It’s only been very recently that I’ve tasted fish tacos. I’ve ordered them in two different restaurants, but I really wanted to try making them at home. My first search for recipes called for expensive types of fish, like swordfish. I kept looking though, and found a few recipes that use tilapia. I combined the ideas of several recipes to create these and the result is easy and tasty.
Even the kids liked them. At first they were skeptical, but I explained that fish tacos are different from regular tacos. It’s not like you just substitute fish for the hamburger. Low and behold, they tried them and they liked them too!
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 4-6 Tilapia fillets, thawed
- Old Bay seasoning
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 Tbs. lime juice
- several teaspoons of adobe sauce from chipotle peppers
- palmful of chopped fresh cilantro
- slaw mix
- corn tortillas
- cheddar cheese, shredded – if desired
Sprinkle the fish with Old Bay seasoning. I used a George Foreman grill to cook the fish. You could cook it in the oven or a skillet though. In the oven, it will take about 20 minutes. The fish will cook in less time in a skillet. It’s done when it flakes easily with a fork.
For the sauce, stir the sour cream, cilantro, adobe sauce and lime juice together. I just used a spoon to dip out the sauce from the can. I used about 3 spoonfuls. The adobe sauce is spicy, so add according to how much heat your family likes. I froze the rest of the sauce and peppers for another dish.
Cut the fish into pieces. Assemble the tacos by layering the fish, slaw and sauce on warmed corn tortillas. You can also add cheddar cheese, tomatoes or avocado if you like. I used 4 fillets and that was just enough for 5 of us, but one child only ate one taco. All the rest of us had more. Also, we had just enough sauce to go around. If you’re serving more people, you’ll probably want to make more sauce.
I know there are a lot of ways to make fish tacos. If you like to make them, how do you do it?
I dont like the smell or taste of fish, so I use frozen breaded fish fillets. Gortons, I think. They seem less “fishy” to me. I mix mayo with taco seasoning for my sauce. and I top with shredded cabbage, cheese, and tomatoes. I have to use flour tortillas (the flauta size) because my husband refuses to eat corn.
I want to try the sauce that you made!
your recipe sounds so good. I’m sure I’m going to try it.
I love fish tacos! I mix ranch dressing with salsa for a tasty and easy sauce. I’m going to try the Old Bay and lime juice next time!
White sauce-
Equal parts Mayo/plain yogurt. Squeeze of Lime, splashes of Chipolte Hot sauce.
I mix that with a bag of Broccoli slaw.
Put it over the fish.
I vary if I beer batter fry it (yummy!!)
Or just grill it with some old bay- equally yummy!
Top with cheese and some salsa
I bake tilapia with lime and onion. Then serve it on four tortillas with shredded lettuce, monterey cheese, sour cream, chopped tomatoes and extra slices of lime. I also make homemade quacamole to go on them but most of my kids don’t like it. Most adults love it. I have to make at least 8 fillets for the six of us because my kids will eat about three tacos each, sometimes more.
I think I may try the old bay and your sauce, sounds yummy!
I grew up eating fish tacos every time we went to Baja California. As an adult, I wanted to recreate that flavor. My parents agree that I got pretty close, can’t replicate the sounds and smells of eating them at the fish market with the juices dripping off your hand and a bottle of mexican soda in your other hand.
I use a beer or tempura batter and deep fry any mild white fish. I have used red snapper, tilapia and mahimahi and they are all good. I steam my corn tortillas in the microwave and encourage the use of two tortillas so that the taco doesn’t tear.
For sauce… I mix mayonaise and lime juice until you can taste both, but neither is predominate. This is pretty soupy. I also make a pico de gallo, which is chopped tomatoes, cilantro, onion and jalapeno seasoned with a little lime juice and salt. For the greens we just use shredded cabbage.
If we are feeling like being healthy, I use a baked fish that I season with cumin, salt and garlic. If I am in a hurry, I have used fish sticks or battered fish fillets instead of frying my own.
Yumm!
Nothing tastes like a Baja fish taco. Yours sound perfect.
Where in the store would I find the adobo sauce & the Old Bay seasoning? I think is going on my next two week menu!
The chipotle chilis in adobo sauce were in the Mexican food section. The Old Bay seasoning is near all the other spices. It was on the bottom shelf at my Walmart, but that could be because we are in land-locked KY.
My family loves fish tacos, growing up in California we ate them on a weekly basis. I use what ever white fish is on sale, talapia, cod, etc. And for my sauce, because my kids don’t like it to runny, I mix low-fat mayo, and sour cream with lime juice, cilantro and taco seasoning. I also lightly brush the fish with lime juice, a little oil and taco seasoning, it just seems to give it more flavor. Also we seem to like the hard taco shells better. When the kids were smaller for convience I used fish sticks.
I use tilapia as well. The only difference in our sauce is I used yogurt instead of sour cream. I also use the slaw mix to save time. I don’t think we use shredded cheese, either. Fish tacos should be in it’s own food group! We love them!!
Sounds great. I love whitefish but my kids don’t. I live in Canada and you can’t find Old Bay seasoning to save your life here. While visiting the U.S. I managed to pick some up. I think I’ll give your recipe a try. As it sounds so tasty, I’m sure my kids will like it.
I live in Ontario and have seen Old Bay seasoning in a number of places. Try a fish and seafood shop if you can’t find it elsewhere.
Had these for dinner. Yum! We’ve got some condiment lovers around here, so I doubled the sauce ingredients.
My husband and I don’t eat much fish — like maybe once a year! — but we try to eat it more often for the kids. We all have tried and liked Long John’s fish tacos and you make this seem so easy I wanna try it ourselves at home! Can’t wait to try this out!! thanks! =)
This recipe looks really simple- thanks for sharing. I have put it in my queue of recipes to try in the next few weeks.
I made these tonight and they were great! I was a little too liberal using the seasoning (my first time cooking fish!) but still delish!
These look so good, Tiffany! I haven’t tried fish tacos yet, but it is on my list of things to do this summer. I love that you used tilapia in this recipe too- that is our favorite fish! Yummy!
Tried these tonight. My husband loved it. Thanks!
I make the same exact sour cream sauce when I make fish tacos! Except I chop some of the actual chipotle pepper in becuase we like heat. I also make a black bean and corn salsa with lime juice and cumin. One of my favorite meals…I think I’m going to make them tonight now!
Tried these last night and followed the recipe almost exactly (I can’t handle too much spice, so I used a little less of the pepper sauce). Absolutely delicious and I can’t believe how easy they were to make!
Also, I baked the fish @ 350 for about 17 minutes and it was perfectly cooked 🙂
I used cod instead of tilapia, and bought a ready-made Dole Sunflower Crunch Chopped Salad Kit for the slaw. I added the dressing and bacon bits that came with the kit to add to your Sauce recipe and mixed it with the slaw instead of serving separately. We topped with chopped tomato and avocado, and it was delicious!
Never eat Tilapia, it is the worst fish you can eat. Do an internet searc to see why. I also never eat anything from China.