These Baja rockfish tacos are packed with so much flavor from the tajin-seasoned battering and the spicy lime coleslaw. The crispy fried rockfish is so easy to prepare and cook and will quickly became your new favorite fish taco recipe.
With Baja tacos there is just something about that crispy fried texture with a mayo based coleslaw that is just so enticing! You can make grilled rockfish tacos instead but I highly recommend frying for this recipe.
The battering is a simple egg wash and then coated in Tajin seasoned cornmeal. If you are unfamiliar with Tajin it is basically a Mexican chili salt that has a perfect salty lime flavor. It's not too spicy, so if you're not into that don't worry.
This recipe is a great dinner party dish! It is super fun to serve with plenty of sides like this elote bowl or a tossed avocado cashew salad. And of course don't forget some chips and salsa and margaritas too!
Key Ingredients
- Rockfish (or any other small flaky fish, such as snapper or tilapia)
- Cabbage
- Red Onion
- Spicy Mayo (or regular Mayo)
- Lime Juice
- Tajin
- Cilantro
Instructions
Variations
I really prefer these to be baja taco style, which is crispy fried white fish with slaw and mayo. But, another great variation if you don't want fried food would be grilled fish tacos. You could use a similar tajin seasoning with a yummy mango salsa!
Or blackened rockfish tacos, pan fried with cajun seasoning and a simple coleslaw.
Top Tip
If you are making a large batch of this recipe, instead of laying the fried fish out on paper towels, put them on a wire rack sheet pan in a warm oven (180°). This helps keep the fish from getting soggy and will keep the fish warm while frying other batches.
Other seafood dishes to try
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
- pan seared rockfish with wild rice
- Campfire Seafood Boil with Chorizo
- Mediterranean Halibut with Rosemary
Rockfish Tacos (Baja Taco Style)
Nutrition
Ingredients
Spicy Lime Coleslaw
- 1 cup cabbage, (shredded)
- ½ cup red onion, (sliced thinly)
- ½ cup carrot, (shredded)
- ½ cup cilantro, (chopped)
- 1 green onion, (sliced thinly)
- 2 tablespoon spicy mayo, (or regular mayo)
- 1 teaspoon mexican oregano, (or oregano)
- 1 lime, (juiced)
- 1 clove of garlic, (minced)
- ½ teaspoon salt
Tacos
- 1 lb rockfish, (about 4 small fillets)
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 egg, (beaten)
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 2 tbsp Tajin
- oil, (for frying)
- 8 corn tortillas
- lime wedges and cilantro, (for serving)
Instructions
- Start by preparing the coleslaw. Toss all of the coleslaw ingredients into a large bowl and mix until well combined. Set aside.
- Heat a pan and dry toast the tortillas on both sides until slightly browned, about 1 minute per tortilla. Fold in a kitchen towel until ready to serve.
- Heat a separate large skillet or fry pan with about ¼" of oil to medium heat. Then, prepare three bowls, one with the flour, one with egg, and one with cornmeal and Tajin mixed together. Take each fish fillet and cover both sides with flour, then dip in the egg, and then coat with the seasoned cornmeal.
- When the oil is hot, carefully add the fillets and cook until lightly browned on both sides, about 3-4 minutes per side. Don't crowd the pan, work in batches if needed.
- Serve with the corn tortillas and top with the coleslaw, cilantro, and lime.
Video
Notes
Food Safety
- Cook fish to a minimum temperature of 145 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
See more guidelines at USDA.gov.
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