This ain’t Gramma’s frozen tuna casserole! This freezer-meal-salmon gets a tropical makeover with a mango and avocado salsa.
The old way of making meals for the freezer was to do a big fully-cooked casserole, freeze the reheat. The modern take on freezer meals is quite different. The goal is great-tasting food with little effort on the day you’re eating it. For today’s twist, you actually do cook a little bit on serving day. But we promise, it’s only for a few minutes.
When you’re thinking about making delicious freezer meals, remember that not everything has to be pre-cooked. Some ingredients are best frozen raw and then cooked at the last minute. When it comes to fish, it’s best to flavor the raw fish (with a rub or marinade) and then freeze it raw. On eating day, you can defrost it and panfry it OR you can bake it straight from frozen.
For this salmon recipe, you pre-make a side dish of rice and beans, as well as a mango and avocado salsa. The raw salmon gets a chili powder rub before being frozen.
To serve, defrost every thing. Then heat the rice and beans while quickly panfrying the salmon. Divide rice among plates and then top with the salmon and salsa. Grab a fork!
Print Tropical Salmon with Mango-Avocado Salsa and Rice
This ain’t Gramma’s frozen tuna casserole! This freezer-meal-salmon gets a tropical makeover with a mango and avocado salsa.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 lb. salmon fillet
- 1 ½ Tbsp. chili powder
- ½ tsp. salt, divided
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 15 oz. canned black beans, drained and rinsed
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
- 2 large mangoes, pitted and diced
- ⅔ cup diced red onion
- 2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
- 1 large avocado, pitted and diced
- 1 tsp. lime juice
Instructions
Cooking directions
- Rub salmon filet all over with chili powder and ¼ teaspoon of the salt.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add salmon skin side down and cook until browned, 3-5 minutes.
- Flip salmon and cook on meat side until browned and cooked through, 4-5 more minutes.
- Remove salmon from heat and break into pieces, discarding skin, if desired.
- In a large bowl toss together cooked rice, black beans, ¼ teaspoon of salt, and pepper. Set aside.
- In another bowl toss together mango, onion, cilantro, avocado, and lime juice.
- Layer rice and beans onto each plate or bowl, top with salmon, and then finish off with mango salsa.
Freezing directions
- Rub salmon filet with the chili powder and ¼ teaspoon of the salt. Divide filets among half of the gallon bags.
- In a large bowl mix the cooked rice, black beans, salt and pepper. Divide mixture between the remaining half of the gallon bags. Place this bag inside of the bag with the salmon.
- In another bowl combine the mango, onion, cilantro, avocado, and lime juice. Divide among the quart bags and place inside the bag with the salmon. Label and freeze.
Serving day directions
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add salmon skin side down and cook until browned, 3-5 minutes.
- Flip salmon and cook on meat side until browned and cooked through, 4-5 more minutes.
- Remove salmon from heat and break into pieces, discarding skin, if desired.
- Meanwhile, reheat rice and beans. Divide rice and beans among dinner plates and then top with salmon and with mango salsa.
Notes
Recipe and photo courtesy of Once a Month Meals.
I am craving this big time right now!! So fresh and clean!
Looks so flavorful and healthy!