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Wow these tacos were so so good!! I added the the magic green sauce. They’re just as good as brewery fish tacos in California that I gorge on every time I visit.
Jessica
Why I Love These Easy Fish Tacos
The good news is this: even if it’s not summer, even if you live far away from any sort of ocean, even if you don’t really know anything about cooking… you can make EXTREMELY GOOD fish tacos at home.
Right here, right now, tonight. It’s on.
We love, love, love this recipe.
There is no love like the love I have for good fish tacos. And with these, you’re going to get that fish nice and tender and flaky and full of spicy flavor, and then you’re going to tuck it into little flour tortillas and top it with garlic lime slaw (omg), avocado, cilantro, and whatever else your fish taco heart desires.
The textures, the colors, the satisfying and crunchy I-might-be-on-vacation vibe? It’s all there.
We have plenty of other methods of making fish tacos on Pinch of Yum but these are hands-down the best easy fish tacos. They are just right for the Everyperson, which is why I love them and make them all the time.
They are:
- super fast
- super easy
- fresh and crispy
- full of flavor
- peppy and fun
- one of my favorite back-pocket weeknight meals!
I hope you love them as much as I do!
More weeknight tacos, please! For our easiest, most mindless chicken tacos, you need this recipe – my whole family is OBSESSED with these tacos.
Best Types Of Fish For Fish Tacos
We’re using cod for this recipe, but any white fish will do. You could also use:
- Mahi mahi (yum!)
- Snapper
- Flounder
- Halibut
- Grouper
And if you’re not a big fan of the above, shrimp is always an option! In that case, these Spicy Shrimp Tacos will be your best friend.
The Easiest Way To Make Fish Tacos
Okay, are you ready? This recipe is ridiculously easy.
- Mix butter with spices and lime juice.
- Pour mixture over fish.
- Bake.
From beginning to end, prepping and making the fish only takes about 15 minutes. And you can prep all your other toppings and sides while it cooks!
Sauce For Fish Tacos
The creamy cilantro lime sauce for these fish tacos is tossed with the slaw, and then you can add an extra drizzle or two on top. YUM. The ingredients for the sauce are pretty simple:
- Green onions and garlic
- Cilantro
- Sour cream (or Greek yogurt)
- Lime juice
You’ll blend it up in a blender or food process until smooth and toss toss toss!
Fish Taco Toppings
This is my fish taco formula:
- Slaw with sauce
- Smashed avocado
- Cilantro
- Repeat!
More avocado, more garlic lime slaw, and more of that yummy, buttery, spicy, seriously-easy-to-make fish, please. MORE.
The best easy fish tacos are yours for the taking!
How To Make Fish Tacos (Video)
Best Easy Fish Tacos
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2–3 servings 1x
Description
The Best Easy Fish Tacos! Tender and flaky fish full of spicy flavor tucked into flour tortillas and topped with garlic cilantro lime slaw. YUM!
Ingredients
Fish Tacos:
- 3 tablespoons salted butter, melted
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- pinch of salt
- 10–15 oz. cod or other white fish, thawed
Slaw:
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil (or avocado oil)
- 1/2 cup chopped green onions
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- 1–2 cloves garlic
- juice of 2 limes
- 1/2 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
- a pinch of salt
- 2–3 cups shredded cabbage
For Serving:
- Flour tortillas
- Avocado
- Red Onion
- Mango Salsa
Instructions
- Bake The Fish: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix butter, lime juice, chili powder, garlic powder, and salt in a small bowl. Pour mixture over the fish. Bake for 10-15 minutes.
- Flake The Fish: Flake apart the fish and coat with the extra sauce in the pan.
- Make The Slaw: Blend all sauce ingredients together and pour it on the cabbage.
- Top and Serve: Prep your toppings (mashed avocado, slaw, red onion, mango salsa, whatever you like). Serve fish in tortillas with toppings!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Mexican
Keywords: easy fish tacos, fish taco recipe, best fish tacos
Frequently Asked Questions For These Fish Tacos
Ghee or dairy-free butter would be a good substitute here!
The sauce will keep for 3-4 days in the fridge.
If the fish flakes easily with a fork, it’s done! If you want to be sure, you could use a thermometer to check. Fish should be cooked to 145 degrees F.
