Baja Fish Tacos
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Crispy beer-battered cod tucked into corn tortillas and topped with slaw and a smoky chipotle sauce, Baja fish tacos are the perfect summer meal.
Photo by Alexandra Grablewski (Chronicle Books, 2018)
Many years ago, Michael and I rented a convertible and drove up the California coast. One of our favorite stops was La Jolla, where we strolled around town and stumbled upon a Mexican restaurant with great food and breathtaking views of the Pacific ocean. I don’t know if it was the scenery, the margaritas, or the fact that we were on vacation, but the Baja fish tacos were out of this world. To recreate them at home, I came up with this version made with crispy beer-battered cod tucked into corn tortillas with a cabbage slaw and smoky chipotle sauce. I’m happy to say they come pretty darn close. To complete the meal, pair the tacos with chips, salsa, and guacamole.
“I have made these so many times – now my friends a family are all making them as well. The chipotle sauce is the star!”
What You’ll Need To Make Baja Fish Tacos
Most of the ingredients are pretty straightforward, except maybe the canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. If you’ve never had them, get ready to add a new staple to your pantry! They’re small peppers (usually red jalapeños) that have been dried and smoked, and they come in a spicy tomato sauce that has a smoky flavor. You can find them in the Latin section of most supermarkets, and I have many recipes that incorporate them.
How To Make Baja Fish Tacos
Begin by making the slaw, which is a combination of shredded red cabbage, chopped red onions, cilantro, apple cider vinegar, oil and salt.
Next, make the chipotle sauce by combining the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, mayonnaise, lime juice and garlic in a mini food processor or blender. I use three peppers for a spicy sauce; of course, use less if you prefer a milder sauce.
When you’re ready to fry the fish, prepare the beer batter by whisking together the flour, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
Slowly pour in the beer, whisking all the while.
Cut the cod into 1-inch wide x 4-inch long strips.
Then dip the fish into the beer batter.
Pan-fry the fish until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. As you can see, there’s no need to deep fry the fish. I use about a 1/2 inch of oil, which is plenty as long as you flip the fish midway through.
If you’re wondering if you can skip the beer batter and frying altogether and just grill or pan-sear the fish, the answer is yes but the tacos won’t be nearly as good. Fried fish has a wonderfully crispy texture and depth of flavor that really can’t be achieved any other way. It’s worth it! Plus, even with the fried fish, these tacos are still amazingly light and fresh.
When the fish is golden brown, drain on a plate lined with paper towels.
Warm up the corn tortillas (I do it in the microwave), then assemble the tacos with a generous amount of chipotle sauce, a heap of cabbage slaw and a piece of crispy cod. Serve with lime wedges, lots of napkins and enjoy!
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Baja Fish Tacos
Crispy beer-battered cod tucked into corn tortillas and topped with slaw and a smoky chipotle sauce, Baja fish tacos are the perfect summer meal.
Ingredients
For the Cabbage Slaw
- 5 cups (or one 10-ounce bag) shredded red cabbage
- 3 tablespoons minced red onion
- ½ cup fresh chopped cilantro
- 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1½ teaspoons vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the Chipotle Sauce
- ¾ cup mayonnaise, best quality such as Hellmann's
- 2 tablespoons lime juice, from one lime
- 2-3 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (canned), roughly chopped, plus 1-2 teaspoons sauce (see note below)
- 1 large garlic clove, roughly chopped
For the Beer Batter
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup beer
For the Fish and Tortillas
- 1½ pounds skinless cod, cut into 1-inch wide x 4-inch long strips
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- 12 (6-inch) soft corn tortillas, warmed
- Lime wedges, for serving
Instructions
- Toss the cabbage, red onion, cilantro, vinegar, oil and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Combine the mayonnaise, lime juice, chipotle chiles with sauce and garlic in a blender or mini food processor and blend until smooth. Set aside.
- Mix the flour, salt and pepper together in a medium bowl. Gradually add the beer, whisking until the batter is smooth with no lumps. Set aside.
- In a medium skillet, over medium heat, add enough oil to reach a depth of ½-inch. Heat the oil until a deep-fry thermometer registers 350 degrees F, or when the end of a wooden spoon sizzles when dipped into the oil.
