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Fish Tacos
Updated April 4, 2024
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- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 2medium tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
- 1small red onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 1clove garlic, minced
- ½cup roughly chopped cilantro
- 1jalapeño, halved lengthwise, seeded and cut crosswise into half moons (optional)
- ¼cup mayonnaise
- ½cup sour cream
- 2limes, 1 halved and 1 cut into wedges
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1tablespoon canned chipotle pepper, finely chopped (optional)
- ½cup flour, preferably Wondra or other fine-milled flour
- 1½teaspoons chili powder
- ½cup milk
- ¼cup peanut oil, plus a splash more for greasing pan
- Pat of butter
- 1pound flounder or any firm white-fleshed fish, cut across the grain of the flesh into strips about ½ inch wide by 3 inches long
- 126-inch fresh corn tortillas
- 2cups shredded green cabbage
- A saucy hot sauce, like Tapatio or Frank’s
Preparation
- Step 1
In a medium bowl, combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic, cilantro and jalapeño (if using).
- Step 2
In a small bowl, whisk the mayonnaise and sour cream until combined. Season to taste with the halved lime, salt, pepper and chipotle (if using).
- Step 3
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, chili powder and 1½ teaspoons each of kosher salt and black pepper. Pour the milk into another medium bowl, and place the fish into it.
- Step 4
Pour ¼ cup of the peanut oil into a 12-inch frying pan and place over medium-high heat until it shimmers and is about to smoke. Remove the fish pieces from the milk bath and dredge them lightly through the flour mixture, shaking to remove excess. Add the butter to the pan. Place some fish pieces in the oil, without crowding them, and cook until deep golden brown on one side, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn carefully and cook for 1 minute more. Remove to a warmed, paper-towel-lined plate and sprinkle with salt. Repeat with the remaining fish.
- Step 5
Meanwhile, lightly grease a skillet with a drizzle of oil and set over medium heat. Heat the tortillas, one or two at a time, until they are soft and hot. Keep them warm, wrapped in a dish towel.
- Step 6
Fill each tortilla with 3 pieces of fish, browned side up, followed by tomato salsa and a pinch of cabbage. Drizzle with the cream sauce. Serve 2 to 3 tacos per person, with lime wedges and hot sauce on the side.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
I always bake rather than fry fish for tacos. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush fish strips with oil and roll lightly in panko. Bake on a lightly-greased sheet pan until just firm. Should take 7-14 minutes, depending on type and thickness of fish. Much less messy, fewer calories, and we prefer the taste.
Amazing. The chipotle sauce was the crown-jewel of the lunch my brother & I put together for our grandparents. I used Greek yogurt instead of the sour cream, cut in a couple of extra chipotles, and we almost ran out.
I would double the tomato / cilantro / red onion combo as well.
And serve with a bowl of chopped avocado.
This is a family favorite. I usually make it with tilapia, which I sometimes bake (brush with olive oil and chipotle pepper, bake about 12 minutes at 350, squeeze with lime). I also add the juice of half a lime to the salsa.
This is the core recipe I use for our fun fish taco buffet. We cook the fish and put out a selection of warmed corn and whole grain tortillas along with the fillings listed here and let people design and build their own fish tacos. I also include shredded lettuce, slivered sweet onions, olives, pickled jalepenos, cucumbers, and carrots, salsas, shredded cheese, chopped avocado, and a Tzatziki sauce and let people create their own. Not authentic, but everyone loves this interactive meal.
If you slice an onion, marinate it in olive oil and a teaspoon of dried oregano for 24 hours, delicious. From Ensenada BC México, the birthplace of fish tacos
I've made this several times and followed the recipe exactly. Guests go bonkers over this dish and it's truly terrific. Shredding, cutting, chopping, seeding, preparing various components of this dish and then assembling the tacos takes not 30 but rather 45-55 minutes start to finish. Be prepared to spend that much time on it.
We use Mexican crema instead of sour cream.
Here's a nice trick. Go ahead and use thinner fillets. Dredge and brown ONLY ONE SIDE. The fish will still cook though and it will be PERFECTLY done. Learned this trick for veal scallopine from America's Test Kitchen. Genius!
Made this with fresh north atlantic pollock from our fish co-op, pretty much as written except for:
-We have the cilantro=soap gene so we generously used flat leaf parsley instead
-Mixed most of the white sauce with shredded savoy cabbage to make a slaw, saved some sauce for separate topping
-In deference to sensitive palates, used can of chopped green chilis and made siracha and other sauces available for those who like the heat
-Added avocado
This is now our favorite way to make fish tacos.
