My Favorite Fish Tacos Recipe
This is a fish taco recipe to die for, with flavorful pan seared white fish, crunchy ribbons of slaw, avocado and creamy homemade fish taco sauce. Huge on flavor and easy to make!
Who’s in the mood for Fish Tacos? I know I am. I’m always up for delicious fish tacos, so light and delicious, perfect for all sorts of wonderful toppings.
Fish tacos are perfect for the spicy food lover, as we can use whatever seasonings we prefer and serve them up with our favorite spicy toppings. And hot sauce! What’s a fish taco without a few dashes of hot sauce?
There are many fish taco recipes out there, but this particular version is my very favorite. It’s made with red snapper that is lightly seasoned with garlic, onion, sweet paprika and white pepper with just a touch of sea salt. It is pan seared to keep it nice and delicate.
I serve mine over warmed flour tortillas, as flour tortillas hold them better than corn tortillas, though I do love them with corn tortillas as well. They are topped with a crunchy slaw made with lots of shredded cabbage, roasted jalapeno, cilantro and lime juice with a touch of honey for sweetness.
I also serve them with fresh sliced avocado and a few dollops of my homemade fish taco sauce recipe, which is super creamy and very easy to make with mayo, crema, lime juice and hot sauce with seasonings.
They are seriously huge on flavor and done very quickly. Cooking the fish is quick and easy and you can have these on the table in about 15 minutes – 20 minutes if you’re a slow cook like I am.
I hope you enjoy them.
Let’s talk about how we make my favorite fish tacos, shall we?
The Best Fish Tacos Ingredients
- FOR THE CRUNCHY CABBAGE SLAW
- Red Cabbage
- Green Cabbage
- Roasted Jalapeno – see my post for how to roast peppers
- Cilantro
- Lime Juice
- Champagne Vinegar – or use your favorite white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- Honey
- Salt
- FOR THE FISH TACO SAUCE
- Mayonnaise
- Mexican Crema – or use Sour Cream
- Lime Juice
- Hot Sauce – Use your favorite, or use sriracha
- Garlic Powder or Fresh Garlic
- Salt
- FOR THE FISH TACOS
- Red Snapper – or use your favorite white fish
- Garlic Powder
- Sweet Paprika
- Onion Powder
- White Pepper – or use black pepper as a substitute
- Salt
- Olive Oil
- Flour Tortillas – you can use corn tortillas
- Avocado
- Extras for Topping. Sliced roasted jalapeno peppers or chiles toreados, fresh squeezed lime, your favorite hot sauce
How to Make Fish Tacos – the Recipe Method
MAKE THE FISH TACO SLAW
Toss together the shredded red cabbage, shredded green cabbage, roasted jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice, vinegar, honey and salt in a large bowl. Make sure everything is evenly coated. Refrigerate until ready to use.
MAKE THE FISH TACO SAUCE
Whisk together the mayo, crema, lime juice, hot sauce, garlic and salt in a medium bowl. Refrigerate the cream sauce until ready to use. This is a huge flavor builder. So good.
MAKE THE FISH TACOS
Season the Fish. Remove the skin from the fish and slice the fish into strips. Mix together the seasonings in a small bowl and sprinkle it over the sliced fish.
Cook the Fish. Heat the oil in a pan to medium heat and add the fish. Cook gently for 5 minutes, turning the fish every minute, until it is cooked through. Remove from heat.
Assemble the Tacos and Serve. Serve the pieces of fish onto warmed tortillas, then top with sliced avocado, crunchy cabbage slaw and dollops of creamy fish taco sauce. Don’t forget the hot sauce!
Boom! Done! Your delectable fish tacos are recipe to serve! Don’t they look amazing? So easy to make and always satisfying. I’m not kidding when I say this is the best fish tacos recipe around. Perfect every time.
Recipe Tips & Notes
- Best Fish for Fish Tacos. This works with any white fish. Some of my very favorites are red snapper, halibut, grouper and monkfish. I also enjoy swordfish, mullet, mahi mahi, wahoo, cod. Tilapia is a good inexpensive alternative. So many to choose from!
