Did you ever get in one of those food craving moods where unless you get that one thing you’re craving, nothing will truly satisfy your taste buds? That was me a few weeks ago. I was craving fish tacos like it was my job. I mean I tried EVERYTHING I had in the house to satisfy that craving… except actual fish tacos but nothing worked. So why not make the fish tacos when I craved them? Well it was like -15F below and I didn’t want to be outside at all cause the air just hurt my face. But when it got down to even bacon not even making me happy (I know, right! Not even bacon! *shocked!*) I knew I had to break down and go venture out into the arctic tundra to get some fish.
Normally I have fish in the freezer but I had none and honestly kept forgetting to buy it. Plus truth be told I had so much crap in my freezers that I literally could not fit one more thing in it. I mean seriously, not even a block of butter! I’ve decided in my next house I will have a commercial stand up freezer and a commercial fridge. I need them in my life. Even though there is just the two of us, I need this. Honestly I think this type of obsessive/hoarding (though not really), can’t cook for just 2 people cooking stems from my childhood for multiple reasons. Due to how poor we were when we were able to stock up on a great sale at the store, we would… in bulk. We were that family that could seriously give Sam’s club a run for their money on stuff. Next factor in that Mom cooked for at least 8 people plus she always doubled the batch AND added in a few more servings into the recipe for drop-ins as that often happened as she was an awesome cook.
So while I’ve considerably curbed how much I cook and buy it’s actually hard at times to control myself when I see cans of veggies on sale for like .50 a can. Doesn’t everyone need 14 cans of spring peas at all times??? No? Well er um… you should. *wink*
But as I said, as I’ve gotten older I’ve had to re-teach myself on quantity. At first it was somewhat difficult to keep the same quality of the food while reducing the amount it made. Have you ever made a recipe and then tried to cut it in half the next time you made it only to have it not turn out? The worst is if the normal batch calls for one egg and you want to half it. It took me a while to figure out the best way to do this. To do this simply crack the egg in a cup, whisk until well combined and measure out half of it. The other half save or add to another dish.
Well FINALLY it got to the point where I actually had prime real estate in my freezers for some awesome fish so I could make these. It’s funny as when I told Mr. Fantabulous I was hitting up downtown fish market to get some fish he told me to not “buy the whole ocean” LOL Big Brat! This recipe I’ve been making for years as its honestly one of my favorites. It’s light, bright, packed with protein and seriously so flippin’ delicious. Okay fine, if you’re not a seafood lover then you won’t like it but I’m tellin’ you what guys, one bite and you’ll go nuts over this! See I buy “non-fishy” fish. I HATE fish that stinks. You can go with fresh fish or the pre-frozen stuff but make sure with that it’s literally just fish and nothing else (preservatives) has been added to it. And for the love of God, NO CANNED FISH… ever! *gag*
Well wait canned albacore is OK but I mean no canned salmon, crab or shrimp. That’s just nasty. Now since I don’t live by an ocean and there is not enough money in the world to eat fish that would come out of our Three Rivers here in Pittsburgh (sorry but you’re awesome city but I swear your fish glow!) I either am stuck buying frozen stuff at the seafood market or bagged frozen stuff. As luck would have it I managed to be at the right place at the right time when they were unloading a huge case of partially frozen cod loins. I actually prefer cod loins to cod fillets myself.
Do you know the difference between the loin and the fillet? A fillet is one side of the whole fish with the head, tail, guts, bones and skin removed. A loin is the middle third of the fillet – the thick bit. More often than none the loin is also boneless with the skin removed but that’s not always the case. It’s a heartier piece of fish that can stand up to being part of this taco. I hate it when you bit into a piece of fish and it’s almost “too flaky” and just falls apart. Not for me, when I make fish tacos I go with the fleshier parts of the fish as they add girth and stability.
As you can tell I kinda went nuts over taking photos for this shoot. The colors are vibrant and vivacious – just like the flavors in this dish! You could make the same dish using hard crunchy tacos but for me, that’s a textural no-no. This dish shouldn’t have crunch. The only crispness you should have is from the cabbage slaw. Speaking of, lemme tell you about this slaw. It’s SUPER simple and one of my favorites! It’s light and bright but has some great heat thanks to the minced jalapenos in it. It has that acidic twinge from the lime juice while the cool cilantro balances it all out.
