This fast and flavorful fish tacos recipe is the perfect quick lunch or dinner.
Seasoned fish fillets are baked, flaked, and then tucked into tortillas with your favorite toppings and a drizzle of taco sauce.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Baked and not fried, these fish tacos are fresh and flavorful with a mild white fish and simple homemade rub. We love to serve these with the easy taco sauce below.
- Difficulty: Simple toppings and a little oven time are all you need for resort-style fish tacos.
- Technique: The fish is baked until flaky but can also be grilled.
- Swaps: Any white fish can be used in this recipe.
- Time-Saving Tip: The homemade taco seasoning mix can be replaced with a packet of taco seasoning.
- Leftovers: Stretch leftovers further by making fish taco bowls!
Ingredient Tips for Fish Tacos
- Fish: I use cod in this recipe, but any white fish like halibut, haddock, or tilapia will work. Frozen fish should be thawed and patted dry so the seasonings will adhere.
- Seasonings: The rub for these fish tacos is a flavorful blend of paprika, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne, salt, and pepper. You can also use a packet or homemade taco seasoning.
- Sauce: The fish taco sauce is a rich and tangy addition and needs few ingredients. Fresh lime juice is recommended.
- Tortillas: Corn or flour tortillas work for fish tacos, so gently warm them before filling them so they don’t crack.
Variations
- Seasoning: Season the fish fillets with a blackened seasoning or a Cajun flavor.
- Onion slaw: Make a quick cabbage onion slaw by combining a cup of shredded cabbage, ½ thinly sliced sweet white onion, 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, 1/3 cup sour cream, 2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice, and one seeded and chopped jalapeno pepper.
How to Make Fish Tacos
- Prepare the fish: Pat fish dry and rub with homemade spice mixture.
- Bake: Bake the fish in the oven (full recipe below).
- Prepare the toppings: Chop and prepare desired taco toppings.
- Enjoy! Assemble and serve tacos once the fish and toppings are ready.
Fish Taco Toppings
- Guacamole and Pico de Gallo add fresh flavor.
- Pineapple or mango salsa also pair beautifully with fish.
- Add some Cotija cheese, shredded cheddar, or Monterey Jack.
- Serve with lime wedges and fish taco sauce.
Leftovers?
Store leftover fish from the tortillas and other ingredients in a covered container for up to 2 days. Use leftover fish in a cold wrap, on top of a salad, or reheat portions in the microwave and build new tacos with toppings and add-ins.
More Easy Taco Recipes
Did you enjoy this Fish Tacos Recipe? Leave a comment and rating below.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds cod fillets or tilapia,haddock, or halibut
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Seasoning Rub
- 1 tablespoon chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
Tacos
- 8 corn tortillas or flour tortillas, 6-inch
- 1 avocado sliced
- 1 lime wedged
Fish Taco Sauce (optional)
- 3 tablespoons sour cream
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- ½ lime juiced
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon sriracha or to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Fish Taco Sauce
- Combine sour cream, mayonnaise, lime, garlic powder, cumin, and sriracha in a small bowl (if making) and refrigerate until serving.
Seasoning Rub
- In a small bowl, mix the chili powder, paprika, oregano, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, and salt.
- Dab the fish fillets dry with a paper towel and drizzle with olive oil. Rub the seasoning mix over all sides of the fish.
- Bake on a rimmed baking sheet for 10-15 minutes* or until flaky and heated to 145℉.
- Heat tortillas according to package directions.
- Use a fork to break the fish into large chunks. Divide the fish pieces among the tortillas and add toppings as desired.
Notes
Spice Rub: Substitute the rub above with our own favorite rub, cajun, or blackened seasoning.
Cabbage Onion Slaw: Combine 1 cup shredded cabbage, ½ sweet white onion, thinly sliced, 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, ⅓ cup sour cream (or Greek yogurt), 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, and 1 jalapeño pepper seeded & chopped.
Keep an eye on your fish. Thinner pieces of fish will cook faster.
Leftover fish can be refrigerated for 2 days. Fish should be stored and reheated separately from the tortillas.
