You don’t need to deep fry to make terrific Fish Tacos. You just need a really great marinade! A seriously delicious way to serve up white fish fillets, this recipe can be cooked on the BBQ or stove. Either way, they’re healthy, fresh and bursting with serious taco goodness!
Bonus: they happen to be HEALTHY ??
Fish Tacos
A bad fish taco is worse than a bad chicken taco.
And while most people would be turned off after multiple dismal experiences, I persevered, believing there to be better.
I mean, tacos. They have always been one of my favourite foods, ever since the first time I tried them.
And I’m thankful I didn’t give up. Because it just got better and better. Went to Mexico, tasted the real deal, then used that as my benchmark to make my own.
And now I’ve got The Fish Taco recipe. Well, at least, what I think is the BEST Fish Taco recipe. 🙂
What I like to do is load the fish with flavour with a chipotle lime marinade. You just know by looking at it that it’s gonna be good, right??!
Will you LOOK AT THAT!!! Tender and juicy on the inside, deep golden brown on the outside, flavoured all the way through with just a quick 20 minute marinade!!
What to serve with Fish Tacos
Here’s what I serve with Fish Tacos:
- The chipotle marinated fish;
- “Pink Taco Sauce” – 2 ingredient, mildly spicy sour cream or yogurt sauce, goes very well with the fish;
- Quick pickled cabbage; and
- lime wedges and coriander/cilantro leaves.
What you need for Fish Tacos
Here’s what you need to make fish tacos.
Any firm white fish fillets will work fine here, especially if they are fleshy.
My favourites are snapper and barramundi. They have “meaty” flesh which I particularly enjoy in tacos.
Other common fish that are ideal include: tilapia, basa, cod, John Dory and Silver Dory, ling, bream, haddock, pollack, monkfish.
I recommend avoiding:
- really lean fish – like swordfish, tuna and kingfish
- very delicate fish – like dover sole and flounder
Quick Pickled Cabbage for Tacos
I serve these tacos with a quick pickled cabbage. Pickling it makes the cabbage floppy so it kind of melds together better with the fish (raw cabbage would be too pokey and crunchy for tender fish), and the slight tang is a classic pairing with seafood.
Here’s what you need for the pickled cabbage:
Don’t restrict yourself to using this pickled cabbage just for Fish Tacos! It will go with any type of tacos – chicken, old school beef tacos, shredded beef, pork carnitas.
How to make it
I think I’ve pretty much talked through the making part, but here’s a visual anyway!
- 20 minute fish marinade – no longer, because otherwise the lime juice in the marinade will “cook” the fish;
- cook it, flake it;
- quick taco sauce – sour cream and sriracha. I call it my Pink Taco Sauce;
- pickle the cabbage – 20 minutes to become floppy (same as the fish marinating time, nice and convenient!);
- stuff and devour.
I typically cook Fish Tacos on the stove for midweek meals. But this is fantastic food for a barbecue with friends! It cooks so quickly so it doesn’t take you away from your guests and you can throw the tortillas onto the BBQ to warm up.
It also scales up easily, and you can lay everything out on the table and let everyone help themselves. Definitely my preferred method of entertaining!! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Fish Tacos
Ingredients
Fish Marinade
- 1.2 lb / 600g firm white fish fillets (Note 1)
- Zest of 1 lime
- 3 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp chipotle powder (Note 2)
- 1 tbsp canned jalapeno , finely chopped
- 1/4 cup cilantro / coriander , finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Quick Pickled cabbage
- 4 cups red cabbage , finely shredded
- 3 green onion stems , finely sliced on the diagonal
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar, cider vinegar)
- 1/2 tsp salt
Pink Taco Sauce
- 3/4 cup sour cream (or yogurt)
- 2 - 3 tbsp sriracha , adjust to taste (Note 3)
To Cook & Serve
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 12 small tortillas (corn or flour), warmed
- lime wedges
- coriander/cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Marinade fish: Combine Fish Marinade ingredients in a ziplock bag. Set aside for 20 minutes to marinate - no longer than 1 hour.
- Pickled Cabbage: Place Pickled Cabbage ingredients in a bowl. Toss to combine and set aside for 30 minutes. Drain excess liquid, scrunch cabbage with your hands (to help soften). Set aside.
- Pink Sauce: Mix to combine.
- Cook fish: Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Cook fish for 2 minutes on each side, or until golden and cooked.
- Remove fish onto plate then flake into large pieces.
