The Ultimate Fish Taco: Fried, Grilled and Seared

Everyone in the whole world likes to eat fish tacos. Any way you dish them– fried, grilled or seared, fish tacos are a staple in any fisherman’s culinary arsenal. 

Fish tacos are also a great option for a large group or family dinner. They are even pretty amazing cooked on the boat before you even get back to the dock. Come to think of it, there are not many occasions for which fish tacos are not well suited.

This article provides three recipes to make great fish tacos at home… or on your boat… or wherever else you’d like to make them. We provide a sauce or side for each option, but don’t be intimidated. If you don’t feel like preparing these, you can just substitute your favorite store-bought salsa or slaw option.

One more thing: don’t be intimidated by the prospect of making these tacos. Once you buy the ingredients, making them is a straightforward proposition. Sure, you can find fish tacos can be as “gourmet” and complicated as you can imagine, but at the end of the day a fish taco can be as simple as wrapping a tortilla around a piece of fish.

What follows is three versions of our favorite fish taco—and how to make each one. Buen provecho!

About Chef Cosmo Goss

Chef Cosmo Goss is FishTravelEat’s food editor. A transcendent culinary talent, Goss loves fishing and cooking. In addition to running high profile restaurants across the US and Mexico, Goss works with the Zancudo Lodge in Costa Rica and with Bubba Blade.

For more on Cosmo’ takes on seafood, check out his extensive collection of FishTravelEat articles on such things as: The Perfect Fried Fish, the Perfect Grilled Fish, the Ultimate Guide to Redneck Sushi and Chef Cosmo Goss’ Fish Tricks.

Grilled Tacos

Grilled fish tacos are pretty easy as long as your grill is hot enough so the fish doesn’t stick. If you are nervous about your fish sticking, simply line the grill top with a couple layers of foil before lighting the grill. Foil not only ensures that the fish never sticks, but makes clean-ip a breeze too. Just roll the foil off the grill and toss it.

Grilled tacos are a great option for camping or even on the boat—they don’t take much time or prep to bring together and they’re always a crowd pleaser, too. You can even sub store bought pico de gallo for this, if you don’t want to make your own.

Snapper for grilled tacos is good because its firm and doesn’t flake as much as some other fish. It won’t fall apart when you take if off the grill. However, just about any good tasting fish will work with this recipe.

Grilled Snapper Tacos 
with avocado and creamy pico de gallo
makes about 10-12 tacos  

Ingredients:

• Snapper fillet (we recommend a fillet of between 1.25 and 1.5 pounds) cut into 1.5 to 2oz strips (skin off). We like to use bigger pieces than the fried and seared tacos– this makes them easier to handle on the grill
• 1 recipe fish taco marinade (recipe below)
• 1.5 cups creamy pico de gallo (récipe below)
• 1 avocado (sliced thin)
• salt  
• pepper 
• rice bran oil (or other high heat oil)
• 3 limes cut into wedges 
• cilantro (chopped)
• 10-15 tortillas (corn or flour) 
• hot sauce (optional)

Process:

1. Start by marinating the snapper strips in the marinade for at least 1 hour—recipe below.
2. Next grill the strips over a medium hot grill in batches. Grill about 1-2 minutes per side– until just cooked through. You want to do batches so you don’t over crowd the grill or over cook the fish.
3. Once grilled place on a rack or plate to rest.  Heat the tortillas on the grill and place a piece or two of grilled fish in the tortilla. Top each taco with pico de gallo and sliced avocado. Finish with a little chopped cilantro and add hot sauce if desired and serve with lime wedges.

For the marinade

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons garlic (slivered)
• 1/4 cup shallots slivered)
• 1 tablespoon ginger (grated)
• 1 jalapeño (cut in thin rings)
• 1/2 lemon (juice & zest)
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine)
• 2 tablespoons cilantro (chopped)

Process:
Measure and chop everything and mix in a bowl.

For the Creamy Pico de Gallo 
makes about 2 cups

Ingredients:  

• 5 tomatoes (seeds/guts removed and diced) 
• 1/3 cup Hellmans mayonaise
• 1 jalapeno (seeded and minced) 
• 1/3 cup diced red onion 
• 1/2 bunch cilantro (chopped) 
• 1 lemon (juice) 
• 1 lime (juice) 
• 2 tablespoons sugar 
• 1tablespoons fish sauce 
• salt 

Process:

Mix everything together in a bowl, taste and season with salt. This should stay good in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Seared Tacos

Seared fish tacos are usually a good place to start for someone who has never made fish tacos before. You don’t need to light and watch the grill or wait for a vat of oil to get perfectly hot to fry them. For this option, all you need is a pan and a stove.

The key with these tacos is to put enough oil in the pan. You want to have a thin layer of oil covering the entire surface of the pan. This way nothing will get stuck or dry up and burn.

We use rockfish in this recipe, it is a super delicious, white and very flaky fish that cooks up nice and fast. You can use more flaky fish when searing fish tacos because it’s easy to be gentle with it while it cooks. It’s even okay if the fish breaks up a little in the pan you can use a spoon or spatula to remove it easily.

Actually, most fish will work with this recipe too.

