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.
These were a hit with my family! We just got back from Mexico and I was craving fish tacos. Even my young boys, 7 and 10, raved about how delicious these were. Easy for a weeknight too!
Best fish tacos ever. I had cod and it was delicious.
This is one of my personal favorites. I’m so happy you loved it! I hope you tried the fish taco sauce to go with them.
I used shrimp and tilapia. The sauce is everything on these things – 10 stars. The red cayenne pepper was a bit much for me, i only used half what you called for – still overpowering. Next batch i used smoked paprika – right on. I put my TX hot sauce on as required. Really good. I’m back eating fish.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Barry!
I have made this a couple times and have shared with many friends. This is the best recipe and so good with Walleye too!
It’s one of our favorites! So glad you’re enjoying the recipe too!
I am planning on serving this for my daughter’s birthday at the end of July. She does not like cilantro. Would it also be good with fresh mint? Has anyone tried this substitution?
Regardless of the substitution I make, I am sure it will be a hit! Natasha’s recipes never disappoint!
Hi Caroline. I read through the comments but I did not see that anyone has reported making this with mint. Parsley is a good alternative.
Great idea! Thank you! I will report back on the results!
Absolutely delicious. My husband said this was the best dinner I have ever made! As I was short on time cooking with everyone hungry and tired after a day of work and summer camp, I used store bought breaded pollock and butterfly shrimp. I still sprinkled the seasoning on them before putting them in the oven. Saved so much time and was soooo good with the sauce and the fresh ingredients. Thank you for the recipe!
My family loved this recipe. The sauce was so good! The only problem was that I used parchment paper as suggested and after oven cooking time broiled for 3 mins, but the paper caught fire. Can I use aluminum foil instead?
Hi Marcia! Yes, you can use foil too (lightly greased). Also- be sure you’re using parchments and not wax paper, they are often confused. Parchment paper should burn at this temperature, but it could also be the quality of it.
looks lovely cant wait to cook this evening
We have made these several times. They are the best. We’ve played with how we cook the fish, grilling it etc. always great. The sauce really is the glue that makes it all come together. Thanks for a great recipe.
WOW!….. Great Recipe. Family loved the spice of this recipe. We cook FT all the time, but this is much better than we normally have. Everyone enjoyed the freshness of the recipe.
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed this version.
I’ve been making this recipe for years and it is always a hit! If you buy everything organic, replace the mayonnaise with plant-based Hellmann’s, use plant-based butter, plant-based sour cream and replace the fish with hearts of palm you have a vegan “fish” taco just leave off just leave off the cheese. When using the plant-based sour cream it turned out better using extra garlic powder, a significant amount of lime zest really made it taste extremely similar to the original recipe.
Thanks for sharing your variation and substitutes.
Made this last night – delicious! To accommodate what I had in the fridge, I used rockfish (we’re in Alaska), green cabbage, shallots, and no avocado or cheese. I also used plain Greek yogurt and ceyenne in the sauce – perfect!
The fish would be delicious with just mashed potatoes and a veggie too. We loved the simple, tasty seasoning. So good and easy! Definitely another keeper!
Thank you for sharing that with me, Bailey! I’m so happy you loved this recipe.
Used this recipe for grouper fillets. It was excellent.
We like a little more garlic and lime flavor, so I added lime zest and a finely chopped small garlic clove.
Thank you for sharing.
Hi Kenneth! I’m so glad you loved this recipe!
I’ve just started using your recipes and luv them – why are measurements not in 1/2 cup – 1 Tblsp. It would be much easier
Hi Lee! It really depends on the recipe. Not everything can be measured in cups or tablespoons. Some dishes need more exact ratios for the best results, and that might mean using odd or less common measurements, but my recipes use the common measuring methods. Also- in the recipe card you’ll see an option for metric or US Customary. Make sure you don’t have the metric button switched on which uses metric measurements.
Really excellent!
I rubbed some of the sauce onto corn, sprinkled with chili, cotija, and a squeeze of lime. Mexican street corn.
I also used lettuce leaves instead of corn tortillas. Both versions are tasty
Absolutely delicious. First time making it and my family loved it. Very flavorful.
Hi Viviana! Thank you for trying my recipe. I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
We made these for first time last night for a Friday Fish dinner with friends. Repeated comments, “so fresh tasting” and these are just “excellent”. Today at noon my husband pulled out all the left-overs and said it’s “Fish Taco” time. I do have one question: I put the rub on the fish just before baking but would like to know if it is possible to put the rub on in advance and if so, how far in advance. I certainly am glad I found this recipe and your website. Thank you.
Hi Pat! That’s wonderful. I’m glad you love the recipe and so happy that you found a new favorite.
You can season and refrigerate the fish up to 24hrs but it’s not necessary.
Was very good! I didn’t have a lime for the sauce so I grabbed some margarita mix. LOl!
Just as delicious as I hoped it would be. This is a new favourite for us. You’re so right. The sauce is amazing. Thank you Natasha
I have made this recipe lots of times with halibut, yellow eye and ling cod. Family loves it. It is even good on the grill!! Sauce is absolutely awesome.