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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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.
Made it many times, perfect fish tocos 😋
I’m so happy to hear that Stefan! Thank you for sharing your great review!
This is my fish taco go-to base recipe. I’ve doctored it a bit to suit my tastes, but yours is one of the only recipes I have ever seen that calls for baking the fish. That makes a BIG difference.
I add panko breadcrumbs over the top of the fish in addition to the butter. Also, I let the fish marinate in olive oil, lime, cumin, garlic, chili powder, oregano, and cayenne over night (in a baggie lol).
Your timing for the oven is just about perfect and makes it easy to adjust. Fish comes out juicy, tender and flaky. I normally dislike cooked fish so this is saying something for me.
This fish sauce is another thing I’ve doctored to suit our tastes. We add avocado, cilantro, cumin, garlic, and lime to the mayo/sour cream mix. I use tabasco because for some reason, it’s the only pepper sauce I like.
Thanks for putting this out there. Fish tacos are now easy for me and this has become a regular part of our rotation 🙂
That’s so great Pamela, thank you for sharing that with us! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
Substituted mahi mahi and it came out deliciously flakey with a kick. My boyfriend loves the sauce and lost count of how many tacos he ate! 😊 Definitely a keeper and perfect for taco Tuesday. Thank you! 🌮
Sounds like you found a new favorite, Sophie! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe!
YUM!!! The sauce makes it! Great recipe. Thank you1
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the wonderful review!
Omg I’ve never liked fish but I’m trying to eat healthy. I made these for my husband and toddler. My husband took a bite and said “wow”! He said best fish tacos he’s ever had!😊I have a pic but not sure how to post it
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review 🙂
I made these tonight and my family could not get enough..should have bought more talipia!!
Absolutly the best fish tacos ever and so easy to make..the sauce really makes a great finish!!
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review 🙂
Wow! Just hopped over here after making your delicious BBQ chicken thighs (was literally nibbling leftovers while reading reviews lol), and as a huge fish taco fan, I’m so exited to attempt these. Fish tacos are something I absolutely love to order out but for whatever reason, never imagined I could make simply at home. Now I’m stoked to add the ingredients to my grocery list and make this for our family really soon! Just wondering…do you serve the fish warm right away or would you typically bake it, refrigerate, and then shred it up? Wasn’t sure if it was served hot or cold.
Thanks so much, Natasha! Love your recipes!
I hope you love this recipe, Meredith! Thank you for sharing that with me!
Yeah!!! I finally found the perfect recipe. I just made these tonight and I am hooked. The sauce was absolutely delicious.
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!.
This recipe is awesome!!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
Use low carb tortillas for Keto.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Thank you for this very easy, but full-flavour recipe. I used some homemade greek yogurt instead of sour cream because that’s what I had on hand. Also, I substituted ancho chili powder for the cayenne because my kids won’t eat cayenne… yet 😉 And because I know my kids will eat it and I didn’t want to make a salad, I grated a carrot and added it to the cabbage along with some cilantro and lime for a kind of “slaw”. Lucky for me I had all the other ingredients on hand.
Argh! I hate it when people rate a recipe and then mention all the changes they made. Apologies! Your recipe is perfect.
I’ve made fish tacos before but that always meant dredging the fish and standing over the frying pan for 1/2 an hour while I cooked in batches. This is so much easier. Thanks again. Will definitely add this to my “easy favourites” list.
You’re so nice! Thank you, Kate! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe!
Just made these for dinner tonight for my hubby and i and wow these were so amazing !!!
I’m so happy to hear you both enjoyed that, Sonya! Thank you for sharing your great review!
I made these tonight and I have to say 3 out of 4 (including me!) thought they were fabulous. We live in Minnesota so we used fresh Crappie fillets and they were wonderful. They only one that didn’t love them was the 22 year old son and he has the pallet of a 4 year old! Thanks for the recipe and I just want you to know that I follow your recipes all the time. Maybe some time I will send you a recipe from our Minnesota area. It is not all bland mild food!
Thank you for sharing that with us, Donna! Yes, please! We’d love to try what Minnesota has to offer!
First time making fish tacos. This was a fantastic and easy recipe! Maybe a tad salty according to my wife. But I loved them. Mad at myself later because I had forgotten my cilantro. Lol
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the wonderful review!
OMG!! These fish tacos are AMAZING. They are delicious!
I used black sable cod (on sale at Whole Foods) , and followed the recipe exactly. It was easy to prepare and these tacos are better than any I’ve ever had anywhere.
This will now be my go-to dish when I have company for dinner.
Nutritious and scrumptious.
Yay! A new recipe in my repertoire .
Thank you Natasha!!
That’s so great Sharon! Black Sable Cod sounds so perfect for this recipe! Thank you for sharing that with me! 🙂
Can substitute scoop of chipotle for the sriracha! Mmmmm
Hi Melody! I haven’t tried that but I think that should work!
Great recipe – simple and easy to follow. We used home made coleslaw with red cabbage instead of individual toppings. Also combined your dressing with another one adding capers. Delicious!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
We made this last night!
It was wonderful. We even made our own tortillas.
The sauce is great.
That’s so great! I’m so happy you enjoyed that!
I would love to see the tortilla recipe.
Hello Natasha, I was wondering if you serve these fish tacos when the fish is still hot or if I can prepare it ahead?
Hi Elisa, We like to serve it hot, but you are more than welcome to prepare it ahead of time!
This recipe was fantastic! My question is how long do you give the sauce before it goes bad?
Hey there Rick We kept it for a few days. Hasn’t lasted long enough to test it longer
Wow! These turned out fantastic! I used cod fish and for the sauce I substituted hot sauce for the siracha.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I made this for shrimp tacos because the original shrimp taco sauce was boring for my family .
But I changed a few things like add cilantro , double siracha and granulated garlic .
Every one loved it!!
That sounds delicious, Donna! Thank you for sharing that with me!