- Working in batches so as not to crowd the pan, dip the fish strips in the beer batter and coat on both sides. Let the excess batter drip off, then fry the fish in the hot oil until golden brown and cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain.
- Smear each tortilla with a generous amount of the chipotle sauce, then top with the cabbage slaw. Lay one piece of fish inside each tortilla and serve with lime wedges.
- Note: 3 chipotle peppers and 2 teaspoons sauce will give you a spicy sauce. Use less for a milder sauce. You can freeze any leftover chipotle peppers from the can.
- Note: Nutritional information was calculated assuming that approximately 3 tablespoons of oil are absorbed into the fish when fried.
- Note: Nutritional Information does not include the chipotle sauce.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 577
- Fat: 16 g
- Saturated fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 66 g
- Sugar: 4 g
- Fiber: 7 g
- Protein: 39 g
- Sodium: 1025 mg
- Cholesterol: 73 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I made these tacos for Cinco de Mayo a couple days ago and my family absolutely LOVED them!! I’m 16 and I have always wanted to make fish tacos, so I decided to use this recipe. Everything was so simple but cohesive and SO delicious. My dad caught fresh haddock that day so I used that fish instead and it was still perfect. Thank you so much for this recipe, it’s my new favorite!
Your parents are lucky that you’re cooking for them — so glad they were a hit! 🙂
Hello Jenn,
I have made this before with cod but I don’t have enough cod to make it again. I was wondering if tilapia would work in this recipe.
Sure, Rani, tilapia will also work nicely here. Enjoy!
This is a fantastic recipe–the fish, the slaw, the chipotle sauce–all of it. I made this yesterday and didn’t have beer and didn’t want to make a special trip, so I substituted a cup of seltzer water and it worked perfectly. I also dredged the fish in 1/4 cup of flour mixed with 1/4 cup of corn starch, which helped the batter to stick to the fish. Thanks, Jenn!
Can the beer-battered fish be cooked in an air fryer instead?
Hi Shannon, I don’t have an air fryer I don’t know much about using one so it’s hard to say for sure – I’m sorry! You may find these tips helpful in converting traditional recipes to air fryer versions. Hope that helps at least a bit!
Hi Jenn. I am a former Californian, now living in France. I would LOVE to make these, but I will not be able to find chipotle chiles in adobo sauce. Can you suggest any sort of substitute ingredients more commonly available, such as smoked paprika or sundried tomatoes or anything you could think I could combine to get a similar flavour? I could blacken some red peppers, any other idea please?? Thank you for your help!
Hi Jennifer, you could use about 1/4 tsp. of chipotle chile powder in place of the peppers. You can add more to taste but be careful because it adds heat. You could also just omit the peppers without adding the chipotle chile powder and it would still be tasty. Hope that helps and that you enjoy!
Delicious!
Thank you for this recipe; we love fish tacos but cannot use beer. Any substitute for the beer in the batter?
Hi Ayesha, You can replace the beer with club soda. Enjoy!
Thank you so much for your quick reply. We love your recipes, can’t wait to try this one!
Hi Jenn, I have looked and looked but cannot find canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce… any suggestions for a substitute?
Hi Michelle, you could use about 1/4 tsp. of chipotle chile powder in place of the peppers. You can add more to taste but be careful because it adds heat. You could also just omit the peppers without adding the chipotle chile powder and it would still be tasty. Hope that helps and that you enjoy!
Hi. Question, please: I made this recipe, and taste-wise it was very good; however, in the frying process the battered fish stuck to the bottom of the pan, causing the batter and fish to sort of fall apart during the flip step. Should I have used a non-stick pan? Or put in more oil? Or what else can I do next time to prevent the battered fish from sticking to the bottom?
Thank you.
Hi Dot, It sounds like your oil was not hot enough. Here’s a link that shows how to tell when the oil is the right temperature. Hope that helps 🙂
I have a lot of halibut from a fishing trip. Can I substitute halibut for the cod? I have made this recipe in the past and it was delicious! but made it with cod last time.
Sure, Daphna, halibut should work here. Hope you enjoy!