- To assemble tacos, top with cabbage then fish, a dollop of sour cream and a squeeze of lime juice. Fold tortilla over and enjoy!
Recipe Notes:
- lean fish - like swordfish, tuna, kingfish (unless you can get fatty kingfish)
- very delicate fish - like dover sole and flounder
Nutrition Information:
Originally published May 2016. Updated with new photos and video, and most importantly, new Life of Dozer section added!
Life of Dozer
Helping shop for new appliances!! Need an industrial strength washing machine that can cope with all this darn FUR.
Another delicious recipe, very flavorful! Thank you, Nagi!
Just wow!!! The whole family loved it! And best part it’s low calorie too!!! Thanks for always having the best recipes! Everything was just right. I would love to post a picture of what it looked like but I can’t! 😂
Thanks so much Thanh, I LOVE hearing this!!! N x
Made this last night, soooo good, fresh, flavourful and tangy and just what I craved. Nagi you make cooking a joy for me, thanks so much again for all the great recipes!
That’s lovely to hear Babsy, thanks so much ❤️
We loved these Fish Tacos. I used canned Chipotles in Adobo sauce in the marinade and mixed in the sour cream. Delicious!!
Yum! Sounds great Debbie! N x
Made this for the first time, and definitely won’t be the last! The fish marinade was amazing!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Renee – that’s great! N x
Made this today. Delicious. Although I only used half the chipotle powder, I also added a pinch of cumin powder, cayenne pepper, dried oregano and fresh cilantro leaves to the marinade (only because I am Latin and I like the mix of these flavors). Loved the fish and the pickled cabbage. I made a jalapeño sauce instead of the pink sauce (my preference). Buen Taco!
Yum Les!!! I’ll have to try your way!
These tacos are excellent! Just had them for lunch and will soon make them again. The flavor was complex and very satisfying. I used 1/2 tablespoon chipotle powder and it was enough (for me). The pickled cabbage was fantastic! I will be using it with many other dishes. Thanks for another great recipe!
I forgot about the stars, this recipe deserves 10!
Wahoo, thats GREAT!! N x
These were so easy to make and so delicious!! I used cod, since that is what I could find in my local grocery store. The family loved them, will make again!!!
That’s great to hear Lori!
The whole family loved them. Next time I have to make more because the kids gobbled them up!
That’s great to hear Jill!!
I cooked it for lunch today. It was delicious. My husband said that it was a restaurant quality food. 😀
I sub chipotle powder with sweet paprika.
I’m so happy you both enjoyed it Olga!
Hi Nagi, Am I able to use flake in the tacos?
Yes definitely Nat!
Sorry to be annoying but can I use normal paprika instead of smoked? And not use cayenne pepper at all? I hate too much spice
Sure can Nat, you might want to reduce the amount of chipotle as well if you don’t like spice 🙂
Thank-you so much!
I love fish any way it can be prepared. I am looking forward to making these fish tacos. If it wasn’t so late tonight I would make them now.
Love to know what you think once you try them Grant! N x
This was a hit with the fam bam.
Lots of flavour. I added additional salad ingredients as kids are not cabbage fans.
Could not find chipotle spice used your hint alternatives. Worked great.
I’m dieting and with your recipes I’m not missing out.
Thank you
That’s awesome to hear Lauren!!
Thank you so much for this recipe. It thoroughly enjoyed. Will definitely make again and again and again… sorry forgot to give it 5 stars
Thanks Scott!!
Nagi, these were drop-dead fabulous! My husband gave them an instant 10. We can’t wait to make them again and share with friends. I couldn’t believe how well the flavors blended together. I’ve never made fish tacos before, but you inspired me to take a chance. I used cod as my choice of fish; and plain yogurt instead of sour cream. You were right . . . we didn’t miss the deep-fried fish. The marinade was excellent! And, I love how YOUR pictures came to life on MY table. So messy . . . so yummy!
YES!!! This is the best!
Made these last night – an absolute hit with us, thank you so much. By the way I found Chipotle Powder and Sriracha Powder in the spice aisle at Woolies. I added a little olive oil to the Sriracha Powder to make a paste which worked fine mixed with the sour cream.
Beautiful recipe, worked out really well! We reduced the amount of lime and vinegar a little bit, seemed to be a bit too much aicidity for us. We used homemade mayo with extra chipotle as topping. Small hard shell corn taccos were more tasty then the soft ones(all available at Wollies) for us. Fantastic recipe and great video, thank you so much – we will have Fish Tacos on a regular basis for sure!
Sounds great Nikki!!