Fish Tacos

Here’s how to make the tastiest fish tacos around! Bake the fish with a dry rub of spices, then top it with tangy slaw and creamy sauce. Tacos are always a win over here, so might we introduce you to our new favorite? These baked fish tacos! We eat a mostly plant-based diet, with room for seafood occasionally (basically the Mediterranean diet). And my, are tacos the best treat! You’ll bake the white fish until it’s flaky with a dry rub of spices: no breading or frying necessary. Then top it with a quick and simple tangy slaw, and a creamy fish taco sauce. They’re delicious, easy to make and a total crowd pleaser that works for weeknights or dinner parties. Here’s what you need to know! What fish to use for fish tacos You can use any type of white fish for these healthy fish tacos! Here are some of the types of fish that are easiest to find and result in the best tacos: Tilapia: has a great mild flavor and buttery texture Cod: the flavor here is even milder! Cod is a very neutral-flavored fish and a great choice (it’s surprisingly tasty: also try grilled cod or pan fried […]

A Couple Cooks – Healthy, Whole Food, & Vegetarian Recipes

Here’s how to make the tastiest fish tacos around! Bake the fish with a dry rub of spices, then top it with tangy slaw and creamy sauce.

Fish tacos

Tacos are always a win over here, so might we introduce you to our new favorite? These baked fish tacos! We eat a mostly plant-based diet, with room for seafood occasionally (basically the Mediterranean diet). And my, are tacos the best treat! You’ll bake the white fish until it’s flaky with a dry rub of spices: no breading or frying necessary. Then top it with a quick and simple tangy slaw, and a creamy fish taco sauce. They’re delicious, easy to make and a total crowd pleaser that works for weeknights or dinner parties. Here’s what you need to know!

What fish to use for fish tacos

You can use any type of white fish for these healthy fish tacos! Here are some of the types of fish that are easiest to find and result in the best tacos:

  • Tilapia: has a great mild flavor and buttery texture
  • Cod: the flavor here is even milder! Cod is a very neutral-flavored fish and a great choice (it’s surprisingly tasty: also try grilled cod or pan fried cod)
  • Mahi mahi: if you can’t find the first two, mahi mahi also works: it has a richer, meatier flavor

Other great choices? Snapper, grouper or halibut. Above all, try to find wild caught fish if you can. It’s more sustainable and higher quality than farmed fish.

Fish taco seasoning

Ingredients in fish taco seasoning

What makes the flavor in these easy fish tacos? The dry rub for the fish taco seasoning! You can make up a big batch of this seasoning in advance and keep it around for taco time (it keeps for about 1 year). Or just mix up what you need day of, which is what we normally do.

Here’s the cool thing: you’ll use it as a dry rub on the fish. There’s no breading and no oil! Just pat the spices on and bake for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit! The spices form a beautiful crust that’s full of zesty flavor. Here’s what’s in fish taco seasoning:

  • Chili powder
  • Cumin
  • Smoked paprika
  • Garlic powder
  • Onion powder

Smoked paprika is a Spanish version of paprika that infuses a hint of smokiness into each bite. If you can’t find it, use sweet paprika. If you buy a jar, use it up with these Best Smoked Paprika Recipes.

Fish taco seasoning

How to make the quickest taco slaw: tips!

One thing that’s essential for fish tacos: a slaw that’s actually fast to make. Many taco slaw recipes take longer than expected: they require lots of ingredients for the dressing or chopping lots of veggies. Not this one! We’ve pared it down to the essentials so that it takes only about 5 minutes to put together. Here are some tips:

  • Red cabbage, carrot, and green onion are all you need. This makes the quickest and easiest slaw: only a few veggies to slice.
  • Add lime and salt and you’re done! You don’t need to make a fancy dressing: tangy lime juice does the trick! Celery salt adds a nice nuance to the overall flavor. If you don’t have it, just use kosher salt!
  • Serve with a slotted spoon. This slaw picks up moisture as it sits. Serving it right away avoids this. If you let it sit for any amount of time, serve with a slotted spoon to avoid a watery taco.
Fish taco slaw

5 fish taco sauce ideas

Once you’ve made your baked fish and quick slaw, all you need is the sauce! There are lots of ideas of great sauces to use. Here are our favorite sauces for these quick fish tacos:

  1. Fish Taco Sauce This sauce makes fish tacos taste incredible! Lime, garlic and hot sauce are the ideal compliment for flaky fish.
  2. Cilantro Lime Crema You’ll want to bathe in this zesty cilantro lime crema! It’s made with sour cream, lime, cilantro and a few spices.
  3. Spicy Mayo Make the Mexican-style spin on this spicy mayo: it’s just 2 ingredients so you can whip it up in a flash. *Dairy free option
  4. Chipotle Sauce This easy sauce is zesty, smoky and creamy: perfect for tacos and burritos! *Dairy free option
  5. Shrimp Taco Sauce This one works on fish tacos too! It’s like a creamy ranch made with cilantro: quick and easy!
Fish taco sauce

Sides to serve with fish tacos!

