The Best Baja Fish Tacos

It doesn’t have to be taco tuesday to enjoy these tacos, we eat these any day of the week! These baja-style fish tacos are light, crispy, and flavorful. I use beer battered grouper fish, topped with pickled cabbage and onions and a creamy chipotle sauce. All of the toppings can be made in advance for a quick weeknight meal.

This recipe has a few parts but they are all really easy. It’s important to make the toppings BEFORE preparing the fish because fish cooks really quickly. Prepare the pickled onions, cabbage, and chipotle sauce and refrigerate until ready to assemble the tacos. You don’t need a lot of fish for this recipe. Two whole pieces of fish will yield three tacos for four people. First, slice fish into 1-2 inch pieces. I cut this fish in half and each half into 3 pieces, making a total of 12 pieces.

Drizzle fish with olive oil, add spices and seasonings. Massage the spices and seasonings into the fish, making sure the fish is completely coated. In a bowl, combine flour and cornstarch and add the same seasonings to the flour mixture.

Gradually pour beer into the flour/cornstarch mixture and whisk to combine until it reaches a thick pancake batter consistency. Dip the fish into the batter and fry until golden brown.

When the fish is fully cooked, heat flour tortillas in a pan and top with crispy fish, pickled onions, cabbage, chipotle sauce, & more cilantro. Warning, you may have family and friends begging you to make these every time they see you because these fish tacos are THAT good!

Baja Style Fish Tacos

crispy fish with pickled cabbage & onions & a creamy chipotle sauce

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Ingredients

For the Fish

• 2 Grouper fish or fish of choice
• 1 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2 cup beer
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 tsp hot chili powder
• 1 tsp chipotle powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp black pepper

Pickled Onions

• 1 large purple onion sliced
• 2 cups distilled white vinegar
• 6 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp salt
• 4-5 whole peppercorns

Pickled Cabbage

• 1/2 head of purple cabbage sliced into ribbons
• 1/2 cup pickling liquid from onions

Chipotle Sauce

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayo
• 2 limes juiced
• 2 chipotle peppers whole with seeds
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 1 garlic clove grated
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper

Instructions

For the fish

• Slice fish into pieces
• Season fish with spices and seasonings of choice
• Combine flour and cornstarch and the same spices used on the fish
• Heat oil in a cast iron skillet or pan on medium heat
• Gradually pour beer into seasoned flour mixture until its a thick pancake batter consistency
• Dip fish in batter and fry 2-3 minutes on each side, until golden brown
• Heat flour tortillas and top with crispy beer-battered fish, pickled onions, cabbage, chipotle sauce, more cilantro

For the pickled onions

• Slice onions to desired thickness
• Combine vinegar, sugar, salt in pot and bring to a boil
• Add onions to the pot and reduce heat to simmer, allowing onions to soften 2-3 minutes
• Add onions with liquid to a bowl
• Allow onions to cool, reserve half cup of liquid, refrigerate until ready to serve

Pickled cabbage

• Slice cabbage into ribbons
• Pour reserved liquid from pickled onions over cabbage and refrigerate until ready to use

Chipotle Sauce

• Combined all ingredients in a food processor or blender
• Add to a bottle or container and refrigerate until ready to use

Notes

Use seasonings and fish of your choice.

Fish can be deep fried or shallow fried, just make sure the oil comes up to the halfway mark of the fish.

Course: Main Course

Keyword: fish, Quick & Easy, taco, tacotuesday