Elote Seasoned Salmon with Quinoa Salad

Tender salmon, perfectly spiced over a super quick, flavorful, and crunchy quinoa salad. Inspired by 3 easy to grab ingredients at Trader Joe's, the elote seasoning is so delicious on salmon! Served with the Mexican style quinoa salad, its one of my go-to weeknight dinners that takes seconds to prep and a few minutes to cook.

This post is not sponsored by Trader Joe's, I'm just obsessed with their Everything but the Elote Seasoning (among many other things) and it's so so perfect on salmon I just had to share it with you.

Not an exaggeration, this is my dinner once a week. It's just fast, simple, and delicious.

It wasn't until recently that I became a TJs fanatic, but now with two kids in activities and school, I am loving the combo of fun fresh, and prepared items and dousing what I can in elote seasoning.

What you'll need

You seriously need 3 things.

1. Salmon (or protein of your choice)
2. Everything but the Elote Seasoning
3. TJ's Mexican Style Corn & Quinoa Salad

What is in the Everything but Elote Seasoning?

Elote itself is corn, but elotes is a whole different experience. Grilled corn, sauce, seasoning, lime, cilantro.

Our friend TJ is taking all that flavor and putting it in a bottle. You'll find these ingredients in the everything but elote seasoning:

• cane sugar
• salt
• corn flour
• chile pepper
• parmesan cheese
• chipotle powder
• cilantro
• cumin

So we've got a little bit of sweetness, salty, spicy, cheesy, and herbaceous flavors all ground up and ready for sprinkling. The flavor is more sweet and spices (spice like taste, not spice like heat).

Besides protein, I love to add this to my black beans to go with this Instant Pot Chipotle Chicken.

How to make elote salmon with quinoa salad

To make this dish, you'll need to preheat the oven to 400°F to bake the salmon. Season the salmon fillets liberally with the elote seasoning and transfer to a greased foil or parchment lined baking sheet.

Tip: If you prefer to serve your salmon without the skin, don't grease the aluminum foil on your sheet pan. After baking, use a pair of tongs to gently remove the meat of the filet from the skin stuck to the foil - this is usually what I do when making it for myself.

The skin, though edible, is just too fishy for me!

The salmon will need to bake for about 12 to 16 minutes, or until an internal temperature of 145°F is reached. The baking time of salmon will vary depending on the thickness of the fillet.

We haven't talked about the other star here, the Mexican Style Corn & Quinoa Salad. So much goodness in a little container that just needs a quick mix.

What's in the quinoa salad?

• quinoa and brown rice
• shredded cabbage
• chopped kale
• grilled corn
• cojita cheese
• grape tomatoes
• lime
• cilantro
• roasted poblano dressing

Is it spicy? Just a touch, its really mild and the hint of sweetness in the elote seasoning pairs perfectly.

The container for the quinoa salad says there's 4 servings, but to be completely honest, I can usually eat the whole container in one sitting so I've made this recipe to serve 2 people.

If you like a little more spice, try a little drizzle of sriracha on the plater before putting down the quinoa salad and salmon fillet - SO GOOD!

And if you're TJs obsessed like me....check out a few of the other Trader inspired recipes!

If you make this recipe, I'd love for you to leave a star rating on the recipe care and tell how it went in the comments! Don't forget to share your TJs favorites too, I'm always on the hunt for something new to try!