Once you’ve made these epic fish tacos, you’ll need something to serve with them! For weeknight meals, we opt for fast and easy side dishes like canned refried beans. But for a dinner party, we’ll make more side dishes to complete the meal. Here are a few ideas of sides to go with tacos:

This fish tacos recipe is…

Gluten-free and pescatarian.

Print
Fish tacos

Epic Fish Tacos


1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (5 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 3 to 4 (8 tacos)
  • Diet: Gluten Free

Description

Here’s how to make the tastiest fish tacos around! Bake the fish with a dry rub of spices, then top it with tangy slaw and creamy sauce.


Ingredients

For the fish

  • 1 pound tilapia or cod* (wild caught preferable)
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon each cumin and smoked paprika (or standard paprika)
  • 1/2 teaspoon each garlic powder and onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, for seasoning

For the tacos


Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Thaw the fish, if necessary.
  2. Make the fish: In a small bowl, mix together the dry rub: chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder. Pat the fish dry, then sprinkle it with 1 teaspoon kosher salt and pat it in. Add the seasoning and pat it to cover the fish. Place the fish on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, until tender. Then broil for 2 minutes until the top is lightly browned.
  3. Make the slaw: Meanwhile, thinly slice the cabbage. Shred or grate the carrot (we used a handheld julienne peeler). Thinly slice the green onion. Place the cabbage, carrots and green onion in a bowl. Stir in the lime juice, salt and celery salt. Serve immediately with a slotted spoon. The slaw picks up moisture as it sits; if you plan to let it sit, make sure to serve with the slotted spoon to strain out the moisture.
  4. Make the sauce: Make the Fish Taco Sauce.
  5. Warm the tortillas: If desired, char the tortillas by placing them on an open gas flame on medium for a few seconds per side, flipping with tongs, until they are slightly blackened and warm. Or warm them according to How to Warm Tortillas.
  6. Assemble the tacos by topping the tortillas with fish, slaw, and sauce. Top with chopped cilantro and a spritz of lime. 

Notes

*If you’re serving 4 hungry eaters, you may want to increase the fish to 1.5 pounds and up the spice quantities accordingly. The slaw and sauce should work for 12 tacos. Or, make sure to serve with a filling side dish like refried beans (purchased or homemade).

  • Category: Main Dish
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: Mexican

Keywords: Fish tacos, fish taco sauce, fish taco slaw

More tacos recipes

Tacos are one of the meals we eat the most around here! Here are a few more tacos recipes we have on regular rotation:

  • Crispy Avocado Tacos Destined to be your new favorite! With crunchy breading, they’ve got the vibe of a fish taco but are totally plant based.
  • Quick Shrimp Tacos A fast dinner recipe for weeknights or entertaining. They taste stunning drizzled in a creamy cilantro sauce!
  • Best Jackfruit Tacos In just 20 minutes jackfruit turns into a plant based version of pulled pork carnitas. These tacos will amaze you!

A Couple Cooks - Healthy, Whole Food, & Vegetarian Recipes

My Favorite Turkey Taco Stuffed Peppers!

These turkey taco stuffed peppers are sponsored by Shady Brook Farms Turkey! Welcome to one of my forever go-to dinners! If you’ve been following along on instagram, you’ll know that turkey taco stuffed peppers have been one of my favorite healthier meals to make for the last year or so. I often make them once […]

The post My Favorite Turkey Taco Stuffed Peppers! appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

These turkey taco stuffed peppers are sponsored by Shady Brook Farms Turkey!

Welcome to one of my forever go-to dinners!

My favorite ground turkey taco stuffed peppers are the best weeknight meal! The turkey is flavorful and juicy. The peppers are deliciously roasted. Yum!

If you’ve been following along on instagram, you’ll know that turkey taco stuffed peppers have been one of my favorite healthier meals to make for the last year or so. I often make them once a week because we love them so much. They are by far my most instagramm-ed recipe and you guys are always asking for an actual written recipe! So here we are. 

bell peppers ready for roasting

This recipe is going to check all the boxes.

