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Easy Baja Fish Tacos

Baja fish tacos

My kids love fish, so these Baja-style fish tacos are a big hit in our house. They're easy to make, and most of the work comes in prepping the add-ons: crunchy shredded cabbage, radishes, salsa, and a creamy lime-infused sauce.

These tacos are fresh and light and remind me of a day at the beach in Southern California. Take a bite and it's summertime at the beach, even if it's the middle of winter.

If you're really short for time, you can make these with frozen fried fish filets like the halibut filets from Trader Joe's, but they're so much better with delicious fresh fish. I made our last batch with some wonderful local lingcod that I got from Real Good Fish, a community supported fishery (or CSF—it's like a farm CSA but for fish) with pick up sites in southern Marin.

Baja fish tacos ingredients

Ingredients

  • 1 lb lingcod, rockfish, or other whitefish filets
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground ancho chile
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup canola or peanut oil
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 12 corn tortillas
  • 1/2 head green cabbage, shredded
  • Sliced radishes
  • Salsa fresca, storebought or homemade
  • 1/2 cup sour cream or Mexican crèma
  • 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 2 limes

Directions

Prepare all taco toppings and garnishes and set aside. To make fish taco sauce, whisk together sour cream and mayonnaise along with the juice of 1/2 to 1 whole lime or to taste. Slice remaining lime into wedges. Heat tortillas in a heavy pan for a few minutes or in the microwave and wrap in a clean kitchen towel to keep warm.

Cut fish filets into strips. Pour milk into a large bowl and add fish. In another bowl whisk together flour, salt, pepper, ground chile, and garlic powder.

Baja fish tacos

Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. When oil is hot, add butter. Fry fish in batches: remove fish from milk and dredge in seasoned flour, then shake off excess flour and carefully place in the skillet; don't overcrowd. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes, then flip fish strips and fry for another one or two minutes on the other side. Remove fish and place on a wire rack over a baking sheet or on a plate lined with paper towels. Keep warm in a 300ºF oven if desired. Cook fish until all pieces are done.

To serve, place one to three fish strips (depending on size) on a tortilla and top with shredded cabbage, radish slices, and salsa fresca. Drizzle with the sauce and serve with lime wedges for squeezing on top and hot sauce like Tapatío.