Jamie Oliver’s zesty salmon tacos fry lime-zested salmon fillets golden, then pile them into warm corn tortillas with a blitzed sweetcorn salsa, chipotle-dressed cabbage, sliced avocado and tomato, finished with soured cream and coriander. Six tacos for two, 20 minutes, 561 kcal a serving.
The recipe is from Jamie’s 20-Minute Meals (2012). The sweetcorn salsa is the clever component: tinned sweetcorn blitzed with coriander stalks and lime juice into a smooth, bright yellow purée that spreads over each tortilla as both a sauce and a base layer. It replaces a salsa you’d normally chop by hand with something smoother, sweeter and faster.
The chipotle cabbage does the sharp, crunchy work. Finely shredded white cabbage tossed with chipotle chilli paste gives each taco a smoky heat and a raw crunch that cuts through the rich salmon and creamy avocado. Without it, the tacos would be all soft textures; with it, every bite has contrast.
Jamie Oliver Zesty Salmon Tacos
Course: Dinner, LunchCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy2
servings10
minutes10
minutes561
kcal20
minutesJamie Oliver’s 20-minute salmon tacos from Jamie’s 20-Minute Meals: lime-zested pan-fried salmon on corn tortillas with a blitzed sweetcorn salsa, chipotle cabbage, avocado and soured cream. Six tacos for two.
Ingredients
1 x 200g tin of sweetcorn
½ a bunch of coriander (15g)
2 limes
80g white cabbage
1 heaped teaspoon chipotle chilli paste
½ a ripe avocado
2 ripe tomatoes (160g)
2 x 130g salmon or trout fillets, skin on, scaled, pin-boned, from sustainable sources
6 small corn tortillas
2 tablespoons soured cream
Directions
- Make the salsa:Tip the sweetcorn into a blender with just a splash of its juice, tear in half the coriander (stalks and all), squeeze in the juice of 1 lime and blitz until smooth. Season.
- Prep the toppings:Finely shred the cabbage and toss with the chipotle paste. Finely grate and reserve the zest of the remaining lime. Destone the avocado, scoop and finely slice the flesh, and squeeze over half the remaining lime juice. Finely slice the tomatoes and season with salt.
- Fry the salmon:Heat a large non-stick frying pan on medium-high. Slice each fillet lengthways into 3 pieces, season with salt and pat on the reserved lime zest. Spritz the pan with olive oil and fry for 2 minutes each side until golden and cooked through, warming the tortillas on top of the fish as it cooks.
- Assemble:Spread a spoonful of corn salsa over each warm tortilla, divide the tomatoes, avocado and chipotle cabbage between them, sit the salmon on top, finish with soured cream and the remaining coriander leaves. Serve with lime wedges and extra salsa for drizzling.
FAQs
Can I use a different fish?
Oliver offers trout as a direct swap, and any firm, skin-on fillet works the same way: sea bass, sea bream or even mackerel. The skin protects the flesh as it fries and crisps into something worth eating, so don’t remove it. Cut each fillet into 3 strips lengthways so they fit neatly into the tortillas.
White fish like cod or haddock would also work but flakes more easily, so handle it gently when turning. The lime zest pressed onto the fish before frying is doing the flavour work, so whatever fish you choose, don’t skip it: it gives every piece a fragrant citrus crust.
What is chipotle chilli paste?
Chipotle paste is made from smoked, dried jalapeño chillies ground into a thick, dark paste. It’s smoky, moderately hot and has a deep, almost chocolatey warmth that’s completely different from fresh chilli heat. A heaped teaspoon tossed through the shredded cabbage gives it a smoky kick without overwhelming the raw crunch.
You’ll find it in the world-food aisle or online. A tube lasts for months in the fridge and goes into soups, stews, dressings and marinades. If you can’t find it, a teaspoon of smoked paprika mixed with a pinch of cayenne approximates the flavour, though without the chilli paste’s sticky texture.
Why blitz the sweetcorn into a salsa?
Speed and texture. Chopping a fresh salsa takes time, and tinned sweetcorn blitzed with lime and coriander gives you a smooth, sweet, bright sauce in 30 seconds that spreads over the tortilla as a base layer. It does the job of both a salsa and a sauce, stopping the tortilla from being dry underneath the toppings.
It’s also a waste-nothing move: the tin of sweetcorn might otherwise just be a side, but blitzed, it becomes the backbone of the whole taco. Use just a splash of the tin’s juice, not all of it, or the salsa runs too thin.
Do I need corn tortillas, or can I use flour?
Oliver specifies small corn tortillas, and they’re the traditional choice for fish tacos, with a slightly nutty, earthy flavour and a firmer texture that holds up better under wet toppings. They need brief warming to become pliable, which he does on top of the frying salmon, so they steam gently while the fish cooks.
Flour tortillas work too and are softer and more flexible, though they tear less easily and taste blander. If you can find small, soft corn tortillas (not the stiff, supermarket taco-shell kind), they’re worth the search. Six small tortillas for two people is three each, which is a generous, proper taco dinner.
How do I stop the tacos falling apart?
Layer strategically. The corn salsa goes on first as a sticky base that glues everything to the tortilla. Then the firmer toppings (tomato, cabbage) go next, with the avocado and salmon on top, and the soured cream and coriander last. Eating order is bottom to top, so the crunchiest, sturdiest elements are nearest the tortilla.
Don’t overfill: three tacos each means you can spread the toppings across all six rather than cramming everything into one. And eat them quickly, since warm tortillas soften and wet toppings seep through over time. Tacos are meant to be assembled and eaten immediately.
What else from Jamie’s 20-Minute Meals goes well with these?
They’re substantial enough on their own for two, but if you want a starter, his bread and borlotti bean soup in smaller portions makes a warm, filling lead-in. For a different quick fish supper from the same book’s spirit, his Thai hot and sour chicken soup swaps the Mexican flavours for Southeast Asian but runs on the same fast, one-pan logic.
If you enjoy the chipotle-and-lime combination, his tomato and feta lentils uses a similar “punchy toppings over a warm base” format, just with a Middle Eastern accent instead of Mexican.