It’s ridiculously flavorful.

You can make it ahead of time!

It’s super satisfying.

And the leftovers are wonderful. 

Plus, it’s good for us and makes for a fabulous healthy meal.

ground turkey taco meat

With the start of the new year comes the search for new, exciting healthy recipes that don’t bore us to tears. I’m right there with you! So, I wanted to share one of mine, with lots of tips and tricks.

I’m super excited to be partnering with Shady Brook Farms to share a few turkey recipes with you this month! Ground turkey is a staple on our shopping list every single week and I have tons of delish ideas up my sleeve. I love their turkey for so many reasons – including that they come from independent family farms and are raised without growth-promoting hormones and antibiotics. 

And what I really love about their ground turkey is that they offer multiple lean points, including my personal favorite 93% lean. Over the last decade or so, I have found that this is KEY to enjoy ground turkey. At 93% lean, there is still enough fat for it to taste fantastic and seamlessly replace ground beef in most recipes. 

The Shady Brook Farms turkey tastes so, so good, is juicy and flavorful and can be used to replicate most of your favorite recipes that use ground meat. 

My favorite ground turkey taco stuffed peppers are the best weeknight meal! The turkey is flavorful and juicy. The peppers are deliciously roasted. Yum!

Now for the peppers?

Oooh they are a dream. 

When I say I make these once a week… they are a legit staple in my kitchen. Eddie loves them. The kids love them. I adore them. 

My favorite ground turkey taco stuffed peppers are the best weeknight meal! The turkey is flavorful and juicy. The peppers are deliciously roasted. Yum!

My secret to making these fabulous is to roast the peppers in the oven while you cook the turkey. This adds an extra element of flavor, sweetness and caramelization to the peppers that just doesn’t happen when you roast everything together. The flavors work overtime – you roast the peppers while you make the turkey, then everything comes together quickly!

I use my favorite homemade spice blend to make the ground turkey taco meat. You guys will love it and once you’ve made it, it’s super easy and you won’t  reach for a taco seasoning packet again. 

My favorite ground turkey taco stuffed peppers are the best weeknight meal! The turkey is flavorful and juicy. The peppers are deliciously roasted. Yum!

Unbelievably, I don’t NEED cheese on these. If you’d like to add a sprinkling of cheddar to the top, go for it. It does make them extra delicious. But I can honestly say this is one of the ONLY recipes I enjoy without cheese too. They are so flavorful that you really don’t need it! If anything, I like to sprinkle some cotija cheese on top. Or even crush a tortilla chip or two and sprinkle it over the peppers. 

It will come as a shock to exactly no one that what I do love on top is guac! Give me alllll the guac. Or, just a dollop on each pepper and we’re good to go! 

My favorite ground turkey taco stuffed peppers are the best weeknight meal! The turkey is flavorful and juicy. The peppers are deliciously roasted. Yum!

Turkey Taco Stuffed Peppers

Turkey Taco Stuffed Peppers

My favorite ground turkey taco stuffed peppers are the best weeknight meal! The turkey is flavorful and juicy. The peppers are deliciously roasted. Yum!

  • 4 bell peppers, (sliced in half lengthwise, seeds removed)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 bell pepper, (diced)
  • 1 shallot, (diced)
  • 1 pound Shady Brook Farms 93% ground turkey
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
  • shredded sharp cheddar cheese, (freshly grated (optional if you wish))
  • guacamole for serving
  • taco sauce or salsa for drizzling
  • fresh cilantro for serving
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Brush the peppers (inside and outsides) with the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt, pepper and garlic powder. Place the peppers on a baking sheet and roast for 15 to 20 minutes.
  2. While the peppers are roasting, make the turkey taco meat. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the diced peppers, shallot and garlic with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add in the ground turkey, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon. Season it with the cumin, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir well, continuing to break apart the meat into small crumbles. Cook until the turkey has browned.
  4. Add the water and flour to a shaker bottle and shake for 30 seconds. Pour the mixture into the tacos, stirring well and cooking for another 5 to 6 minutes, until saucy.
  5. Remove the peppers from the oven. Fill the peppers with the turkey taco mixture.

My favorite ground turkey taco stuffed peppers are the best weeknight meal! The turkey is flavorful and juicy. The peppers are deliciously roasted. Yum!

Make me the happiest.

The post My Favorite Turkey Taco Stuffed Peppers! appeared first on How Sweet Eats.