Family dinners don’t have to be bland or boring. Add a subtle smoky twist to your next make-your-own taco night by using my secret flavor booster: chili chipotle powder.

Sunday dinners at my house often revolve around some sort of fish taco recipe. This weekend Josh was home from college, so I wanted to make something satisfying, nourishing, and super flavorful before he headed back to school; the food he eats at school is none of the above. My new creation for Smoky Tacos with Greek Yogurt Sauce met all three criteria.

Besides Josh’s presence at our dinner table, my recipe was inspired by this month’s Recipe Redux challenge to create a dish with smoke and/or spiciness. 

My kids don’t like food when it’s too spicy, but there’s something about the smokiness of chili chipotle powder that they’ve always loved.

 So I sprinkled some on the salmon before I baked it ….

 And added it to plain Greek yogurt to create a smoky sauce …

And the result was a table filled with happy, well-fed campers.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Smoky Salmon Tacos with Greek Yogurt Sauce

 

Author: Liz

Recipe type: Dinner

Cuisine: Seafood

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Whenever salmon is on my mealtime menu, I usually ask my husband, Tim, to grill it. But now that's it's mega cold outside, I gave him a break by using my oven! By cranking the temp to 450, the salmon cooked perfectly in just 15 minutes. {This recipe is gluten free.}

Ingredients

• 1¼ pounds salmon, skinned or with skin
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• Zest of one lime, divided
• Generous sprinkling of ground cumin plus ⅛ teaspoon, divided
• Generous sprinkling of chili chipotle powder plus ⅛ teaspoon, divided
• Kosher salt and pepper
• One 7-ounce container low-fat plain Greek yogurt
• A few squeezes of lime juice
• 12 taco shells, cooked according to package directions
• Optional Toppers: Sauteed bell peppers, fresh cilantro, lime wedges, diced tomatoes

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
2. Place the salmon, skin side down, on a foil-lined baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine the olive oil and half the lime zest, and spread evenly over the salmon. Add the generous sprinkling of cumin and chili chipotle powder and a few pinches of kosher salt.
3. Bake until just cooked through, about 15 minutes. Remove, cover, and set aside.
4. While the salmon is baking, place the yogurt, the remaining lime zest, the remaining ⅛ teaspoon each of cumin and chili chipotle powder, lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl and stir to combine.
5. Serve the taco shells, salmon (cut into slices), yogurt sauce, and optional toppers and let each family member build their own tacos.

Notes

I'm a big fan of recipes that give family members lots of healthy choices, so for this recipe, I laid out a bunch of toppers: cilantro, sauteed bell peppers, diced tomatoes, and my smoky Greek yogurt sauce. If I had a gorgeous, ripe avocado on hand, I would have diced that up too.

3.5.3226

 What’s YOUR favorite way to add spice, smoke, and heat to everyday recipes?