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.
Wow! I walked in with medium expectations and this seriously blew my mind. It’s a simple recipe to follow and so delicious. Will absolutely be my fish taco recipe moving forward. It’s better than any restaurant I’ve had and fresh ingredients. Loved loved loved!
I’m so happy to hear that, Erin!
Was very pleased with how well this came out. No changes to the recipe were needed, it was perfect! Thank you for helping me to reintroduce fish back into my weekly meal planning.
You’re so welcome, Dave. Thank you as well for sharing your experience trying our Fish Tacos recipe. I’m super happy that you enjoyed it!
These fish tacos are frequently requested in our house. We make it so often I reused an empty spice jar and filled it with the fish spices so it’s always handy and easy to sprinkle evenly on the fish. The kicker is the taco sauce — so good! The recipe doesn’t say what to do with the cabbage, I shred it and mix in some of the taco sauce to make a cabbage slaw. It’s amazing!
Hello Kristi, thank you for your great comments and review! Yes, you can mix the cabbage with the sauce to create your own slaw.
That’s a great way to handle the cabbage! I’m going to borrow that idea for next time I make these.
Yay! Great idea to mix cabbage and the taco sauce, with any Mexican meal. Thank you.
Delicious! We made them using bass or catfish. But after reading some comments I tried it with fish sticks and I think I love that even more because of the breaded part. My kids, 5 and 7 love theses tacos as well. The sauce really is amazing.
So glad to hear that, Olga!
Giving it 3 Stars cause I think we must have done something wrong. 1st time we put fish in oven and it turned out soggy??? What a disapointment??? We have a convection oven and have made French Fries that were perfect??? Any idea what we did wrong. We did use Fillets of Cod and Rock fish a usually very firm fish???
The Taste we good just the Sogginess didn’t work???
Any Ideas Natasha???
We love your recipies Natsaha and wondere what we did wrong!!!
Brian, Alameda, CA
Hi Brian, if you overload the tray with fish and the air doesn’t have room to circulate, it can potentially steam cook. Also, make sure they are fully thawed before baking and that your oven is fully preheated. I hope that helps for next time.
We ended up only using the seasoning for the fish and salsa and gauc we already had. For the fish we used tilapia and for the two of us, it was about a 9 oz fillet. We used a toaster oven and it cooked to 145F in about 15mins. It came out great and tasty! We’ll have to try the sauce next time. Thanks!
Hi Mike! I’m so glad it was a hit! Thank you for sharing.
I am allergic to citric acid… so no lemon, lime, oranges, pineapple etc. Would the sauce work without the lime juice? These sound amazing!
I haven’t tried making this recipe without lime to advise.
I would try substituting balsamic vinegar OR seasoned rice vinegar.
Instead of talapia, I substituted fluke and used flour tortillas in place of corn. This is is fabulous recipe – everyone enjoyed the meal. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing. I’m glad they were a enjoyed!
Delicious recipe! I had to decrease the amount of cayenne pepper so my 12 year old daughter would eat it (she hates spicy things), and that worked perfectly. Everything else I did as the recipe called for. I’ll definitely be making this again!
That’s great, Kay! I’m so glad it will be on repeat.
Made this recipe following the instructions which I almost always do when making something for the first time.
A rare find that I will not be making changes in the future as it is awesome as designed. I used Spanish mackerel we caught in Cabo San Lucas a year ago – it was vacuum sealed. Worked great!!!
Thank you for sharing, Brad! That sounds wonderful. So glad you loved it.
You might consider this sacrilege, but we like to keep the sauce and fixings handy in the fridge so that we can pop some fish sticks in the air fryer at lunch time and have fish tacos for lunch all week. Hot, crispy fish sticks are great in fish tacos! Also, we prefer flour tacos and quick pickled red onions.
Great idea, John! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
We use fish sticks too in the airfryer for a quick week night dinner meal. It’s so good!
These are absolutely delicious! We’ve been making them for so long now they are truly a staple in our house! As a Floridian, I love a good fish taco! This delicious recipe makes it hard to enjoy them at restaurants anymore!
I’m so glad you found a favorite on my blog, Michelle! Thank you for your great review!
Winner Winner, Tilapia Dinner!! This recipe is delicious!!!! Thank you!!
You’re very welcome, Angie! So glad you loved it!
Delicious, easy, and pretty. Will be repeated at my house for sure
Thank you for your good comments and feedback Emily!
That sauce!
And the fish under the broiler a bit is a must, as well as the splash of lime on top of the taco!
This recipe definitely is a keeper!
Thank you for sharing, Lise! We love these tacos!
This is one of my favorite recipes. It is delish, easily prepared and easy to tweak the recipe. Ive created my own version of the rub at times, but the mango salsa is spot on if you have a jalapeño. If not, use hot sauce
I’m so happy you found a favorite on my blog, Rachel! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
These were the MOST DELICIOUS fish tacos ever! My husband loved the sauce and practically licked the bowl clean. I used rock fish and it worked out really well. This will be my go to fish taco recipe. Keep up the good work Natasha. You make me happy every time I watch you cook. Thanks so much
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Judy! I’m so glad you’re enjoying my recipes and videos!
We ended up adding more sriracha and some chili garlic sauce to get it to our usual “heat level.” We also used flour tortillas and it was all amazing. Great, easy, fast recipe! (We did use the air fryer for the fish.)
So glad you loved the recipe!
This is our favourite dish. Made is many times as per instructions and always a winner
I’m so glad to hear that!
Tried the fish tacos and all of the other comments were correct. This was amazing, fast and easy to make. I added sweet chili sauce instead if sirrachi as that is what I had in the fridge. Worked well and will continue with this I made mistake of not buying small corn tortillas as I had large ones and hard taco shells on hand. Next I will buy the small tortillas. The hard were ok but small soft would have been better. Another Natasha recipe in my rotation
I’m so glad you found another one to add to the rotation, Carol!