Blackened Fish Tacos made with a blend of Cajun spices makes these tacos that are absolutely loaded with flavour. A very special guest post from one of my all time favourite blogs, the uber-talented Kathleen from Hapa Nom Nom.
One of my greatest sources of inspiration are food blogs. I am continually amazed by the creativity, wealth of knowledge and talent that is “out there” in the food blogging community.
And one of my personal favorites is Kathleen from Hapa Nom Nom. Ever since the very first day that I stumbled across her blog by chance, I was hooked. Having tried quite a few of her recipes (scroll down to see my favorites!) and reading every recipe she publishes, I can tell you with absolutely certainty that Kathleen’s palette is very similar to mine. We both like strong flavours and enjoy diversity, discovering and sharing gems from around the world that are easy enough for anyone to make.
So it is with the utmost of gratitude and honour that I pass you over to Kathleen who is here today to share with us one of her amazing creations. I can assure you that I’ll be making this as soon as I get back to Sydney! – Nagi x
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Hi there! I’m Kathleen from Hapa Nom Nom. I’m so honored to be doing a guest post for one of my very favorite bloggers, Nagi as she’s traveling halfway around the world to Mexico and then onto California. There’s no doubt she’s eating some pretty incredible food while on her journey and I can’t wait to see what inspires her and how she’ll transform it into a RecipeTin Eats original!
Today I’d like to share with you, Blackened Fish Tacos with Avocado-Lime Slaw. Anytime I’m at a restaurant and see the option to have something blackened, I jump on it! A blend of spices popular in Cajun cuisine, it adds serious flavor to anything it touches, and chances are you already have the spices needed in your pantry. I love making a big batch to have on hand for a quick and easy weeknight meal – tilapia, mahi mahi, shrimp, even chicken breasts all get a burst of flavor with this spice blend. What’s even better – you’re adding an incredible amount of flavor without adding a lot of fat. Of course the fat I’m referring to is from the olive oil used to cook the fillets and that’s healthy fat, so another win for the dish!
When it comes to the coleslaw there seems to be two camps – vinegar based and mayonnaise based. Personally, I’m team mayo when it comes to fish tacos. Rather than piling on veggies dripping with mayonnaise after I just went on about how you can get so much flavor without adding fat to the fish fillets, I thought it best to find an alternative. Enter avocado-lime dressing. A yogurt based sauce; it adds a cool, creamy texture with a zippy flavor – a perfect compliment to the bold spices of the blackened fish.
Now because I just couldn’t help myself, I did end up adding a touch of mayo as a finishing sauce by making a quick Sriracha aioli. It’s actually pretty loose; as I’ve thinned it out a bit with lime juice – so you get a little drizzle of some of that flavor from the fat without big globs of it. Again, adding another layer of flavor to the dish.
I hope you enjoy these tacos as much as I do! It really is amazing what well portioned spices and a balance of flavors can create. – Kathleen from Hapa Nom Nom
And more tacos
-
Quick Chicken Tacos – 2 in 1 recipe, shredded taco seasoned chicken AND taco sauce
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Beef Tacos – the old school way
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Fish Tacos – marinated and grilled, healthy and delicious!
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Pork Carnitas Tacos – the iconic Mexican pulled pork tacos
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Shredded Beef Tacos – tender slow cooked shredded beef in a deep flavoured Mexican sauce
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Blackened Fish Tacos
Ingredients
Avocado-Lime Slaw
- ½ cup greek yogurt
- 1 avocado
- 1 cup cilantro/coriander leaves
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 limes zested and juiced
- 2 jalapeños
- 2 tbsp mint , roughly chopped
- ½ tsp Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper , to taste
- 1 cup red cabbage , finely shredded*
- 1 cup green cabbage , finely shredded*
- 2 carrots , grated*
Quick Sriracha Aioli
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tsp Sriracha
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
Blackened Fish
- 2 tbsp paprika
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tsp dry mustard
- 1 1/4 tsp Kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 tilapia fillets
To Serve
- 8 (6 inch) tortillas
- 2 jalapeños , sliced
- 1 small bunch cilantro
Instructions
- In the bowl of a food processor, add the yogurt, avocado, cilantro, garlic, lime zest, lime juice, jalapeños, mint, salt, and pepper. Puree until smooth and creamy. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if needed. Place the shredded cabbage and carrots in a large bowl. Add 1/2 a cup of the avocado-lime dressing from the food processor and stir to combine. Add more dressing if you would like a creamier slaw. If not, you can use the extra dressing to top the tacos later. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the Sriracha Aioli. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- If you would like to toast the tortillas (highly recommended if you are using corn tortillas)* heat a pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, warm each tortilla 1 to 2 minutes per side – you want to heat the tortillas just enough to slightly char and add a bit of crispness, but not so much that when you fold it, it cracks. Wrap the tortillas in a clean tea towel to keep warm and set aside.
- On a large plate, combine all of the spices to make the blackened seasoning. Dredge both sides of each fish fillet in the spice mixture. In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. At the first wisp of smoke from the pan, add the fillets, working in batches if needed. Cook for 2 -3 minutes on each side. (Do not move the fish fillets around while they're cooking. Leave them be until they're ready to flip). Transfer the cooked fillets to a cutting board and slice each fillet in-half, vertically - making 8 pieces.
- To serve, top each tortilla with the fish, avocado-lime slaw, jalapeños, cilantro, and drizzle with the Sriracha aioli. Serve with extra wedges of lime and enjoy!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
PS Proof that Dozer LOVED the homemade biscuits!
