This easy tilapia fish taco recipe with mango salsa is easy to make and the flavors in it is guaranteed to blow your mind.
Are you ready for taco dinner? Taco Tuesday doesn’t mean tacos are allowed only on Tuesdays right!? 30 minutes or less on the clock and you have the most delicious homemade tacos dinner to be served for dinner.
Blackened fish, mango salsa is cocooned inside warm grilled corn tortillas with a ridiculously easy, delicious to-die-for creamy white taco sauce all finished with tangy lime drizzle.
And bonus – you can prep almost all the ingredients ahead and refrigerate beforehand. This makes it a perfect week night dinner or for party gatherings.
Tacos are truly the BEST Mexican food ever. Not just they are fast and fresh, but are highly customizable. Layering the tacos is the best and the fun part of this dish.
Gather family and friends around the dinner table, allow them to build and layer their own tacos as per their taste and preference. Isn’t that the best!
This week we posted mango salsa recipe on the blog and you guys loved it so much. I’m sure you will love this fish taco recipe too as much.
Let me tell you shooting this fish tacos with mango salsa was torturing. I mean to keep my hands off these delicious fish tacos was HARD!
I look forward to dinner time when such delicious fish tacos are on the table. I did gobble up a few right away after I completed the shoot, much before dinner time and I was so hungry for tacos during dinner!
Ate as many tacos as I could and I feel content without the guilty feeling. These fish tacos are as healthy as a taco could be. And it’s gluten free too. We used corn tortillas, fresh fruity mango salsa and blackened fish (with just 1 tablespoon olive oil).
Look at the riot of colors on these tilapia fish tacos. If that doesn’t blow your mind, I don’t know what will! You need few minutes to cook the fish, it took me 10 minutes (leaving aside the resting time for fish to marinate). The fresh and vibrant mango salsa was to die for. And the crunch from purple cabbage balanced out the whole dish pretty well.
Let’s talk about the fish taco sauce we made here – nothing fancy, but so so delicious. Sometimes simple things are all you need in your life! Exactly like this simple, easy to make creamy white fish taco sauce. It’s sour cream, mayonnaise, ground cumin(optional), garlic powder, lime juice, salt and a hint of paprika. Simple, the BEST fish taco recipe according to me.
The creaminess of this fish taco sauce is all you need on all your tacos. Use generous drizzle of this ridiculously simple fish taco sauce on your tacos. And take our advise – make double quantity of this fish taco sauce, because it’s never gonna be enough of it left over.
I have (blackened) tilapia fish on a skillet to keep it healthy. I’m a sucker for all grilled fish recipes. Go ahead and fry the fish in oil (deep frying) if you don’t mind the calories.
I confess it’s hard to resist crispy deep fried fish tacos. Make sure to coat the fish in batter before deep frying. The truly traditional fish tacos you find on the streets on Mexico are mostly deep fried.
True all things deep fried are great in taste. But when you have killer marinade that is packed with flavors and a ridiculously delicious (read to-die-for) taco sauce, you know your tacos are simply terrific.
And when we can keep a dish healthy and terrific tasting without deep frying then why deep fry? Why go for those extra calories?
Which Fish Is Best For Fish Taco Recipe
We have used tilapia fish. But you can use any firm white fish like
- Whether snapper
- mahi mahi
- grouper
- flounder
- halibut
- cod
- or salmon too.
Ingredients For Fish Taco
Marinade for fish taco –
The ingredients used for fish taco marinade are most commonly use pantry spices. This spice rub is full of flavors.
To make the fish taco marinade in a bowl whisk – 1 tablespoon smoked paprika, 2 teaspoon chili powder, 2 tablespoon garlic powder, 1 tablespoon cumin powder, 1 tablespoon Italian herbs, salt to taste, 2 tablespoon olive oil, 1 ½ tablespoon low sodium light soy sauce, 3 tablespoon lime juice.
How to Make Fish Tacos With Tilapia
Blackening the fish –
Whisk together all the marinade ingredients. Rub the marinade on tilapia fish fillets until well coated on all the sides. Let the fish rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Heat a skillet on medium high flame. Pour olive oil (and some butter if you like, we skipped butter) to the skillet. Place the fish fillets and cook until blackened on both sides(cooked well on both sides). Remove the pan from flame and shred the fish fillets into finger length pieces.
