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
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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.
Absolutely Fabulous !!!!
Thank you for the wonderful review!
I did this and seasoned the fish with Tony’s cajun seasoning. I used lettuce instead of cabbage,feta for the cheese and guacamole instead of avocado. It was what I had available and it was delicious ( not low calorie).
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hubby loved it and he’s pretty picky.
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review 🙂
Made these yesterday and I must say, these were an immediate favorite! Love the recipe just as it is and definitely recommend it as a favorite!
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review 🙂
Just made these and they were so good! The sauce was the bomb 👍
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
This was divine!! I could not get some ingredients here in The Netherlands, so I used feta for the cheese, and sambal to substitute sriracha. I do not like tilapia, so used monkfish, which was fabulous!
That’s so great! Thank you for the wonderful review!
These were fabulous! The sauce was very good. I have a child that doesn’t like siracha so I used Tapatio which is similar heat. I cheated with the fish and purchased some from the butcher that had some Mexican seasoning on it. But bake time was perfect. My daughter is recovering from brain surgery so we need to be feeding her lots of protein. Very glad I found this recipe. And the avocado was an amazing bonus as we had some vegan friends pop in. Thanks again!
You’re so welcome, Lisa. I’m so happy you all enjoyed our recipe! I hope your daughter’s recovery goes by quickly & smoothly 🙂
Hi Natasha. Do you use fresh tilapia or frozen? I would probably be buying it frozen.
Hi Sarah! You are more than welcome to use frozen Tilapia however be sure to thaw them before baking.
This is at least the 10th time making this! My family cant get enough of this fish taco! I have your recipes/website to others! So good!
Tilapia is not a family favourite so I too have replaced it with cod! Also cant seem to get Cotija cheese in Canada. I have replaced it with grated parmesan cheese chunk (not the “pre-grated stuff!)….it was grate (great!)
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a family favorite!
I’ve used parm too – my 13-year-old and I prefer feta (greek cheese) over the parm cheese chunks. Just an idea for a substitute
Carolyn – I’m also in Canada. Not sure where you are, but Food Basics occasionally has Cotija (Ontario) and I’ve also seen it at No Frills. Also, like Nicole mentioned, feta is a good substitute.
Hi!! Do you think this recipe will work okay with mahi-mahi? Thank you!!
Hi Stefanie, I have not tried that but I imagine it would work really well! Mahi is a rich fish and will surely elevate this dish.
Traditional Baja sauce has cumin in it though otherwise looks good
Hi Hope, thanks for sharing and I hope you love the fish tacos recipe!
Natasha, do you have any suggestions for a side dish with this, or do you think fish tacos are filling enough. Making them for a few friends this Friday.
Hi Michelle, We get pretty full off of these but you can also serve guacamole and chips or salsa?
Hi Michelle, we honestly usually just serve these by themselves but a salad like the cucumber tomato avocado salad would be a nice addition if you wanted something on the side.
Epic fish tacos…that sauce was out of bounds! This recipe will be in heavy rotation…my yummy says thank you so much.
Sounds like you found a new favorite! Than you for that awesome review, Samel!
Made these tonight and loved them! We made a few alterations- cod works so well and we like it more than tilapia. We also used Greek yoghurt instead of sour cream in the sauce which worked really well.
We also used soft goat cheese instead since we had it on hand and it was very yummy that way.
Will make again!!!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
Ahhhhmazing!!!
So simple and tasty!
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review 🙂
Delicious!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that!
Love this recipe! I am not a very experienced cook. But your recipes are always simple and delicious!!
Thank you for that wonderful compliment, Miriam!
these tacos are the bomb i have used this recipe on many occasions it taste good any tie and it’s easy to pack for the next day
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
These fish tacos were awesome!! Tasted very fresh and the sauce was amazing. Cooking time is PERFECT for the fish. Don’t change a thing and enjoy!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Christopher! Thank you for the wonderful review!
The best tacos!
Aren’t they!! Thank you for that great review!
Hi so where I come from tilapia is not a common fish, do you have any other ideas because this recipe sounds so good!
Hi Anja. Some of our readers have tried this with Pollack, Flounder, Cod etc. One of our readers wrote this: “I hate tilapia, but this works for: shrimp, swordfish, halibut, whitefish, Pike, trout, whatever. You can: broil, fry, sear, roast, grill your fish. Even a possible is to ROAST a WHOLE larger fish and then have guests dig in and build their own tacos.” I hope this helps!