Blackened fish tacos are a quick, easy, and healthy weeknight dinner option! Flaky white fish in a flavorful seasoning blend pan-fried in butter on warm corn tortillas with fresh pico de gallo and a quick white sauce – so, so good! These super flavorful tacos only take 30 minutes to get on the table!
If you’ve been here for a while, you know I love tacos! Fish tacos are my absolute favorite, but I wanted a healthier and quicker fish taco recipe than your traditional beer battered fish tacos. These blackened fish tacos are flavorful and filling without feeling greasy or heavy. If you’re looking for an easy fish taco recipe, this is going to be a new favorite!
Table of Contents
The Best Ever Blackened Fish Tacos
I’ve got a whole section on my website dedicated to tacos! We’re always looking for ways to incorporate lean proteins into our diet, and these blackened fish tacos are perfect for that. We opted for fresh cod, but you could easily swap in salmon, tilapia, halibut, snapper, or mahi mahi.
I’m always all about tacos for dinner! It’s an easy and flavorful way to use up ingredients in the fridge and can be adapted to use your favorite fish. The sauce is a simple blend of sour cream, mayo, blackening seasoning, and a bit of lime juice.
Blackened refers to the method of cooking here. Proteins are usually coated in melted butter and a blackening seasoning blend and pan fried in a hot skillet. Pan frying the blackened fish tacos in butter is totally the move here–the texture is perfectly flaky!
Helpful Cooking Tools
Key Recipe Ingredients
You can find the full list of ingredients, quantities & method in the recipe card at the end of the page.
- Fish. I used fresh cod here, but you can really use any flaky white fish.
- Blackening Seasoning. I’m always going to recommend making your own! Try visiting the bulk spice section of your grocery store so you can buy only as much as you’ll need. It’s a great way to try out new spices without committing to a whole bottle. You can also use store bought blackening seasoning as well.
- Corn Tortillas. Since these are baja-style blackened fish tacos, I always use corn tortillas! You can swap in flour if that’s what you like.
- Pico de gallo. You can make your own or use store bought, but the pico de gallo adds tons of freshness!
- White sauce. The sauce for the fish tacos is a simple mix of mayonnaise, sour cream, blackening seasoning, salt, and lime juice.
- Lime. Always serve fish tacos with lime wedges on the side!
- Cabbage. Finely shredded cabbage gives these blackened fish tacos a great crunch.
- Butter. Pan frying the fish in butter is the key to great blackened fish! The butter adds a lot of flavor, but you could use olive oil, or a mix of the two.
How to Make Blackened Fish Tacos in a Few Easy Steps
- Prep and season the fish. Cut your fish into pieces if you’re working from a larger fillet. Liberally coat the fish in the blackening seasoning and season with salt and pepper if there isn’t already salt in your seasoning blend. Let the fish sit in the seasoning for at least 30 minutes.
- Prep the taco ingredients. While the fish sits in the seasoning, prep your other ingredients! Finely shred your cabbage, mix up the white sauce, cut your lime wedges, and get your pico de gallo prepped (if you’re making it from scratch!).
- Cook the fish. Melt butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Once the butter is foamy and the pan is hot, add the fish. Cook 3-4 minutes per side, until the fish is cooked through and flaky. If you need to cook the fish in batches, don’t use all the butter at once. Start with 1 tablespoon per batch of fish and add more to the pan as needed.
- Assemble the tacos. Assemble the tacos! Gently flake the fish into bite-sized pieces. Layer your warmed corn tortillas with fish, shredded cabbage, pico, and white sauce. Serve with lime wedges on the side.
Customizing Blackened Fish Tacos
Fish tacos are so easy to customize based on what you have on hand! I always consider tacos as one of my ‘clean out the fridge’ dinners.
Fish: I love cod here because it’s hearty and absorbs the seasoning flavoring well, but you can use salmon, mahi mahi, halibut, tilapia, etc. Use your favorite firm white fish (or salmon) here.
Toppings: I almost always have my fish tacos baja-style (cabbage, pico, white sauce), but you can switch up the toppings to your tastes! Try them with your favorite slaw recipe on top with cheese, tomatoes, pickled onions, avocado, etc.
Making Your Own Blackening Seasoning
I am a huge proponent of making your own seasonings! I love experimenting with spices and putting them together to make unique and flavorful blends. While you can buy pre-made blackening seasoning, I urge you to try your hand at making your own.