Mahi-mahi, grouper, flounder, or halibut would also work. If you want to use salmon, these Salmon Tacos are also very delicious!
I love these tips from Weber Grills! In short – bring your fish closer to room temperature, use high heat, and let the fish release from the grill on it’s own so it doesn’t flake off.
I’d recommend using this recipe for Crispy Fish Tacos!
You could serve these tacos with some yummy Mexican rice, a simple salad tossed with cilantro vinaigrette, or a Mexican street corn salad. And maybe some margaritas for good measure? Definitely margaritas.
Gosh these were good! I like lime, but I don’t “love” lime so I reduced the amount from 2 to 1, which gave me right at 4 tbsp juice. I used 1 tbsp in the fish marinade and 3 tbsp in the slaw. After tasting the slaw sauce, I did add a more salt as well as a bit of black pepper. We topped our tacos with mango salsa. We will definitely have these again!
I have made these fish tacos a hundred times and they are my favorite! The recipe is so easy and the tacos are so good! It’s a simple recipe and fast to make but the flavor is amazing!
Please add “cabbage” to the ingredient list for the slaw. It’s not included until you get to Step 3 of the instructions.
Thanks for the heads up! Added!
Where’s the cabbage in the fish tacos recipe?
These were super easy to make and delicious! I added a jalapeño to the slaw sauce to spice it up a bit, but otherwise didn’t make any changes. Thanks for the great, quick and easy recipe!
Wait, is it just me, or does the video of the marinate show a ridiculously larger amount of lime juice / melted butter than one could ever squeeze out of a single lime / get from 3 Tbs of butter?
I had to add more of both to come close to that amount of liquid.
Or perhaps the piece of fish is the size of a mouse.
I made this with ranch dressing. Iwad out of sour cream. I had to make it again the nex night it disappeared so fast. Even my 2 and 4 yr Olds went back for seconds.
Do I need to remove skin from the fish before cooking? I’m using red snapper.
Yes, we’d recommend it!
Made this with tilapia because it’s what I could find and used oil because we are dairy free. It was DELICIOUS! We served it with the cabbage and mango salsa and it was such a hit! Will be making again! Five stars for taste and ease!
I made this recipe tonight and felt it was bland all over. Not very flavorful at all, even the slaw was bland. I used cod. Partly my fault, I thought this dish would be more blackened as it baked. I oiled the pan I baked in, perhaps that was a mistake. Not thrilled with this recipe, I’ll keep looking.
How can I make the sauce if I don’t have a food processor? Sounds so delicious! Thanks
You could use a blender if you have one!
This was not a hit for us. There. was so much liquid after baking the fish and it diluted the spices and flavor. I ended up draining it all off so the tacos wouldn’t be soggy. The slaw was good but I halved the sauce and we still had a lot left over.
Hi. Recipe sounds great. Are there three tacos per serving? Are the nutritional values listed for a serving of three tacos?
Please advise. Thanks!
It’s two tacos per serving!
These were delicious, thank you!
Finally a way to eat cooked fish that I enjoy.
The slaw was nasty but fish flavor was good couldn’t have fish tacos with that slaw or without it sadly
The sauce for coleslaw seems very runny. I followed the recipe. What gives?
Hi, I am new to pinch of yum and I am excited to dive in and try all these recipes. I am in desperate need of support as I am a horrible cook. LOL
I plan to make fish tacos tonight, wanted to know if they can be cook in a pan instead of the over? Would that change when I season the fish?
Thanks in advance
This is one of our favorite taco recipes!!!! Absolutely delicious!
I think your idea will be copied and utilized to inspire the creation of many more ideas because it is brilliant and original.
Very annoying all the ads that spring up on your website. I realize I have to watch one or two but definitely turns one off your website when all you get is commercials and can’t watch your videos. Going to another site to check out recipes!
Perfect! Such good flavor, easy to make, and I love the sauce for the slaw. It’s my new favorite!
These are in our regular rotation. So easy and good.
This is the first recipe I have had from this website that was not good, but this was almost inedible. I used frozen flounder, which I thawed first. It ended up having way too much liquid and the fish was mushy. I had to try and transfer to skillet to salvage it.
Literally shocked at how flavourful AND easy these were. Definitely going to be in regular rotation from now on!
I don’t like cilantro, is there another herb I can substitute??
You could try chives or parsley!