Excellent - made with cod. Used cornmeal instead of flour. Skipped the chipotle but definitely needed the hot sauce. To save time, you could use a quality store-bought salsa instead of making the one in the recipe.
Made these exactly except we used flour totillas. Don't change a thing. These are better than any tacos I've had a nice restaurants in Chicago charging $6 each for a small one. The Chipotle sauce just seals the deal on top. All 6 dinner guests loved them. I used Cod for the fish. Yet another perfect recipe from NYT that's ruining my ability to enjoy food at restaurants. Why go out when you can make delicious food like this at home?
Make a little extra Pico De Gallo & add a mashed avacado for some quick guacamole to add. I broil the fish after squeezing a lime or two over the fish and dusting it with a decent chili powder and sea salt. Some lime juice to the sourcream "sauce" adds a little brightness as well.
Simply outstanding recipe. We used fresh halibut from the local fishmonger and followed the recipe to a T. We opted for no chipotle or jalapeño but were still impressed by the complexity and depth of flavor. A late summer night dinner of fish tacos with a corona is truly heavenly. Don't look any further for a fish taco recipe and don't skimp on any of the preparations!
I coat fish with rice flour. It seems to be crisper. To save steps I make a slaw with red and/or white cabbage dressed with a combination of 1/2 cup mayonnaise, juice of half a lime and as much of the canned chipotle (finely chopped) and its adobo sauce as you like. In addition to any or all of the garnishes listed above I add thinly sliced radishes. Instead of tortillas, I use lettuce (iceberg works well.) Given the heat from the chipotle and adobo the jalapinos are superfluous.
Made it for the family last night. Huge hit. Used cod. The killer was the salsa, which reminded them of trips to Mexico and not at all of jars from the store.
First time making fish tacos and these came out amazing! Served it with a corn salad and it was a great dinner.
Sam comes through AGAIN!! Worked perfectly just as written. A little labor intensive on the frying. I think next time I will use my fryer. Get the prep done ahead and this could be a good dinner with friends.
Silly me,I used corn meal because I didn't have flour, tasted great but fell apart in the pan. Otherwise, excellent flavor! Yogurt or Labne rather than sour cream in my world.
The seasoning for the flounder was delicious and the pico was amazing The only thing I would change is the tortillas They kept ripping and made the tacos hard to eat
I thought this was delicious and I used the earlier suggestion of baking the fish (I used black sea bass) coated in panko instead of frying it. But I also think it's a very messy meal to eat and my husband and I both said we would have been just as happy with baked or sautéed sea bass paired with a side of cole slaw and the lovely creamy chipotle sauce from this recipe.
Make sure the fish doesn’t have allot of water on it- pat it dry with paper towels. I used corn tortillas but I bet street tacos (tortillas) would be better.
Yummy, mayo/sour cream made with lime, salt, pepper, mix of smoked paprika and cayenne, and used firm regular lettuce may be better with shredded cabbage- lightly pickled (or not)
Wonderful and a huge hit! The only change I made was I massaged the cabbage with fresh lime juice and added some salt and sugar for tangy Baja slaw. I also tried 2 difference flours .. rice flour and normal AP flour…they both were good.
My favorite fish taco recipe! That chipotle in adobo puts the tacos over the top--thank you Sam!! PS, I do confess to using a bit more adobo than the recipe calls for...love, love, love!
We didn’t have the sour cream on hand, so we used Best Foods Spicy Mayo. Excellent, especially the fish.
This recipe deserves 5 stars plus ! Easy , delicious, & healthy. It has become our staple dish for our family meals since we discovered this recipe over three years ago. Amazing.
Made as directed. Only difference was to add avocado to the toppings at the end. Absolutely delicious! My son has made many different fish taco recipes and we agreed this one is the best! The chipotle crema is out of this world delicious! Will definitely make again
I made this last evening and twas quite good. To save a little energy I used a storebought crema which was not terrible. Reading here, I can see I must do this again and make the cream sauce. I used tilapia as that's what I had on hand. Will look forward to trying flounder. Lastly, served as a bowl not a taco. Build it over brown and wild rice. Leftovers will find the tortilla.
I fry the tortillas in a neutral oil until a bit stiffened, dust with parmesan reggiano. I also add more adobo sauce to the mayo/crema sauce.
Great recipe, but had trouble getting the breading to stick to the fish when flipping. Any tips? (Hotter temp, double dredge, modifications to recipe, etc,)
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