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🐟 Seafood

Chipotle salmon with orange salsa and aji verde

A bright, smoky, restaurant-y salmon bowl with lots of color

⏱️ Time estimate: about 40 minutes

Salmon gets a taco-seasoning, brown sugar, and chipotle crust, then lands over rice with juicy orange-cabbage salsa and a creamy cilantro-jalapeño aji verde.

Chipotle salmon bowl with orange salsa, purple cabbage, rice, and green sauce

Ingredients

Chipotle salmon

  • 1 1/2 pounds salmon filet
  • 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder, to taste
  • Spritz of avocado oil

Orange salsa

  • 3 large navel oranges, cut into chunks with pith removed
  • Small wedge purple cabbage, finely shredded, about 2 cups
  • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
  • Small wedge red onion, minced, about 1/4 cup
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil or avocado oil
  • Juice of 2 limes, about 2 to 3 tablespoons
  • 1/2 jalapeño, ribs and seeds removed
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

Aji verde

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 cup mayo
  • 1 cup cilantro leaves and stems
  • 1/2 jalapeño, ribs and seeds removed
  • 1 clove garlic
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • Pinch of salt, to taste

For serving

  • Rice

Instructions

  1. Make the orange salsa. Toss everything together except the oranges. Massage the cabbage a bit with your hands to soften it. Wait to add the oranges until right before serving so the whole thing does not turn pink.
  2. Blend the aji verde. Blend the olive oil, mayo, cilantro, jalapeño, garlic, lime juice, and salt until smooth.
  3. Prep the salmon. Heat the oven to 450°F and place a rack near the top. Pat the salmon dry and place it on a foil-lined sheet pan. Mix the taco seasoning, brown sugar, and chipotle powder, then coat the salmon with the mixture and spritz lightly with avocado oil.
  4. Bake and broil. Bake for 5 minutes near the top of the oven, then broil for 4 to 6 minutes more until cooked to your liking.
  5. Serve. Fold the oranges into the slaw. Spread rice and aji verde into a shallow bowl or plate, flake the salmon into chunks on top, and finish with a scoop of the orange salsa.

This seems like a very good one for pretending a weeknight dinner is secretly a fancy bowl situation.