Air Fryer Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa

You ever get to the point where you’re sun tired? It’s summer, you’ve been outside all day long (at the pool or the beach in our case), and you’re just exhausted. Like the sun literally ripped any energy from your body and even if you didn’t exert yourself physically, you’re still completely worn out.

That was me today after what felt like hours on end at the pool in the baking hot sun, with little to no shade. Of course I could’ve gone INTO the pool to cool off, but I won’t now out of sheer principle because my kid is such a proficient swimmer. So I live my best life on a lounge chair on the side of the pool in the baking sun, enjoying some summer fun with my family.

Now that we’re home and I need to get dinner on the table, the sun wiped me out so much that cooking is the last thing I want to do. Time for the simple food hacks. I know you’re like me, you keep easy things to throw together for dinner just in stock in your house for those nights when you don’t want to put a ton of thought into cooking.

This was a super simple, perfect dinner for a summer night that everyone in my house enjoyed (thank goodness, you know that’s an extra win) and even better, gave me leftover salsa to use as a snack the next day.

The most time consuming part about all of this was letting the salsa chill in the fridge. Seriously. You could serve this immediately with the salsa being more room temperature, but that didn’t hold a ton of appeal for me, which was why I let it hang out in the fridge for a couple hours.

Better yet, next time I’m going to prep the salsa the day before or even a few days before so I don’t have to factor that time in on the day when we’re going to have the tacos.

air fryer fish tacos with mango salsa

Prep time: 30 minutes to 2 hours

Cook time: 15 minutes

Serves: 4 people

Mango Salsa

2 ripe mangos, peeled, cored, and diced

1/4 cup red onion, diced

1/4 to 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and diced

1 ripe peach, diced

1/3 cup red bell pepper, seeded and diced

1/4 cup cilantro, rough chopped

Juice of 2 limes

Salt to taste

Guacamole

3 ripe avocados, diced and smashed

1/4 cup red onion, diced

1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped

2 tomatoes, diced

Salt and pepper to taste

Juice of one lime

Fish Tacos

16 frozen fish sticks (I use the Trader Joe’s Lightly Breaded Fish Sticks)

8 Taco Shells (I like the blue or yellow corn hard shells, but soft tortillas would also work)

Start with prepping the mango salsa by combining all the ingredients into a medium bowl, covering, and chilling in the fridge for at least two hours or even overnight. I prefer for the salsa to be cold, but if you’re pressed for time, you could serve it room temperature as well.

Prep the guacamole. Smash the avocados in a medium bowl with a potato masher and then stir in the rest of the ingredients. In order for the guacamole to not turn brown, take some Saran Wrap and press it into the guacamole until there are no air pockets. That will keep the avocados from oxidizing due to air exposure. Place in the fridge and allow to chill while you make the tacos.

Cook the taco shells according to the directions on the box.

Preheat your air fryer to 375 degrees for 4 minutes. Spray with non-stick spray, place the fish sticks in the basket of the air fryer, and cook for 8-10 minutes, flipping once halfway through.

Once the fish sticks are cooked through, assemble the tacos with as much salsa and guacamole as you would like and serve while hot! Enjoy!