Salmon Sliders With Avocado Crema Recipe

It's always useful to have a good slider recipe on hand. Summer cookout? Serve up sliders before the main course. Super bowl party? You've got yourself an appetizer everybody will love. While they can also make fun and delicious dinners on their own, sliders are also the perfect size for entertaining, where grabbable finger foods are a necessity for mingling guests. This recipe written with Michelle McGlinn is a slider for the fish lovers, featuring blackened salmon and an avocado crema that is equal parts spicy and refreshing. 

The salmon is blackened in Cajun-inspired seasonings before being slathered with creamy whipped avocado and squeezed between mini buns of brioche. The result is a moist and tender salmon with a crispy Cajun crust that your guests — and you — will keep going back for. Plus, this recipe offers up an inventive way to put salmon to good use and puts a spin on the classic beef slider while still being equally as delicious.

First, peruse your spice drawer for chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. You'll also need an oil to sear the salmon with; we recommend grapeseed for its high smoke point and neutral flavor, but you can also use avocado, canola, or vegetable oil. 

You'll also need a little over a pound of salmon. We recommend light pink Atlantic salmon, which will be tender, juicy, and mild in flavor, accentuating the flavor of the blackened crust. From there, you'll just need avocados, sour cream, garlic, lime, brioche buns, and microgreens to build the rest of the sandwiches.

Combine the paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, and 1 teaspoon of salt in a small bowl.

Rub spice mix onto salmon until well coated.

Heat oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat.

Once hot, add the salmon pieces and sear until golden brown or lightly charred on either side, 6-8 minutes. Repeat until all salmon is cooked.

In a blender, combine the avocados, sour cream, garlic, ¼ teaspoon of salt, and lime juice.

Blend until smooth.

To build the sandwiches, spread the crema on the bottom of the brioche buns.

Next, layer the salmon slices atop each crema-covered bun.

Top with an extra dollop of crema and the microgreens to serve.

These salmon sliders are versatile and can be made on a variety of breads. Our recipe suggests using brioche buns, which are rich, chewy, and work well with bold flavors and textures. Brioche buns also offer a nice stability to the heavy sandwiches without being too crusty. If you like the crusty breads, you could swap for ciabatta, an airy but crusty option that would offer a bistro feel to your sliders. 

You can also go for a classic slider option, Hawaiian rolls, which pull apart into small, soft slider buns. These are an especially good option if you want to make a larger batch of smaller-sized sliders (and in doing so, slice your salmon portions to match). Alternatively, pretzel buns make for a totally unique slider with a salty bite. For the gluten-free crowd, you can serve these instead on gluten-free crackers or corn tortillas, or turn them into a bowl over rice.

These salmon sliders are easy enough to make on the stove, but may require working in batches depending on the size of your skillet. The benefit to using the skillet, though, is that you can get a nice crusty sear on top of each fillet. In the oven, you won't quite get that dark golden brown crust, but the sliders will taste just as good. To make them in the oven, spread the rubbed salmon on a foil-lined sheet tray and lightly coat with olive oil. Bake at 400 F for 10 to 12 minutes or until the salmon easily flakes with a fork. 

You can also cook the salmon on the grill, which is especially advised if you're serving these at a cookout. To do this, rub the salmon with the spice mixture and place skin-side down on a preheated grill. Grill for 6 to 8 minutes, then flip and grill for another 1 to 2 minutes. If you have especially thin pieces or skinless salmon, grill the salmon on a piece of foil to prevent any pieces from sticking or falling through the grates.