Hi Nagi, as far as I know you can;t buy Tilapia in Australia as it is considered a pest – what other fish would you use? Does it need to be a firmer fish or a software fish? Was thinking barramundi but not sure that would be the right type of fish. Maybe you could edit the recipe to recommend other fish types, especially for us here in Oz?
Sorry, not sure how I typed “software” fish – of course I meant “softer” fish!
Hi Nagi
Would this work with snapper fillets?
Thanks for promoting this wonderful recipe. The avocado dressing made a lovely change to the usual. The spice mix was spot on for us too. Will definitely be making again.
Made this tonight as the weather is warming up in Adelaide – ate outside and these fish tacos with the amazing slaw were perfect. Really tasty! I can see that these would be great for a crowd too. Just enough leftovers to make a wrap for my daughter for lunch at school tomorrow 😋
These are seriously good. The Avocado coleslaw is divine and I’ll be making that again with other meals. The fish spice was just perfect , we’ll balanced and I’ll never buy store bought blackened fish spice again. The Spicy mayonnaise was just right over the top and the added lime juice at the end was the finishing touch. I will be making these for friends next time but tonight my husband and I devoured them.
This was delicious! That slaw and the avocado sauce – sooo good!
Thank you Nagi for promoting others and for running such a beautiful, lovely to use site!
Thank you so much for the lovely feedback, that’s so nice to read ❤️
Wonderful recipe, so light and tasty, also i liked this!!!
That’s great to hear Nick! Thanks so much for letting me know you enjoyed this! N x ❤️
Ooooh, I loved looking through RTE to see a guest post from Kathleen! What a treat ! These tacos are so mouthwatering and I too am on team mayo, usually, but when it comes to tacos, vinegar is where it’s at! And Nagi, that curry noodle soup is divine, agreed! Beautiful photog, Kathleen! Thank you both for sharing…. and that Dozer, what a sweetie!!
Isn’t Kathleen the best?? And her taste in food – awesome!!! Can’t get enough!!
Fish tacos sound/ look fantastic . Can I substitute cod for the fish you used?
Wowza! Two of my favorite bloggers in ONE place! I feel like I won the food perusing lottery 😉 I’m with Nagi, Kathleen’s blog rock the house! And I’m with Kathleen, anything blackened is the jam! These tacos look killer! And that avocado slaw is amazing! I want to devour these and make every day taco tuesday! 😉 pinned. Cheers to you both! <3
Isn’t Kathleen the BEST?! N x
Kathleen’s recipes are great, this one is perfect for me!
How fun is this!? Two of my favorite food blogging ladies in one post…
These tacos look incredible, Kathleen! But you know that I love all of your recipes and your great style – these are must try! xoxo
Pretty cool, isn’t it! 🙂 Kathleen ROCKS!!! N x
Kathleen , it is so nice to see you here and just love this tasty fish taco with that Quick Sriracha Aioli. It is for sure to be a winner recipe in my house! I think even my fish hating teenagers might even love this and that is crucial. Nagi, seriously I don’t know how you could just pick just 2 of Kathleen’s recipes. I love all of them! Nagi, wishing you a super holiday and thanks Kathleen for your delicious recipe. Sharing and smoke signals sent!
It was tough, that’s for sure! 😉 Thanks for your lovely message Bobbi. I admire Kathleen so much, it’s lovely to hear others see how fab talented she is too! N x
I’m a member of the Kathleen fan club too! Her recipes are fresh, vibrant and packed full of unique and tantalizing flavours. Not only that, her photography simply rocks! So happy to see her featured here, Nagi.
Kathleen – when you make it big, can I say I knew you when? 🙂 Fabulous post!
Her blog really is amazing. I admire her so much! 🙂 Thanks for your lovely message Robyn! N x
I can’t wait to try these. Love your recipes and this looks like a real winner. I can’t wait to see more of Kathleen’s recipes over on her blog too. Thank you.
Thank you Brendan! I admire her greatly so your message means a lot to me! N x
I don’t know Kathleen very well but I do know her recipes. I’m in camp mayo myself but the change up of the dressing on this recipe is perfect.
She is so talented Maureen! She honestly continues to amaze me with the ideas she comes up with! Like homemade fortune cookies? Mozzarella? Who would have thought! 🙂
Oh I as so happy to meet Kathleen — Nagi I trust your judgement on recipes — you have yet to disappoint me. I also love strong flavors and isn’t it fortunate hubby and I just got back from the seaside where he caught scads of fish and now we have a freezer full. Can’t wait to make this recipe!!.
No! You live a life I envy 🙂 Do you can your own fish?
oh how i love fish tacos! but i love Kathleen even more! yes, it’s possible. <3
Isn’t she the best? <3
Oooh Nagi … you can’t be Kathleen’s biggest fan because I am!! Tee hee. What a wonderful recipe. So many incredible flavours. And that slaw – I’m sure I could eat a big bowlful of it all by itself. Beautiful.
P.S. Hope you’re loving every minute of the trip!
I’ll fight you for her 😉 N x
Can’t wait to try this…the slaw sounds delicious. Nagi, when you are in California, do you plan to come to the Desert (Palm Springs area). Let me know…that’s where I live…Thanks for keeping up with recipes and enjoy your travels..:)
Hi Lyn! Unfortunately not this time, but I will be back next year! 🙂 N x