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Spicy Fish Tacos

June 11, 2024

Meet our best ever, easy spicy fish tacos! Featuring tender pieces of panko-crusted fish loaded into warm tortillas, then topped with a crunchy cabbage slaw and drizzled with homemade spicy mayo.

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crispy fish tacos topped with cajun sauce, avocado, fresh cilantro and purple cabbage

Tony’s Creole Seasoning Spicy Fish Tacos

These easy, spicy fish tacos feature pieces of tender, panko-crusted white fish that have been marinated in Tony Chachere’s Seafood Marinade, loaded into warm flour tortillas, then topped with a crunchy cabbage slaw and drizzled with homemade spicy mayo dressing spiked with Tony’s Original Creole Seasoning! You won’t believe what a perfect pair the seafood marinade and original seasoning are when used together in this dish. Not only are they the best fish tacos ever, they’re a great break from routine and you can get them on the table in under an hour. What’s not to love?

ingredients for crispy fish tacos

A New Take On Tacos.

From classic chicken street tacos to vegan cauliflower tacos, you guys probably know that none of us at TMP have ever met a taco we didn’t love. Fish tacos, though—something about them just sounds sort of tricky, right? Turns out when you use Tony Chachere’s perfect pair products, they’re really easy!

What Is a Fish Taco?

A classic Baja-style fish taco features some sort of white fish—something mild like tilapia or halibut—that’s seasoned and deep fried, piled onto a warm tortilla along with some crunchy cabbage slaw and creamy fish taco sauce.

Our fish taco recipe keeps things a little healthier and a LOT easier by forgoing a full deep-fry. Instead, a panko crust and a quick oven-bake gives the fish plenty of crispy crust with none of the oily mess.

hand pouring tony's seafood marinade over white fish in a baking dish
hands dipping marinated white fish into panko
baking sheet with crispy panko crusted chicken

How To Make Spicy Fish Tacos

We’re taking a shortcut with this recipe—and weeknight dinners have to be all about shortcuts, right?—and using a really good store-bought marinade and Tony’s Original Creole Seasoning blend. With this little dinner hack, these fish tacos come together quick. Here are a few tips to make your taco-making journey just a little easier:

  1. Have the fishmonger (and by fishmonger, we mean whoever is behind the fish counter) cut your tilapia or halibut into 2-3 inch pieces for you. Usually they’re happy to do it, and this will save you some messy prep.
  2. Toss the cut fish with Tony’s Creole Style Seafood Marinade and let it sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
  3. Coat the marinated fish in panko breadcrumbs and bake until it is crisp on the outside and moist and tender on the inside—just about ten minutes.
bowl of tony's cajun seasoning, mayonnaise and lime juice
spicy cajun mayonnaise in a bowl with a spoon
spoon drizzling spicy cajun mayonnaise over shredded cabbage, green onions and cilantro
bowl of spicy cajun slaw for crispy fish tacos

What Toppings Do You Put On a Fish Taco?

All the toppings! First and foremost, we implore you to try our fish taco slaw because it’s so easy—just toss some Tony’s Original Creole Seasoning with mayo, shredded cabbage, jalapeño, lime and cilantro—and that crunchy, spicy slaw is a perfect foil for the hot, crispy fish and spicy fish taco sauce. Other fish taco toppings we love are really just the usual taco suspects:

  • Avocado slices.
  • A squeeze of lime.
  • Fresh cilantro
  • Diced scallions
  • And definitely a drizzle of spicy fish taco sauce.

How To Make Fish Taco Sauce

OK so when we say spicy fish taco sauce what we really mean is a super simply spicy mayo sauce for fish tacos. Making this spicy mayo is a no brainer—once you do it, you’ll be slathering this stuff on everything. Just stir some Tony’s Original Creole Seasoning into store-bought mayo along with a good squeeze of lime. Spicy fish taco sauce=DONE.

plate of spicy fish tacos topped with slaw, avocados and fresh jalapenos
spicy fish tacos with avocado, coleslaw and fresh limes

Tools You’ll Need:

Other Tacos We Love:

Because goodness knows we love ourselves a taco.

Fish Tacos For All!

Snap a photo of your spicy fish tacos, and maybe even a video of the beautiful, lucky people you share them with! Tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!

This sponsored post is written by TMP on behalf of Tony’s Chachere’s. The opinions and text are all ours. Thank you for supporting the brands we love.

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Spicy Fish Tacos

  • Serves:  4
  • Prep Time:  30 min
  • Cook Time:  10 min
  • Calories:  358

Ingredients

Slaw

  • ¾ cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 1-2 limes), plus more for serving
  • 1 tablespoon Tony Chachere’s® Original Creole Seasoning
  • 2 cups shredded green cabbage
  • ½ jalapeño, seeded and finely diced
  • ¼ cup minced fresh cilantro, plus more for serving
  • 4 green onions, white and green parts minced, plus more for serving

For Serving

  • 8 (6-inch) corn tortillas, warmed
  • 1 avocado, thinly sliced

Method

  1. Cut the fish into 2-3 inch pieces. In a medium bowl, toss the fish with Tony’s Creole Style 30-Minute Seafood Marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

  2. Meanwhile, make the slaw. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, lime juice, and Tony Chachere’s® Original Creole Seasoning.

  3. In a second medium bowl, combine the cabbage, jalapeño, cilantro, green onions, and half of the dressing.

  4. Preheat the oven to 375°F with the rack in the center position. Grease a large rimmed sheet pan with the vegetable oil.

  5. In a shallow bowl or pie pan, combine 1 tablespoon Tony Chachere’s® Original Creole Seasoning with the panko. Working in batches, dip the marinated fish into the panko mixture, turn to coat, gently pressing to adhere. Arrange the fish on the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with remaining fish. Bake until the fish is golden brown and flakes easily with a fork, about 10 minutes.

  6. To serve, divide the fish between the tortillas, top with the slaw and avocado, garnish with cilantro, and drizzle with the remaining dressing.

Nutrition Info

  • Per Serving
  • Amount
  • Calories 358
  • Protein 15 g
  • Carbohydrates 11 g
  • Total Fat 31 g
  • Dietary Fiber 2 g
  • Cholesterol 42 mg
  • sodium 866 mg
  • Total Sugars 2 g

Spicy Fish Tacos

Questions & Reviews

Join the discussion below.

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  • Mel

    I'm planning on making these fish tacos tonight! Only one problem we don't have any of Tony's Creole Seasoning. Could I just use regular taco seasoning blend in place? Thanks!

    Hi Mel! Absolutely!

  • Jenn

    These reminded me of the fish tacos from my favorite Mexican restaurant and just as good!

    That's so great, thank you Jenn!