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!
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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
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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.
super yummy! i love that you suggested cojita! i love cojita even though it’s smelly. so tasty and refreshing i loved it and so did my mother and brother!
The perfect cheese to go with fish tacos! I’m so happy you enjoyed them!
Looks yummy! How many tacos per serving? What size are Small corn tortillas—street taco size or regular size?
Thanks, Leah. The whole recipe is for 24 tacos. We used small white corn tortillas for this recipe.
Best taco sauce ever! I mixed the shredded cabbage with it and added it to the tacos with other ingredients: delicious! Made it again and used it on pulled pork: even better!
That sounds great! I’m happy to know that you enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for the review!
Used some fresh perch I had just caught hours prior. Those tacos were the best thing I’ve ever had in my life. I’m grinning ear to ear I can’t wait to cook those for a crowd.
I also fried my fish with some fish fry to get that extra bit of crispiness. Wow.
Wow, that’s a fantastic comment, Al. Thank you so much for sharing that with us!
We had some halibut and were looking for a new way to use it. Your recipe was perfect! Even my husband, who doesn’t cook, was able to make it and they were delicious!
Wow! That’s just awesome, Tracy! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
I made this recipe today and would like to start by saying the fish seasoning is WICKED GOOD! I will use it on fish even not for tacos! Also the sauce is TO DIE FOR, I wanna put it on EVERYTHING now (haha)! No fault of your recipe, I did not have Cotija cheese on hand (only Sharp Cheddar). Next time I will be sure to get right cheese. Thank you so much for this recipe, it is a KEEPER!!!
Sounds like a great plan! Great to hear that you enjoyed this recipe and the sauce too.
How about using halibut? Only white fish I have in my freezer.
Hi Mary Beth, I haven’t tried using that fish for this recipe. I think it’s worth trying, if you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes.
I love these tacos, have been making them for over a year now… What is the serving size? I’m assuming 1 taco? I’m using the WW tool and trying to track my points so I have all the information I need to add this recipe but I want to make sure I’m correct on the serving size.
Hi Ellen, 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.
I’ve never been a fan of fish tacos. I’ve even tried quite a few of the restaurants who have the “best fish taco” claim and I’ve been underwhelmed every time. For whatever reason, I wanted some yesterday and decided to make them myself. I found and made this recipe. Let me just say OMG! For me, it was the way the heat of the fish and creamy coolness of the sauce melded. I will be making the recipe many more times in the future. Absolutely amazing. Thank you.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Tami! This is always a hit in our home!
LOVE these. Easy and delicious. I was wondering if you have any suggestions for side dishes to make to go with it ?Thank you!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Cassandra!
Everything was delicious but a teaspoon of fine salt was way too much for the fish. It made the whole taco too salty. I’d definitely reduce it to a half teaspoon next time I make these.
No worries, feel free to reduce the salt level of the recipe and adjust it according to your preference.
I used cod instead of tilapia. Easy recipe, and great taste!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
I’m making mine with cod tonight too. I prefer cod to tilapia. Glad to hear it was good.
The ingredients in Taco and simplicity of fish prep was lovely. The fish sauce was pretty bland
Hi Katy, I’m glad you liked the tacos, although I think you are the first to say that the sauce was bland – I wonder if you changed anything or skipped or substituted any of the ingredients. It’s normally super flavorful and this is probably our #1 most popular recipe on our site.
we are going camping and we would love to make this do you think it will be ok to use Frozen Tilapia
Hi Brooke, I would thaw the tilapia in the fridge first or quick thaw in water. I would not cook it from frozen.
We make this at least once a month! Thank you for this awesome recipe.
I’m so happy this recipe made your regular rotation, kate! That’s so great!
Do you happen to have the nutritional facts for just the sauce?
Hi Michelle, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get that. I’ll make sure to remember to do that next time.
After making this recipe a million times, dismally decided to leave a review lol
I have made this recipe 100 times and it is so delicious, easy and healthy – which I love!
My family members loved it as well; the colors and flavors are so perfect together!!!! 😀
Yummy sauce, and I am currently doing keto so I just omit the tortillas and still amazing!
Can’t express how happy I am with this recipe!
Thanks for sharing this yummy creation with us Natasha ! Kudos
I’m so glad this was a hit, Lachae! Thank you for sharing your amazing review with me!
I made these tacos tonight and they were amazing!! That homemade sauce was everything. My fiance and boys loved them, they came back for thirds, lol. Wonderful recipe, thank you again 🥰
Hello Shayla, thanks for the wonderful feedback! I’m happy to know that your family loved these tacos.
Hi! I made these tacos with tilapia and the recipe was amazing but I didn’t love the taste of the fish. What are the best alternatives in white fish?
Hi Bella, this recipe is pretty versatile; you are welcome to use your favorite fish. Several of our readers tried it with cod also.
Hi! Im trying to scale this recipe down to just 2 servings, can you help me?
HI Aeryn, if you click on the serving size, you will be able to adjust the ingredient list (not the actual recipe instructions, but at least the ingredient list) to help you with preparing the ingredients.