Fish tacos made with pan-fried white fish, smoky spices, easy slaw, and chipotle mayo. You and your family will LOVE making these spicy fish tacos since they’re the perfect weeknight meal. Easy-to-make 15-minute weeknight meal!
Welcome to my go-to fish taco recipe! The fish is tender, smoky, flavorful, and the creamy, spicy chipotle mayo just makes them extra DELISH!
I mean, who doesn’t love a spicy kick in their tacos?! You can totally adjust the heat levels in the recipe.
My favorite part of this recipe is just how quickly it comes together. It’s the perfect weeknight meal because it’s ready in just 15 minutes!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Mayo (or plain Greek yogurt) and chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. These are the ingredients for the chipotle mayo sauce.
- Smoked paprika, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin powder, salt, and pepper. These are the spices you need for seasoning the fish.
- White fish. Cod, mahi-mahi, halibut, any white fish will work!
- Extra virgin olive oil. For cooking the fish.
- Corn tortillas.
- Thinly sliced red cabbage and chopped cilantro for garnish.
- Lime wedges.
How To Make Chipotle Mayo Sauce
In a food processor, add mayo, chipotle peppers, and adobo sauce. Pulse until well blended. It’s that easy! You can also buy storebought chipotle mayo.
How To Make Fish Tacos
- Combine the spices. Mix the smoked paprika, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
- Season the fish. Lay the fish fillets on a clean work surface and sprinkle the spice mix evenly over each filet, rubbing it on all sides.
- Cook the fish. In a non-stick skillet set over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add 2 of the fish fillets and cook, undisturbed, for about 4 minutes. Flip the fillets and cook for another 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan and swirl to coat. Repeat the cooking process with the remaining 2 filets.
- Assemble the tacos. Using a fork, shred the fish fillets. Divide the cooked shredded fish evenly into the 12 corn tortillas. Add shredded red cabbage, cilantro, and drizzle with chipotle mayo.
What’s good to serve with fish tacos?
Here are a few recipes that would pair well with these spicy fish tacos!
- Easy Guacamole Recipe
- 3-Ingredient Baked Sea Salt Tortilla Chips
- How To Make White Rice (2 Ways!)
- Quick + Easy Homemade Fire Roasted Salsa
- How To Make Baked Plantain Chips
Fish Tacos (15-Minute Recipe!)
Ingredients
Easy Chipotle Mayo
- 1/3 cup mayo (or plain Greek yogurt)
- 1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce from the can
- 3 teaspoons adobo sauce from the can
Fish Tacos
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 4 fish fillets (any white fish like cod, mahi mahi, halibut)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 12 corn tortillas
- 2 cups thinly sliced red cabbage
- Lime wedges
- Chopped cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- If using store-bought chipotle mayo, skip this step. In a food processor, add mayo, chipotle peppers and adobo sauce. Pulse until well blended. Set aside.
- Mix the smoked paprika, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Lay the fish fillets on a clean work surface and sprinkle the spice mix evenly over each filet, rubbing it on all sides.
- In a non-stick skillet set over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add 2 of the fish fillets and cook, undisturbed, about 4 minutes. Flip the fillets and cook for another 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan and swirl to coat. Repeat the cooking process with the remaining 2 filets.
- Using a fork, shred the fish fillets. Divide the cooked shredded fish evenly into the 12 corn tortillas. Add shredded red cabbage, cilantro and drizzle with chipotle mayo. Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Originally posted in July 2017. Updated photos in February 2021.
These look delicious!!
Thank you so much!
Love how quick and easy this dish is. It looks delicious!
Thanks Alyssa!
Super love that these come together in 15 minutes! Chipotle mayo is one of my favs, can’t wait to try out this recipe!
Thanks Erica!!!
Oh man, I have been looking for a good fish taco recipe! This one looks amazing, and I love how fast it comes together. Definitely pinning this one to try!
Hope you LOVE it, Riva! :)
It looks delicious! thank you!
Thank you!
It looks delicious!
I have made these twice now, and they are for dinner tonight. These tacos are SO SO good! We made the fish just as directed. I like that there is NO breaded coating. The chipotle mayo was actually chipotle yougurt here, with lots of the adobo sauce, we like things spicy! We skipped the veggies listed and topped it with cabbage and jicama slaw (from Epicurious.com). Delicious! A favorite for us, and it will be served often here! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Jamie! I love your recipes! Just wanted to drop you a line that I love this recipe so much that I linked to it (https://lunchwithleah.com/9-easy-quick-healthy-weeknight-meals/) in a recent recipe round-up post I wrote about healthy weeknight meals for busy families.
This recipe is in constant rotation at our home, sometimes with variations but always yummy. Thanks for creating delicious recipes!
Leah @ LunchwithLeah.com
Hi Leah! Thanks so much. Glad you liked it! :)
This was amazing! I can’t wait to make it again. I was surprised at how easy it was – it really was 15 minutes!
So happy you LOVED it! :)
Excellent recipe! So easy, healthy and flavourful
So happy you loved it, Sam!
So excited to try this! But is it really 93g of protein per serving? Obviously it depends on the type of fish! Thank you for the recipe!!
Hi Allie! Oops that’s not right. I went ahead and updated the nutritional info. Sorry! Hope you love this recipe as much as I do! :)
It looks like I’m about 3 years late to this party! (Story of my life, lol)
I just made these AMAZING fish tacos for lunch and my girlfriend said “this recipe is a keeper!!”
I used fresh halibut and I did cheat a bit with a store bought Chipotle mayo and I added some cotija cheese too…
It took us right back to Mexico!!
Thank you for sharing/posting
Sincerely,
Phil Archer
Seattle WA.
Loved this! My fish of choice was halibut and salmon (yes, salmon works) because that is what we caught and had in the freezer. I went light on the rub because the fish was, well, wild caught. The sauce is awesome!! I didn’t do the slaw but I did use finely shredded cabbage for crunch.
These were amazing! My husband is normally picky when it comes to tacos, but he asked me when we could make these again! I was especially impressed with how quick it truly all came together and was perfect for a busy weeknight!
So happy to hear, Elizabeth!!