giving the fillets a crunchy and light texture. As easy as other cooking methods are, air frying has a unique perk of speed.
Sockeye salmon strips in particular cook very quickly, since they are cut thinly. This recipe is perfect to make in a time crunch — whether that is being late to leave the house, a quick lunch break, or just wanting to have a delicious meal with minimal effort.
How to Cook And Cut Your Salmon Strips
Cutting your salmon into strips is easy — be sure to leave the skin on and cut against the grain and you can thinly slice enough strips for plenty of tacos. If you’re new or uninterested in cutting a whole salmon, WAC’s Sockeye Salmon Strips are pre-sliced to perfection.
This air fryer recipe only takes a total of 10 minutes to make between preparing your salmon and actually cooking it.
What to Serve with Salmon Tacos
Some favorite toppings that pair well with this sweet and spicy recipe:
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Diced onions
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Sliced radishes
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Cilantro
- Shredded cabbage or lettuce
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Salsa or pico de gallo
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Avocado
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Extra chili peppers on top, for spice lovers
Other Cooking Methods
While this salmon taco recipe is perfect for air frying, we understand the importance of variety. Some other cooking methods that pair perfectly with this dish and flavor profile are pan frying your salmon. Salmon strips can be pan fried in under a minute until they’re just opaque, flaky, and ready to use as a filing for tacos.
Grilling a fillet of salmon, or using a grill pan, is another excellent alternative to air frying, though you’ll want to grill a whole fillet rather than strips. Sockeye salmon is a meatier cut of salmon, so it holds up nicely on a grill and creates juicy and flavorful fillets that are perfect to flake into tacos once they’re cooked.
Every single one of these cooking methods optimizes the robust flavor of sockeye salmon. For lower carb options, try adapting this recipe as a taco bowl instead, serving it with fresh vegetables. This salmon taco topping provides a crisp bite in between a bowl filled with your choice lettuce or a bed of mixed greens. Alternatively, swap out the tortillas for rice, or even quinoa. Combine salmon strips in a bowl with your favorite toppings for a health-forward meal!
If you don’t have sockeye salmon on hand, coho salmon will also taste delicious with this recipe. Coho salmon is slightly fattier, with a softer flake and bite. Coho is best cooked by poaching or gently baking it, and can still be cut into thinner strips for an easy, delightful bite in either a taco or taco bowl.
Experimenting with the different cooking methods that go so well with this sweet and spicy chili rub will have you making this salmon taco recipe over and over again.
