Fish Tacos

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

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 10 mins

Marinating & pickling: 20 mins

Total: 45 mins

Dinner

Mexican

4.93 from 52 votes

Servings4

Tap or hover to scale

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Recipe video above. Fish marinated in classic Mexican fresh flavours, seared until golden, are perfect for tacos. The lightly pickled red cabbage is a perfect accompanied for the soft fish, a great texture contrast. A wonderful recipe for white fish fillets, you will NOT miss deep fried fish!

Ingredients

Fish Marinade

• 1.2 lb / 600g firm white fish fillets (Note 1)1.2 lb / 600g firm white fish fillets (Note 1)
• Zest of 1 limeZest of 1 lime
• 3 tbsp lime juice3 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp chipotle powder (Note 2)1 tbsp chipotle powder (Note 2)
• 1 tbsp canned jalapeno , finely chopped1 tbsp canned jalapeno , finely chopped
• 1/4 cup cilantro / coriander , finely chopped1/4 cup cilantro / coriander , finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves , minced2 garlic cloves , minced
• 3 tbsp olive oil3 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepperSalt and pepper

Quick Pickled cabbage

• 4 cups red cabbage , finely shredded4 cups red cabbage , finely shredded
• 3 green onion stems , finely sliced on the diagonal3 green onion stems , finely sliced on the diagonal
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar, cider vinegar)2 tbsp red wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar, cider vinegar)
• 1/2 tsp salt1/2 tsp salt

Pink Taco Sauce

• 3/4 cup sour cream (or yogurt)3/4 cup sour cream (or yogurt)
• 2 - 3 tbsp sriracha , adjust to taste (Note 3)2 - 3 tbsp sriracha , adjust to taste (Note 3)

To Cook & Serve

• 1 tbsp olive oil1 tbsp olive oil
• 12 small tortillas (corn or flour), warmed12 small tortillas (corn or flour), warmed
• lime wedgeslime wedges
• coriander/cilantro leavescoriander/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:

1. Fish - my favourites are snapper and barramundi. They have "meaty" flesh which I particularly enjoy in tacos. Other good fish include: tilapia, basa, cod, John Dory and Silver Dory, ling, bream, haddock, pollack, monkfish.

Recommend avoiding:

• lean fish - like swordfish, tuna, kingfish (unless you can get fatty kingfish)
• very delicate fish - like dover sole and flounder

2. Chipotle powder - can still be irritatingly difficult to find in Australia! Not sold in all major supermarkets (yet) but you can find it in fruit & veg stores (eg Harris Farms), delis and gourmet/speciality stores (e.g. Thomas Dux). It does not cost much more than ordinary spices. It can be ordered online from Firework Foods (Aus only).

If you can't track it down, I think the best substitute is ½ tbsp each SMOKED paprika, cumin and 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper.

3. Sriracha - Asian chilli sauce that's very common nowadays (sold alongside chilli sauces and in Asian section). Great "cheat" ingredient to quickly add flavour into things as it's made with more than just chilli. To reduce spiciness of sauce, sub with some (or all) ketchup instead.

4. Nutrition for 3 tacos (tortilla + fish + pickled cabbage), assumes 2 of the 3 tbsp of oil in the marinade is discarded.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 309gCalories: 410cal (21%)Carbohydrates: 38.8g (13%)Protein: 28.3g (57%)Fat: 17.3g (27%)Saturated Fat: 2.9g (18%)Cholesterol: 61mg (20%)Sodium: 378mg (16%)Potassium: 278mg (8%)Fiber: 6.1g (25%)Sugar: 3g (3%)Vitamin A: 100IU (2%)Vitamin C: 41.3mg (50%)Calcium: 110mg (11%)Iron: 2.5mg (14%)

Keywords: fish tacos, healthy tacos, mexican fish, white fish fillets recipe

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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.