Now I know there are you cilantro haters out there. Why you hate this luscious herb is beyond me as I think it’s one of the best ones out there however to each their own. You hate cilantro, I hate curry so sometimes rosemary. So as a for a substitute? You could try fresh chopped parsley in lieu of it though it may not give you that ‘cool crisp’ taste that only cilantro does. Play with the recipe and let me know what you come up with that works.
Next let’s dish about that Baja Cream Sauce. Okay seriously this stuff is lethal! It has some heat that you can totally tweak for your own taste buds. But the overall taste of it is EPIC! It’s cool, has some pinch to it, definitely some tang and just all around well-balanced beautiful flavor. This recipe does make a good bit of it so don’t limit it to just this recipe! Try it on shrimp (think po’boy), crab, tilapia burgers, shrimp burgers and so forth! Oh what’s even awesome is make up a bunch of fish and put the slaw and fish chunks on top of nachos and then drizzle this sauce on top. I did that with some creole shrimp and went NUTS over it! Like seriously I ate the entire plate that I used in a photo shoot!
Now the fish I kept pretty simple and kept out as many calories as possible. I’ve had fish tacos where the fish is deep-fried, batter dipped, etc but it’s just not the same for me. It needs to be grilled or pan seared. I personally find the breading adds too much weight to the dish and removes too much of the individual flavors in it. The breading on fish tends to muddle the different tastes. If you’re a hardcore fan of the breaded fish do me a favor and try it once, this recipe, without breading and frying. The flavors seem to become elevated when left ‘nekkid’.
Now this dish comes together pretty fast. The longest part is letting the cream sauce chill and the slaw marinate in the fridge. You want to give the slaw enough time for the flavors to saturate it while you need Baja cream sauce to marry into one harmonious blend. Once it was time to eat the overall cooking and assembly time took under 10 minutes. What’s funny is this is soooooooooooo not a Mr. Fantabulous type of dish. He says he’s not a big fish eater yet every time I make it he scarfs it up. Therefore when I made this dish I purposely made it the one day he was taking a nap. So yes I only made 2, the 2 you see on this plate. Once I finished up with the shoot I sat down and inhaled them. Well okay I could only eat one as my eyes were bigger than my stomach. I wrapped the other one up and set out to edit the photos.
As I was sitting at my desk editing the photos Mr. Sleepy Pants wandered into the office rubbing his eyes with one hand and his belly with the other which is universal sign language for “buddah needs food” LOL I smiled and told him to give me a few as I was just finishing up my most recent shoot. He looked at the pictures of these and immediately he woke up. “HEYYYYYYYYY what’s that?! How come I didn’t get any of that?! Where’s mine? Is there any left? I can’t believe you’re holding out on me!” Seriously he really is my man-child. I simply said “Honey you don’t like stuff like this and…” and then he interjected with “baby, I love everything you make… except that cast iron corn bread made with sawdust…” LOL sigh I can’t win.
So I went out to the kitchen, unwrapped the one I literally just put into the fridge and handed it to him. Then the big brat said “No, it’s okay I’m an afterthought. This is for you, not me. I’ll just eat a bowl of cereal or bread and water.” God love that man I swear. And don’t you know that big baby went and got something else to eat?! He was just messing with me and didn’t really want it. So while I can’t say he liked this dish I can say he loved the slaw and Baja cream sauce as I used them on a different recipe coming up.
But take my word for it! Whether it’s for Lent, Taco Tuesday or because you need it, you are going to LOVE these fish tacos!
PrintGrilled Fish Soft Tacos with Baja Cream Sauce
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Ingredients
Fish
- 2 pounds white fish cut into 4 ounce portions
- 2 Tbl lime juice
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 3 Tbl olive oil
- 8–12 8” round tortillas, warmed
Fish Taco Slaw
- 1 1/2 cups finely shredded green cabbage
- 1 1/2 cups finely shredded red cabbage
- 1 Tbl lime juice
- 2 tsp honey
- 1 medium shallot, minced (about 1 heaping Tbl)
- 2 tsp minced jalapeños
- 3 tsp chopped cilantro
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Baja Cream Sauce
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 3 Tbl lime juice
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 cup lightly packed cilantro leaves, minced
- 2 tsp sriracha sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp cayenne
- 1 1/2 tsp adobo sauce
- 1 tsp honey *optional
Additional Items
- Sliced avocado
- Chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Make the slaw by mixing all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Marinate for at least 30 minutes but no more than 8 hours. Taste and adjust seasoning (more salt if necessary).