Assemble the tacos –
Warm corn tortillas on a skillet or grill for few seconds on both sides. Place fish fillets, spoon in little mango salsa or any salsa of your choice. Sprinkle shredded purple cabbage. Add few pieces of avocados too.
Finally drizzle creamy fish taco sauce, lime juice and sprinkle fresh cilantro.
How To Make Fish Taco Sauce
To make the best and simple fish taco add ½ cup sour cream, ½ cup mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon cumin powder, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon paprika, salt to taste and 1 teaspoon lime juice in a small bowl. Whisk it well until combined well.
What Toppings To Use on Fish Taco
Go crazy with toppings of your choice for these fish tacos. Almost any ingredient can be added as per your choice.
This is our toppings –
- Shredded red cabbage slaw
- Fresh Mango Salsa
- Fish taco sauce
- Cilantro
You could also use these –
- Thinly sliced avocado slices
- Thinly sliced red onions
- Sliced tomaotes
- Cotija cheese
- Lettuce leaves
DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUR OTHER MEXICAN FAVORITES
Chioptle’s Copycat Cilantro Lime Rice
Creamy Chipotle Chicken Recipe
Mexican Grilled Corn
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Easy Tilapia Fish Taco Recipe with Mango Salsa
Ingredients
- 8 corn tortillas
For fish marinade
- 1 lbs fillets of tilapia fish (or haddock or cod)
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoon chili powder
- 2 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon cumin powder
- 1 tablespoon Italian herbs
- Salt to taste
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoon low sodium light soy sauce
- 3 tablespoon lime juice
To cook
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Topping/Garnish
- Shredded purple cabbage slaw
- Mango Salsa
- Fresh cilantro
- Lime juice
For fish taco sauce
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder (optional)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- Pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
Instructions
Marinade fish –
- Whisk all the ingredients mentioned under the list for fish marinade. Rub the marinade all over tilapia fish and let the fish rest for 30 minutes on room temperature.
Cooking fish -
- Heat a skillet on medium high flame. Pour olive oil (and some butter if you like, we skipped butter) to the skillet.
- Place the fish fillets and cook until blackened on both sides (cooked well on both sides). Remove the pan from flame and shred the fish fillets into finger length pieces.
Assemble the tacos –
- Warm corn tortillas on a skillet or grill for few seconds on both sides. Place fish fillets, spoon in little mango salsa or any salsa of your choice. Top with some shredded red cabbage slaw (or use plain red cabbage). Add few pieces of avocados too if you prefer.
- Finally drizzles creamy fish taco sauce, lime juice and sprinkle fresh cilantro.
- Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a photo and hashtag it #currytrail on instagram. I’d love to see what you cook!
Comments & Reviews
Ajay Khatik says
fish is my favorite dish and given by you the most useful article and in quarantine time. i will try once in this time for making this lovely dish.
Alisha Rodrigues says
These fish taco’s look so colorful with all those bright colors popping up. Love the combination of ingredients you’ve selected. Just perfect !!
jyothirajesh says
Thank you Alisha
Karly says
This looks good! Definitely blows my mind for sure!
jyothirajesh says
Thank you Karly
Edyta at Innocent Delight says
I love fish tacos and this marinade really looks fantastic. I will have to try it for my next Taco Tuesday :0
jyothirajesh says
Thank you Edyta. Hope you enjoy these tacos as much as we did
Jill says
Fish tacos are some of my favorite kind of tacos. I just wish I could get the rest of my family to agree with me on this so I could make them at home instead of ordering them out! Yours look delicious!
jyothirajesh says
Thanks Jill. Oh I know that feeling. So many things my family disagrees with me as well 😀 Story of our life!
Angela Paris says
I love fish tacos and these look so yummy!
Following you on Pinterest now and can’t wait to see what recipe you share next!
jyothirajesh says
Thank you Angela. That is really sweet of you!
Swati says
Absolutely loved the recipe Jyothi ! Really tempted to try this out soon
jyothirajesh says
Thanks Swati
Dawn - Girl Heart Food says
This looks SO good! The fish looks so tasty and love all those garnish options – one of my favourite things is lots and lots of garnish! Perfect for tomorrow’s taco Tuesday 🙂
jyothirajesh says
Thank you Dawn. It’s perfect for taco Tuesday indeed