When you make your own blackening seasoning for blackened fish tacos, you get to control exactly what goes into it including salt content. Maybe you’re not a fan of one of the spices, that’s okay! You can pick and choose what you include.
While it may feel like a lot of ingredients to make your own blackening seasoning, a lot of grocery stores now have bulk spice sections where you can buy as much or as little as you need. This is a great resource for testing out new spices that you might have not tried before. It’s also a cost effective way to purchase your spices since they’re often much cheaper this way than purchasing a whole bottle.
When I make my own blackening seasoning, I always mix up a double or triple batch so I can always have some ready to go. Store the seasoning blend in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
What to Serve with Blackened Fish Tacos
If you plan to serve blackened fish tacos for a party or want to create a whole Mexican spread, here are some of my favorite sides to serve!
- Elote Queso
- 5-Ingredient Guacamole
- Mexican Rice
- Salsa Verde
- Instant Pot Refried beans
- Instant Pot Pinto Beans
- Arroz Verde
If you do give this recipe a try, I love hearing about it! Leave a comment with a star rating below. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter and never miss a new recipe! You can also snap a photo & tag @JENNYGOYCOCHEA on Instagram.
More Taco Recipes to Try Now
Beer Battered Fish Tacos
Chile-Lime Shrimp Tacos
Beer-Braised Carnitas Tacos
Crispy Baked Chicken Tacos
Chicken Tinga Tacos
Carne Asada Street Tacos
This post contains affiliate links from which I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Affiliate links allow me to keep providing great recipes for free and I never recommend products that I don’t love and personally own.
Blackened Fish Tacos
Ingredients
Blackening Seasoning
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 teaspoons ancho chile powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
Blackened Fish Tacos
- 1 1/2 lbs cod, cut into filets
- 3 tablespoons salted butter, divided
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 cups shredded cabbage
- 1/2 cup pico de gallo, homemade or store bought
- corn tortillas, warmed
- lime wedges, for serving
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together all the spices for the blackening seasoning. You may have some leftovers which can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
- Place the fish in a baking dish or other container and season liberally with blackening seasoning. Reserve 1 teaspoon of seasoning for the white sauce. Let the fish sit in the seasoning blend for at least 30 minutes, up to 3 hours.
- Whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, lime juice, and 1 teaspoon of blackening seasoning until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Depending on how many pieces of fish you have, you may want to cook them in batches. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Once the butter is melted and foamy, add the fish in a single layer. Cook for 3-4 minutes per side, until browned and the fish is cooked through and flaky. Continue to add butter to the pan as necessary as you cook the remaining fish.
- Gently flake the fish into large chunks and assemble on warmed corn tortillas topped with cabbage, pico de gallo, and some of the sauce. Serve with lime wedges on the side.
Storage Instructions
- I personally don’t like to reheat fish, so I only make as much as I know we’ll eat that night. That being said, if you do have any leftover fish, you can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.To reheat: Microwave in short increments until the fish is just heated through.You can store the pico de gallo and white sauce for up to 3 days in airtight containers.
Nutrition
You might also like...
-
Seafood Shrimp Burrito Bowls
-
30 Minute Meals Chile-Lime Shrimp Tacos
-
Salads Turkey Taco Salad
Rate & Review This Recipe
Nice flavors but seemed like way too much salt. It is unclear if all the spice mix is supposed to be used or not. I used sole, a very thin fish, and used all of the mix minus the little bit for the sauces, so maybe that is why it was too strong?
The seasoning blend makes a bit more than is needed for this recipe, hence the instructions in step one on storage of extra spice mix. It’s really up to the reader to determine how much seasoning they want on their fish, so I would suggest next time just using a bit less or even adding a bit less salt if you’re particularly sensitive.
Made this tonight for a family gathering. Absolutely delicious! Got rave reviews. Thank you.
So happy to hear it!
Very good straightforward and simple recipe. Used a sweet & spicy fresh tomato salsa which complimented the rest well. Also, like the white sauce. Also, dirt simple.
I try fish tacos everywhere I go and these were the BEST i ever had!!!! Absolutely Fantastic. I had Amberjack in the freezer and used it….amazing!! I did add cheddar cheese and it was a perfect additioin.
So happy you loved them! They’re a favorite in our household.