Nutritional information includes 1 fish taco in a corn tortilla. Toppings are not included in nutritional information.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 163 | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 5g | Sodium: 348mg | Potassium: 174mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 875IU | Vitamin C: 4.9mg | Calcium: 62mg | Iron: 1.6mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner, Fish, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine American, Mexican© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Awesome Recipe I am your blog’s biggest fan.
This.recipe uses everything I.have in my kitchen.I like that.
I hope you enjoy it Marie!
This was a perfect week day healthy meal. The rub was delicious but it could be substituted with taco or blackening seasoning if you did not feel like pulling out all of those spices. I used my own coleslaw, I kept the jalapeño and cilantro on the side. The fish sauce was AMAZING! You must try it! ENJOY!
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe Maria!
Yummy Yummy Yummy and very easy. Thank you
We agree Cathy, these fish tacos are yummy and easy to make!
I made this last week and about the only mod I did was to use hot paprika. The rub was fantastic my wife and I ate a 1.3 lb cod filet, and she only had barely enough for her lunch the next day. Hands down my favorite go to fish taco recipe from now on.
I forgot to mention, this was also the easiest recipe to follow and clean up was a breeze..bonus
Yay! So glad it was a hit for you Dennis… and even better when the clean up is easy!
Awesome post, thanks you so much for sharing.
We loved everything about this recipe! We used leftover mahi mahi from the previous night and just warmed it up in the skillet with the spice rub….worked perfectly! For the lime sauce (which was awesome!), we didn’t have shiracha sauce, so I added about 1/8 t. of cayenne and could’ve added more. We used iceberg lettuce instead of cabbage and it added just the right amount of crunch. A little onion and tomatoes along with cilantro and YUM!! This is going on our regular rotation. Thank you!
Yay Beth, so glad you loved this as much as we did!
Loved this! My fish of choice was halibut and salmon (yes, salmon works) because that is what we caught and had in the freezer. I went light on the rub because the fish was, well, wild caught. The sauce is awesome!! I didn’t do the slaw but I did use finely shredded cabbage for crunch.
So glad you enjoyed it Terri, thanks for letting us know how to works out with salmon!
This recipe was Awesome! My family loved the great flavors. The cabbage and taco sauce sealed the deal Will be making again, Thanks for a Great easy recipe.
So glad you loved it Carrie!
My daughter and I tried your recipe for easy and quick tacos. We both loved them. It was exactly as you labeled it, “Quick & Easy” The sauce was delicious, much better than plain sour cream. We will definetly make this again! I also look forward to trying some of your other recipes too. You get 2 thumbs up or should I say 4? ;)
LOL! Thank you for the 4 thumbs up ladies ;) So glad you loved these as much as I do!
Made these tonight – so easy and incredibly delicious!!
So glad you enjoyed them Greg!
I am not a skilled cook so I couldn’t believe how well this turned out. It really was an “Easy Fish Taco Recipe,” which is exactly what I Googled to find it.
Thank you!
I”m so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Made these tonight and they tasted just like a restaurant’s fish tacos that we love! My husband ate and ate…and was silent. Says a lot since he talks all the time! We loved them! Thank you!
Awesome, so glad your family loved these Dee! :)
I made this tonight and it was delicious!! Would definitely make again. The fish sauce was yummy on the tacos and I made a Normal cole slaw to put on top. Rub was great on the tilapia super easy to throw together. I’ve made a couple of your recipes and have enjoyed everything. Next on our list to make is beef stroganoff and the herb crusted salmon!
Thank you Kristin. I’m sure you’ll love the stroganoff and salmon too!
I am so allergic to fish of any kind. Wish I could figure something out without fish. Maybe deep fried avocado? Something like that.
You could use the same seasonings for either chicken (it will need to cook a bit longer) or shrimp if you can have it.
Tacos is my favorite food!! :-)
My husband likes the fish tacos, i never tried it before. was looking for a recipe, this one looks easy.
My husband has been looking for a fish taco recipe with slaw to try. Going to try this one out. Thanks
I have never tried fish tacos but these sound interesting
Oh that looks delicious. My family loves fish tacos but ours are a little boring. Your recipe is one that I’m going to try soon!