- The Seasonings. You can use your favorite seasonings for this recipe. I like to keep it simple in order to highlight the flavor of the delicate whitefish. It’s perfectly fine with chili powder, salt and pepper. I love my mix of garlic, onion, paprika, white pepper, which is more subtle than black pepper, and a bit of salt.
- On the Grill. You can also prepare the fish on the grill for that extra grill flavor. I love it when chefs grilled the fish on the beach until golden brown and served it right up on warmed tortillas with the cream sauce and lots of fixing. So good!
That’s it, my friends. I hope you enjoy my fish tacos recipe. So good! Let me know if you make it and what fish you’ve chosen. I’d love to hear how it turned out for you. Keep it spicy!
Try Some of My Other Popular Recipes
- Baja Fish Tacos
- Shrimp Tacos with Creamy Jalapeno Sauce
- Beer Battered Fish Tacos with Habanero Slaw
- Creamy Fish Taco Sauce Recipe
Grab yourself a fish taco!
Got any questions? Ask away! I’m happy to help. If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! — Mike H.
Fish Tacos Recipe
Ingredients
FOR THE SLAW
- 1/4 small head red cabbage shredded
- 1/4 head small green cabbage shredded
- 1 roasted jalapeno peeled and chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- Juice from 1 large lime
- 2 tablespoons champagne vinegar use white vinegar as a substitute
- 1 tablespoon honey
- Sea salt to taste
FOR THE FISH TACO SAUCE
- ½ cup mayo
- ½ cup Mexican crema or use sour cream
- 1 tablespoon lime juice about ½ a small lime
- 1 teaspoon of your favorite hot sauce sriracha is great here
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder or 1-2 fresh cloves minced
- Pinch of salt
FOR THE FISH TACOS
- 1-1/4 pounds red snapper sub in your favorite white fish
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- Salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 6 flour tortillas warmed
- 1 avocado sliced
- EXTRA TOPPINGS: Sliced roasted jalapeno peppers or chiles toreados fresh squeezed lime, your favorite hot sauce
Instructions
MAKE THE SLAW
- Toss together the shredded red cabbage, shredded green cabbage, roasted jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice, vinegar, honey and salt in a large bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.
MAKE THE FISH TACO SAUCE
- Whisk together the mayo, crema, lime juice, hot sauce, garlic and salt in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.
MAKE THE FISH TACOS
- Remove the skin from the fish and slice the fish into strips. Mix together the seasonings in a small bowl and sprinkle it over the sliced fish.
- Heat the oil in a pan to medium heat and add the fish. Cook gently for 5 minutes, turning the fish every minute, until it is cooked through. Remove from heat.
- Serve the pieces of fish onto warmed tortillas, then top with sliced avocado, crunchy cabbage slaw and dollops of creamy fish taco sauce. Don't forget the hot sauce!
Notes
Nutrition
10 comments
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Okay so I don’t want to give this a rating but I made the slaw before time and it was just soggy by the time we went to eat it… I refrigerated it for 3 hours…
Anyone else have this problem? I had to add tostitos so I could get a little crunch
Sorry to hear. It could be a temperature issue in the refrigerator, or possibly the starting quality of the slaw (if it wasn’t the freshest). 3 hours shouldn’t really soften up the crunchy cabbage otherwise. Hard to say. I’ve made this so many times without issue. Sorry.
Great one, Mike, I love the mix of balanced flavors… especially the presence of the roasted jalapeño!
Thanks so much, Jeremie! We LOVE these so much. Delicious.
Is the nutrition information for one taco or for all 6 tacos.
Laura, it is for 1 taco.
Looking for some advice on which type of flour tortillas to use with fish tacos. The tortillas I have access to seem to be really thick which takes away some of the flavor from my tacos.
Thanks
Rick, I enjoy flour tortillas, but if they are too thick, try using corn tortillas, which taste different but are outstanding. We love them!
This would take a weekend to make from scratch. But looks worth it.
Definitely a few homemade parts to it, but definitely worth it to me!