- While the slaw is marinating make the Baja cream sauce by whisking all of the ingredients together in a bowl until well blended. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours. I actually put mine in a squeeze bottle (with a slightly larger opening).
- When you’re ready to eat, get your fish out. Heat oil in large grill pan or large skillet over med-high heat. Pat the fish dry and sprinkle both sides of fish with cumin, lime juice, salt and pepper.
- Place fish in hot oil (don’t crowd the pan do 2 batches if necessary) and cook for a couple of minutes. The edges will begin to turn white and the fish will move easily when it’s time to flip. *note the cooking time will vary based on how thick your fish is. Cook on the other side about 3 minutes. When the fish begins to flake easily remove them from the pan and place on a plate.
- To assemble place a warm tortilla on a plate. Place a few small slices of avocado on top. Next put a few heaping Tbls of the fish taco slaw. On top of that gently place 4 ounces of fish. To finish it off squirt on some of the Baja cream sauce and a few pinches of chopped cilantro.
Notes
This will make more than enough Baja sauce so save it and use it on other dishes!
Just made this!! But used beer batter. AHHMAYYZIIING!!! Slaw on point. Sauce on point! Fish seasoning.. ON POINT!! Thank you!! Made ladies night the best yet!! An all occasion kind of meal. Seduce your man kind of meal!
Ohhhh I love beer battered…anything!!! So happy you and the ladies loved this! And absolutely this sauce is seductive! Thank you so much for the kind words!!!
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Best Kitchen Wishes!
I have not made this sauce yet, but there is a place to get fresh fish in Pittsburgh. It’s called WOLLEY’S. It’s in the strip market. I think they might have what you want. Oh, I have seen the glowing fish too!
I am at Wholey’s often actually! Love them!
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Best Kitchen Wishes!
This looks AMAZING!! Making this for a crowd on Easter Sunday at the beach (11 adults 3 children under five) and was wondering if I should plan to double or even triple this recipe? Especially the sauce but. Thanks in advance!
Hi Elizabeth! I would triple it as it’s such a light recipe that folks may easily eat 3-4 tacos themselves. And that sauce does have some heat to it but you can easily control it add more/less adobo and sriracha to it. It’s such a great sauce that I make extra as I’ve found folks like to use it as a dip for chips even!
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This is such a delicious recipe. I absolutely love corn tortillas so I made this recipe using those and it was amazing! I have made this about 4 times and it is so easy to prepare ahead of time and it makes a lot of food. You don’t even need the mole of you don’t have it… it tastes delicious without. One day I will try this with the flour tortillas. 😉
Thank you so much Ally! I love both corn and flour tortillas so honestly I’m never without either of them in my house. If you want to try something new – grab a bag of Mission Street Tacos and make the recipe using them! OMG AMAZING1
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My husband had caught a few crokers. They were excellent in this recipe. The coating for the fish was perfect. He thought I had breaded them. I did not have a jalapeno pepper so I used about a tsp of polambo pepper. I did not have any adobo sauce, however the sauce was great. I am picking some up to add to the remainder today. The heat level with the cool cilantro was perfect. I also used soft flour shells.
My husband rated them at restaurant quality. Will definitely make again and again.
★★★★★
What’s grilled in this grilled fish taco recipe?
The fish – The recipe says to use a large grill pan or a large skillet if you do not have a grill pan.
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Slaw was a delightful addition to the tacos – so much better than just plain cabbage! And the sauce was definitely the cherry on top. Thanks for the recipes!
★★★★★
Thank you so much JJ! Yeah, that sauce is killer and one of my favorites.
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Sadly, my sauce came out so spicy I couldn’t even eat it and I followed the recipe to a T 🙁
Hey !
What kind of sure cream ? % of fate ?
Thanks
I used full fat sour cream. Not sure of the %, but heavy cream is usually about 35% in the States.
Hi John,
I use full fat all the time unless it’s stated to use low fat.
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Out of this WORLD! goodness!!!!!! family and friends loved them!
Yeah! Thank you so much Debora!
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These were delicious. Picked up some fresh haddock from local seafood market. When preparing the Baja sauce, divide it in two smaller bowls before adding chipotle. Then add a teaspoon to one half. Not everyone in my home enjoys chipotle. This will be great during Lent.
