Easy Grilled Fish Tacos seasoned with a citrus marinade, and topped with tri color cole slaw, pico de gallo, fresh limes, and cilantro.
I love fish, but my husband prefers his battered and fried, and I like prefer mine baked or grilled. Don't get me wrong, I love batter fried fish as much as the next guy, but it's not the healthiest of cooking choices, so I only eat fried fish on occasion.
We do live in Texas so when it comes to fish, it's always catfish and it's always coated with a crunchy cornmeal batter, and deep fried just the way my husband likes it. Not only is the catfish, fried, but it wouldn't be a proper southern fish fry without loads of fried corn fritters, cornbread hush puppies, fried okra, pinto beans, coleslaw, and green tomato relish.
I have to admit I love it all too, but I just can't eat fried fish every time fish is on the menu. So in an effort to get my husband to eat more grilled fish versus fried I tried my hand at these Easy Grilled Tilapia Tacos. I prefer a milder fish so I chose tilapia fillets. My choice of fish is usually tilapia, crappie, cod, sole, flounder or haddock. My daughter on the other hand, loves salmon, so you can see we're quite different when it comes to fish.
This was my first attempt at fish tacos and they turned out so delicious. These tasty fish fillets are seasoned with a citrus marinade, grilled, and served in soft, warm corn tortillas with a cilantro coleslaw, pico de gallo, avocado slices, and queso fresco cheese. I guess you could say these tacos have a little of a Tex Mex twist to them.
To make this meal quick and simple I picked up the Marketside mild pico de gallo and prepared tri color coleslaw at my local Walmart, but you can make your own if you prefer. I've included a few step-by-step photos below. I hope y'all will give this recipe a try!!!
Season with salt and pepper and turn the fish to evenly coat each piece. Cover and refrigerate to marinade for at least 15 minutes. To cook the fish, brush the grates of an indoor grill pan with oil and heat over medium high heat until hot.
Easy Grilled Fish Tacos
1 – lb fresh tilapia, cod, crappie, flounder, red snapper, haddock, mahi mahi fillets
2 – medium limes, halved
1 – clove garlic, minced
dash of cumin
1/8 - 1/4 – teaspoon smoked paprika
2 – tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
kosher salt and pepper to taste
¼ - cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 - bag tri - color coleslaw
1 - container marketside mild pico de gallo or homemade
queso fresco cheese
8 - corn tortillas
Cut the fish fillets in equal size pieces. Lay the fish into an 8 x 8 baking dish, and squeeze half a lime over the fish.
Add garlic, cumin, smoked paprika, and one tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper and turn the fish to evenly coat each piece. Cover and refrigerate to marinade for at least 30 minutes.
Combine the coleslaw and the cilantro in a medium size bowl. Squeeze a lime half over the coleslaw and add remaining one tablespoon of oil. Toss, add salt and pepper to taste, and set aside.
Warm the tortillas by heating a medium size pan or grill pan over medium high heat. Heat tortillas one at a time, flipping to warm both sides. Continue with remaining tortillas. Wrap warm tortillas in a clean cloth or use a tortilla warmer. Set aside while you cook the fish.
Brush the grates of an indoor grill pan with oil and heat over medium high heat until hot. Remove the fish from the marinade and place on the grill pan.
Cook without moving until the fish has grill marks and is white and opaque on the bottom, about 3 minutes. Flip and grill the other side until white and opaque, about 2-3 minutes more. Transfer fish to a serving platter.
To serve cut the fish into pieces, place into a warm corn tortilla. Serve with pico de gallo, seasoned coleslaw, additional lime juice, avocado slices, and queso fresco cheese.
servings 8
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