Rockfish Tacos
with pineapple salsa & shredded lettuce
makes about 10-12 tacos

Ingredients:

• 1.25-1.50 pound  fillet cut into 1 to 1.5 oz strips
• 1 cup corn starch
• 1 avocado (cut into thin slices)
• 2.5 cups pineapple  salsa (recipe below)
• 2 cups ice berg lettuce (shredded)
• 3 limes cut into wedges
• 10-15 tortillas (corn or flour) 
• rice bran oil for cooking (or any other high heat oil)
• salt

Process:

1. In a large saute pan or wide shallow pot, heat about two tablespoons of rice bran oil over medium high heat.
2. Season the rockfish with salt and toss in a bowl with the cornstarch. Dust off any excess cornstarch.
3. Once the oil is just starting to smoke, add fish and sear the pieces off in batches. Cook the fish strips until they are golden brown on both sides and cooked fully. It should about 1-2 minutes per side.
4. Once done, remove and place the fish pieces on a paper towel to get rid of any extra oil.
5. Heat the tortillas and smear about 2 teaspoons of aioli onto each tortilla.
6. Next place a couple pieces of fish in each tortilla.
7. Top each taco some sliced avocado, pineapple salsa and shredded lettuce. Serve with lime wedges and your favorite salsa.

Pineapple salsa
makes about 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

• 2 cups grilled diced pineapple
• 3 jalapeno (grilled until burnt on all sides and chopped into a paste)
• 1 lime juice & zest
• 2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 1/2 cup grilled diced red onion
• olive oil
• salt

Process:

Mix everything in a medium size mixing bowl and season with salt. It may need a kiss more vinegar depending on how sweet the pineapple is. This will stay good in the fridge for up to 5 days. 

Fried tacos

We save the best for last! For us, there is no better fish taco than the fried fish tacos of Baja.

According to legend, the Baja fish taco was invented in the seaside town of San Felipe on Mexico’s Baja peninsula. This wonderful concoction consists of battered and fried fish that is crispy on the outside and warm and flaky on the inside. Top that off with some crema, coleslaw and salsa and it’s a flavor combination that comes straight from Heaven.

Below is our take on a Baja style fish taco. We didn’t want to be too traditional because well…… we wouldn’t want to compete with the amazing taquerias in Baja– they’ll just do it better every time.

That said, if you want to bring some Baja style tacos into your house… this dog will hunt! Our version is damn tasty!  

We suggest mahi for this recipe, but it will work with with most fish aside from those that are super dense fish like swordfish and monkfish.

Mahi Tacos “Baja Style”
with spicy aioli & cole slaw
makes about 10-12 tacos 

Ingredients:  

• Mahi fillet of 1.25-1.5 pounds cut into 1 to 1-1/2oz strips
• 1 recipe fry batter (recipe below)
• 1/2 cup spicy aioli
• 2 cups cole slaw
• salt 
• pepper 
• 3ea limes cut into wedges
• 10-15 tortillas (corn or flour)
• 2 cups pico de gallo (optional)
• rice bran oil for frying (or any other high heat oil)

For the batter

Ingredients:

• One box corn starch
• 1 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 cup AP flour
• One teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups seltzer water
• 1 cup vodka
• 1 egg

Process:

Whisk everything together in mixing bowl. This should stay good in the fridge for up to 5 hours. If you store the batter in the fridge for some time before using it, you may need to re-whisk it right before use. This will make sure it is the right consistency.

*Note as you fry the fish you may need to add additional soda water if the batter starts to get to thick or additional cornstarch if it starts to get too thin. 

Now it’s time to fry the fish.

Process:

1. In a deep sided saute pan or shallow pot heat about 1 inch of rice bran oil to about 350 degrees.
2. Ahead of time season the slaw with salt, pepper, lime juice and olive oil.
3. Take the fish strips and dip into the batter, then into the oil.
4. Fry in batches until all sides are golden brown, about 3 minutes, strain from the oil and season with salt.
5. Heat the tortillas and smear about 2 teaspoons of aioli onto each tortilla.
6. Next place fried fish in the tortilla. Top each taco with cole slaw and pico de gallo(optional). serve with lime wedges and your favorite salsa.

For the Spicy Aioli
make about 1 cup 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Hellmans mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon chipotle puree
• 1teaspoon garlic powder 

Process:
Mix everything together in a bowl, taste and season with salt. this should stay good in the fridge for up to four weeks.  * Note for puree blend one can of chipotle peppers

For the cole slaw
makes about 2 cups 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups napa cabbage – shredded
• 1/2 cup fennel – shaved
• 1/4 cup red onion – slivered
• 1 tablespoon jalapeno – silvered rings
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped  

Process:
Mix all in bowl. This should stay good in the fridge for up to 3 days

For the Pico de Gallo
makes about 2 cups 

Ingredients:

• 5 tomatoes (seeds/guts removed and diced)
• 1 jalapeno (seeded and minced)
• 1/3 cup diced red onion
• 1/2 bunch cilantro (chopped)
• 1 lemon (juice)
• 1 lime (juice)
• 2 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• salt

Process:

Mix everything together in a bowl, taste and season with salt. This should stay good in the fridge for up to 4 days.