Yeah! I’m so happy you all loved it! Thank you so much!
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I made these last night and they were delicious! Love the Baja Cream sauce. Just curious as to how long it will keep in the fridge. Also wondering where the lime juice gets added to the fish recipe. I squirted some on top of the fish after it was cooked and that worked .
★★★★★
Hi Linda!
Oh I see I forgot to list when to use the Lime Juice. I add it when I put the salt/pepper/cumin on the fish but you can most certainly add it afterwards. I’m so happy you loved it! OMG I love that baja cream sauce too! I use it on so many things!
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The sauce was A+. I will admit, for the rest of the taco, a little bland, but I did omit the cumin from the fish. The slaw was tasty.
Kris,
You need to add the cumin with the salt, pepper and lime. I wanted to keep the flavors balanced as to not have one trump the other. Definitely give it a try with the cumin. And I’m so happy you loved the sauce!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Can you bake the fish?
Hi Stacy, absolutely!
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Hands down the best sauce ever.. thank you so much. I used to work for a California mexican restaurant that served the best fish tacos. I could never make the sauce quite right until now.
Absolutely love this recipe
★★★★★
Love these tacos! I am a fish hater, but when I was introduced to fish tacos in Florida, it changed my way of eating. The only thing I didn’t like was the slaw…it was missing something, very bland. But the Baja sauce….can I get an AMEN?? LOL….scrumptious! Will have to reformulate that slaw…but everything else, fabulous, dah-link! I rubbed my mahi-mahi with a homemade bbq rub, sweet and spicy, and though it was for pork, it worked out well for the fish. And the avocado was the crowning touch. I use barely ripe ones, still firm, so this was a delicious meal, served with Mexican rice. If I’d had a margarita or mojito, I’d have thought I died and went to heaven! Yeehaw!
★★★★★
I made this recipe this summer and it was fantastic. We ate the Baja sauce with EVERYTHING the next week (seriously,
as a dip for soy chicken nuggets and tortilla chips, as a topping on veggie burgers and regular burgers, I even ate it with a spoon…). The only thing I did different was blacken the fish because I had some “Emeril’s Essence” that needed to be used from a recipe I’d made a few months before. It was really nice with the creaminess of the Baja sauce and the tart crunchiness of the slaw. It was a huge hit and I’ll definitely make it again.
★★★★★
Hi Linda!
Thank you so much! I’m so happy you loved the recipe! Oh yeah I loved the blacken idea!
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Great recipe, and thank god for the thirty slightly-different angled pictures of the same two fish tacos or I would have forgotten what I was searching for during my five minute scroll down to the actual recipe.
★★★★
Love this, every flavor I love! Love fish tacos anyway will make again an again!
By the way….I have the same issue with my inside fridge and freezer, PLUS the full size side-by-side fridge and chest freezer in the garage. My husband is always complaining that he doesn’t have enough room in the freezer for the five bags of ice he wants to keep in there in case we have guests and run out of ice for cocktails! He hoards ice like I hoard sale priced pork, steaks, chicken and frozen vegis. But, with all that readily available food, we seem to always have folks stopping by right around dinner time, so I guess it makes perfect sense!
OK, I swear you must be my twin somehow! I read your blog and feel like I would be saying exactly the same thing! You love what I love, hate what I HATE (cilantro :), curry 🙁
Fish tacos are just like you said….you crave them and nothing will take their place…and grilled are the best!
I am making this recipe tomorrow night as I want my Baja sauce to “marry” for plenty of time. Will post my review on Friday…but I can’t believe it would be anything but “5 stars”. Everything else I have tried has been!
LOL My Twin!!!
I’d say the only thing where we’re difference is I love cilantro but hate curry. Oh that Baja sauce… I want a tub full of that! I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on it… my twinsie! 🙂
Best Kitchen Wishes!
No that was the smiley face vs the frowns face. I love love love cilantro but hate hate hate curry. Seems like every friend has told me I will love the Indian food place they go to but each time I try curry dishes I just want to wretch.
Made the tacos with Baja sauce Thursday night and they rocked. Gonna do shrimp next time but this time used swai which is my fav white fish. Nice and firm but not fishy smelling!!
Yum – thanks so much. Have a super-duper day and I hope you get your commercial size freezer.
You are most welcome Liz! Haha me too!
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★★★★★