Crunchy, spicy and fresh these Baja Fish Tacos have it all! This easy beer batter turns boring frozen tilapia into the perfect filling for these tacos that are topped with spicy baja sauce, shredded cabbage, cotija cheese and Pico de Gallo. It’s the perfect week night dinner to make for two or if cooking for yourself the leftover fish is easily reheated and kept crispy by cooking in the air fryer for 4 minutes. So enjoy some Mexican beer alongside these fresh and flavorful fish tacos.
Baja Fish Tacos
Crispy beer battered fish topped with Baja sauce in a flour tortilla
Servings 4 tacos
Ingredients
- 1 fillet tilapia
- 4 flour or corn tortillas
- 1/2 cup shredded cabbage
- 1/4 cup cotija cheese
- 1/2 cup Pico de Gallo
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1-2 chipotles in abobo + 1/2 Tbsp adobo sauce
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp chile power
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2 cup Mexican beer
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat on your stovetop then make the beer batter. In a small mixing bowl add flour, cornstarch, chile powder, salt and pepper. Stir until all combined and then add in the beer. Stir until all the dry ingredients are absorbed and you have a smooth batter.
- Cut up the tilapia into bite sized pieces. The goal is to have 3 pieces of fish per taco but this all depends on the size of your tilapia fillet. Add the tilapia to the beer batter and stir until the fish is coated on all four sides.
- Pour some canola oil into your skillet so that you have about a 1/2 inch of oil filling the pan. Test that the oil is heated by splashing a few drops of water from your fingers into the pan and having it sizzle. Add the fish to the pan and fry for about 3-4 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Flip over and do the same for the other side. Remove from pan when cooked and place on a plate with a paper towel to absorb extra grease.
- Make the baja sauce by dicing up 1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo depending on how spicy you like it. Add the chipotles and a little of the adobo sauce to a small bowl with the sour cream. Add the juice of 1 lime and stir all together.
- Now you are ready to assemble the tacos. Heat your tortillas for 15 second in the microwaves. Add 3-4 pieces of fish to each taco and then add all the toppings. I like to add a fresh squeeze of lime to top it all off so recommend having some small lime wedges to serve along with the tacos.
Tips:
- If making this for just yourself the leftover fish reheats really well in the air fryer. Add it to the air fryer basket and cook for about 4 minutes to have crispy fish the next day.
- Buying a whole bag of coleslaw mix for just a few fish tacos is not worth it. So I meal planned when making this and also made Eggroll in a Bowl, which used the rest of the cabbage.
- You could certainly make your own Pico but I used store bought as a time saver and to not waste ingredients.