Our all-time favorite Fish Tacos recipe! These are loaded with fresh ingredients and perfectly seasoned plump fish. Don’t skip the best fish taco sauce – a garlic lime crema that you will want it on all your tacos!
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
This is our go-to recipe for family get togethers and company because it comes together quickly and it always gets rave reviews. These fish tacos are so flavorful and satisfying but you will feel good and light at the end of the meal.
This recipe is party sized and can be scaled down to feed a smaller crowd. It was developed by my brother-in-law, Slavik and it has been adopted by pretty much everyone in our family. I have had so many requests to publish the recipe so here it is! It’s an easy, excellent fish tacos recipe. Thank you Slavik for sharing your awesome fish tacos with us. I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to ever get tired of this recipe. P.S. They just happen to be gluten free fish tacos!
Seriously though, be generous with that fish taco sauce! The sauce recipe was adapted from Kaylee on All Recipes. We simply doubled it because there never seems to be enough of the sauce ;).
Ingredients for Fish Tacos:
We used tilapia but you are welcome to use any white fish. Salmon or shrimp would be amazing as well!
Fish Taco Toppings:
*Cotija cheese is a Mexican cheese that crumbles when you grate it; similar to feta but much milder in flavor and not nearly as salty. It is inexpensive and found in the refrigerated cheese section of the grocery store.
Ingredients for Best Fish Taco Sauce:
For the fish taco sauce, all you need is sour cream, mayo, lime juice, garlic powder and sriracha. The sriracha gives it a little kick of spice so you can add more or less based on your preference. This taco sauce is essentially a lime crema – the perfect blend of tanginess and heat (print the recipe below).
How to Make Fish Tacos:
1. Line a large baking sheet with parchment or silicone liner. In a small dish, stir together seasonings: 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper and evenly sprinkle the seasoning mix over both sides of tilapia.
2. Lightly drizzle fish with olive oil and top each piece with a dot of butter. Baked at 375˚F for 20-25 min. If you want it to get a little browned around the edges, you can broil for 3-5 minutes at the end if desired.
3. Combine all the Taco sauce ingredients: 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/3 cup Mayo, 2 Tbsp lime juice (from 1 medium lime), 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp Sriracha sauce, or to taste in a medium bowl or a large measuring cup and whisk together until well blended. It’s really fun and feels like dining out to serve the sauce in a squeeze bottle like this one.
4. To serve the tacos, toast quickly toast the corn tortillas on a large dry skillet or griddle over medium/high heat.
5. To assemble: start with the fish then add remaining ingredients finishing off with a generous sprinkle of cotija cheese and finally that awesome taco sauce! Serve with a fresh lime wedge to squeeze extra lime juice over tacos.
Mmmm so much sauce! I’m so crazy about this taco sauce. Seriously the best!
⬇ Print-Friendly Fish Tacos Recipe:
Fish Tacos Recipe with Best Fish Taco Sauce!
Ingredients
Fish Taco Ingredients:
- 24 small white corn tortillas
- 1 1/2 lb tilapia
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
Fish Taco Toppings:
- 1/2 small purple cabbage
- 2 medium avocado, sliced
- 2 roma tomatoes, diced (optional)
- 1/2 diced red onion
- 1/2 bunch Cilantro, longer stems removed
- 4 oz 1 cup Cotija cheese, grated
- 1 lime cut into 8 wedges to serve
Fish Taco Sauce Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 2 Tbsp lime juice, from 1 medium lime
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp Sriracha sauce, or to taste
Instructions
- Line large baking sheet with parchment or silicone liner. In a small dish, combine seasonings: 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper and evenly sprinkle seasoning mix over both sides of tilapia.
- Lightly drizzle fish with olive oil and dot each piece with butter. Bake at 375 for 20-25 min. To brown edges, broil for 3-5 minutes at the end if desired.
- Combine all Taco sauce ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk until well blended.
- To serve the tacos, toast quickly toast the corn tortillas on a large dry skillet or griddle over medium/high heat.
- To assemble: start with pieces of fish then add remaining ingredients finishing with a generous sprinkle of cotija cheese and finally that awesome taco sauce! Serve with a fresh lime wedge to squeeze over tacos.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Love Tacos? Don’t miss our most popular taco recipes here (the beef bulgogi and shrimp tacos are completely swoon worthy!)
I’m so tempted to make these again for dinner tonight. I will never stop loving this recipe! I hope you all love it as much as we do.
I think the sauce is the most critical ingredient in making great fish tacos … I’ve tried so many times to get it right, but this is the first recipe which I’ve been satisfied with. This is as good as anything I used to be able to get when I lived down by the border. Thanks for posting this!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review Emma!
Thank you!! I love this recipe! It was super simple.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that Bau!
The nutrition facts never has the portion sizes, everything else is great !!
Hi Manny, just for future reference, the serving size is towards the top of the recipe card and the nutrition is per serving. In this case, it is per taco since the recipe makes 24 small tacos.
SO DELICIOUS!! The best fish tacos ever!
YUM!! We make these every weekend now and the sauce is awesome!
I’m so glad they are a favorite for you!
I have made these delicious tacos several times. We don’t include the cheese. The squeeze bottle is brilliant! You can get the sauce exactly where you want it and it’s less messy.
We love that squeeze bottle or that exact reason!
I liked all the flavors however I prefer to panko and pan fry seasoned fish in avo oil. The sauce is great however a good substitute is whole milk Greek yogurt. I enjoyed the balance of all the flavors in the sauce. I added a little to my veggies to make a slaw. Was a big hit with hubby and kids.
I’m so happy the family enjoyed this recipe Kim! Thank you for sharing that with us!
Made this evening. Used cod, which I dredged in egg with a fresh cilantro dice and then coated in a plain breading, seasoned with chili powder, cumin.
Thinly sliced Napa cabbage, aforementioned avocado, red onion, roma tomato.
The crema was spot on.
Easy peasy and tasty. Thanks.
Hi Thaddeus, I’m so glad you enjoyed it with cod. We’ve also had really good results with rockfish and this would work for salmon or even shrimp tacos.
This was good.seems ok to stand with many variations in toppings.as well as shell. Thx.
Yes! You can definitely dress this up and get pretty creative!
Natasha I love you taco it yummi Thanks/
I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe!
Yummy sauce! I went simple. I divided the sauce and added a pinch of sugar and added it to my finely diced bagged slaw. Then I added a Tablespoon of jalapeno cream cheese instead of the Sriracha to the other half for a drizzling sauce. Family approved! I flaked the Tilapia and added a few more seasonings to the Tilapia and squeezed lime juice over it.
To the cumin I added
paprika
chili powder
garlic powder
and ¼ tsp. Goya Adobo with cumin (instead of salt) to coat the fish after cooked and flaked.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Tried this fish taco recipe tonight, with one big modification. I used salmon that I sliced legthwise with a sharp fillet knife into about 1/2 inch thick slabs, and I blackened the fish. I sliced it this way so that I could cook each price for about 2 minutes on each side. Used the same sauce recipe and other ingredients. Simply awesome!!! Will definitely cook this again!!! Thanks.
Thank you so much for sharing that with us, David! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe!
Yum! These fish tacos were awesome!! I forgot to get the cojita cheese -but were amazing anyways! I served this with corn on the cob and watermelon salad!
That sounds like the perfect summer dinner! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe Anne!
This is a wonderful recipe. It can easily be modified for an awesome salad. Skip the carbs, throw away the tortillas. Take the dressing and the cheese and combine it with a broccoli or regular cole slaw. Put the fish on top. I also have substituted chicken breast chunks for the fish and that worked awesome as well for the salad.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me Brad!
Made these fish tacos tonight. They are amazing! Tried other recipes before and no comparison. The sauce is fabulous and so easy to make! What amazing flavor! Thank you for sharing this recipe and I will share it with others.
That’s amazing! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe & thank you for sharing that awesome review with us Sue!
I made these tacos last night for dinner in honor of Taco Tuesday ;). THEY ARE SO GOOD!! My husband is not a picky eater, but he refuses to eat fish (bad childhood experience). When I mentioned to him that I’ll be making fish tacos for dinner his reaction was “Eh?!” (in disappointment), but I made them anyway. I assembled the tacos and put it in front of him. He chowed them down, and went back into the kitchen and helped himself to more fish – straight from the pan! This is how you know this one is a WINNER (and a new staple)! Thank you Natasha for hitting it out of the park, once again! ;-*
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review It sounds like you have a new favorite!
The nutritional info says 172 calories per serving…assuming a serving is 1 taco?
Hi Amy, The serving size is towards the top left on each print-friendly recipe card. This recipe makes 24 tacos and the nutrition label is for each taco. I thought that would be the simplest way for someone to calculate if they were to eat 1, 2 or 5 tacos :).
Great….thank you! I assumed it was for 1 taco but, seriously, who could eat just one of these!!! So good! My 8 year old was raving about them!
This recipe was delicious! My husband and I throughly enjoyed the tacos and new found mexican cheese. I will be adding this one to my cookbook.
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Katie!
This was a perfect recipe. I was delighted at how beautifully they turned out. The sauce was perfect like you said. I pan seared the tilapia with a little oil to save time. So easy to make but tasted gourmet. My kids loved these with both flour street tortillas and white corn. Look forward to trying your other recipes!
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Lee Anne!
This was absolutely delicious. I couldn’t find the Mexican cheese but the tacos were great anyway. My son, who is a picky eater even went back for seconds! I used some freshly caught panfish fillets instead of tilapia and the taste was amazing. Thank you Natasha!
That is the best when kids love what we parents make. That’s so great!