Why Crispy Fish Tacos Are Better Than Any Restaurant Version

Q: What Fish Should I Use For Baja Fish Tacos?

To remain truthful to the recipe, you would use Basa fish fillet. Basa is actually a type of catfish, originating from Southeast Asia. I can find frozen basa at my grocery store, but if you can’t, then don’t worry! As I mention in my free motivational guide to explore your potential in the kitchen, Make Cooking Fun!!, then using a suitable substitute you already have is certainly the way to go rather than stressing out about making a trip to the grocery store to buy exactly what is stated! If you already have white fish in your fridge or freezer, then go ahead and use that for this recipe! Otherwise, if you’re about to head out to purchase the fish for these tacos but you can’t find basa, then here are other options that will work perfectly fine: Sea bass Cod Catfish Tilapia Halibut Mahi Mahi Haddock Flounder I definitely understand that white fish is bland and boring, but not in these tacos! You will certainly find a newly-found appreciation for white fish after trying these tacos, and you’ll want to have white fish more often!

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Watch the recipe

I don’t know how summer is just flying by, but I really want to make the most out of the time we have left! When I worked at my last restaurant job, I’ll give it to them that they had some great menu items for patio season! I recently shared my Sushi Cones recipes, 5 of them to be exact! Now, another favorite of customers (and mine!) are these fish tacos. They were ordered so much, and honestly these are the best fish tacos I’ve ever had! You will never want to have any other kind of fish tacos after having tried these tacos!

This recipe will show you how to prepare the fish and shrimp and how to assemble these delicious summery tacos! For all the details in a visual representation, be sure to watch the video! If you’re not already, it would mean a lot to me if you could please subscribe to my YouTube channel, and be sure to press the bell button so you’re notified when all of my latest recipe videos are live! Let’s get cooking!

What Are Crispy Baja Fish Tacos?

These fish tacos are fresh, slightly spicy bundles of flavor which can be enjoyed with deep fried blackened basa fish, shrimp and onions, served with tortillas. I love my fair share of some great bold and smoky seafood, from Cajun Shrimp Lettuce Wraps to Blackened Pan-Seared Crispy Skin Salmon. When given the opportunity for tacos, usually I would opt for chicken and beef, but I must admit that these are tacos that everyone who eats seafood needs to try!

While you could actually grill the blackened fish and shrimp, we’ll be deep frying today because this is just the most delicious choice, right! You could also serve these tacos protein-style by using lettuce wraps instead of tortillas, or done protein style on the pan or flattop. They are a popular street food in Southern California, but it looks like that they’ve gained some traction here up north in Canada at casual fine dining restaurants!

Baja fish taco with crispy fried fish, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, cilantro, and orange sauce on a corn tortilla.

What Fish Should I Use For Baja Fish Tacos?▼

To remain truthful to the recipe, you would use Basa fish fillet. Basa is actually a type of catfish, originating from Southeast Asia. I can find frozen basa at my grocery store, but if you can’t, then don’t worry! As I mention in my free motivational guide to explore your potential in the kitchen, Make Cooking Fun!!, then using a suitable substitute you already have is certainly the way to go rather than stressing out about making a trip to the grocery store to buy exactly what is stated! If you already have white fish in your fridge or freezer, then go ahead and use that for this recipe! Otherwise, if you’re about to head out to purchase the fish for these tacos but you can’t find basa, then here are other options that will work perfectly fine:

Sea bass
Cod
Catfish
Tilapia
Halibut
Mahi Mahi
Haddock
Flounder

I definitely understand that white fish is bland and boring, but not in these tacos! You will certainly find a newly-found appreciation for white fish after trying these tacos, and you’ll want to have white fish more often!

Why You’ll Love This Baja Fish Tacos Recipe

Crispy fish & shrimp: Okay, who doesn’t love some good deep fried food? I have to admit I just love to deep fry! If this is a bit intimidating to you to try out, then I totally understand! To check deep frying off of your bucket list as a cooking skill to master, then these tacos are an excellent opportunity to do that as part of your Live to Cook one-month challenge! You can get started on your cooking journey for free today by signing up for my email newsletter, plus all of my latest recipes will be sent straight to your inbox!
Fresh ingredients: Besides the proteins that are frozen (if you can get fresh shrimp and white fish then lucky you!), everything else we’re using in this recipe is fresh and healthy. We’ve got a Green Goddess Dressing that is entirely made from scratch with avocado and fresh herbs, plus we’ve got freshly chopped avocados and tomatoes for garnish. You really taste summer in these tacos!
Plenty of customizations: You can garnish and serve your tacos with lots of different toppings and sauces. I’ve got just a couple of ideas for you later on in this post, so keep reading! You can also choose to make a beer batter for the fish and shrimp if you would like!
Easy to prep: It seems like these fish tacos would be a lot of work, but if you’re efficient with your preparation, then these tacos come together in just about 20 minutes! I’ll give lots of tips on how to prepare your ingredients in advance so you’ve got a seamless cooking experience!

Why Do We Use ALl-Purpose flour and Rice flour?▼

I use 1:1 ratio of all-purpose flour and rice flour to get a thin, light crust on the blackened baja fish, shrimp and onions. The rice flour here helps add extra crispiness and lightness to the breaded coating while all purpose flour helps get an even breading over the fillings and help achieve an even golden brown colour once fried. The baking powder thats in the mix is actually key to adding further lightness to the fried breading and its leavening properties aerates the breading when fried making everything crispier.

This breading can also accept beer to make the most amazing beer battered tacos for an even more special meal. More details in the next section!

Can I Make These Fish Tacos Beer-Battered?▼

Yes, you certainly can! You’ll see soon that we’re going to do a dry breading for our crispy fish and shrimp. However, if you want to do beer batter, as the name suggests, you’ll need to make a batter for marinating the shrimp and the fish. Follow the same steps for making your marinade with the flours and the baking powder, but you will pour your beer into that mixture. For beer recommendations, I believe pretty much believe any beer would be fine, but Mexican beers would be excellent!

What Sauce Do I serve with Fish Tacos?▼

You may have seen recipes serve the tacos with something called “baja sauce.” This isn’t really a thing from what I’m aware of! However, it is described as a white spicy sauce with a mayonnaise base. This is actually called Valentina Sauce, and this is what we served our fish tacos with at the restaurant.

I’m not going to be doing that here because I’m not a fan of that sauce! You can quite honestly use whatever hot sauce you want, it will all work perfectly fine!

Tools Needed to Make Fish Tacos

Salt crock: A nice spot for your salt to easily access it.
Pepper mill: Freshly cracked ground black pepper is always the tastiest! An investment in a good pepper mill will really go the mile!
Kitchen scale: Not mandatory, but helpful to portion out the amount of fish and shrimp you want so you’ve got the right amount per taco.
Mixing bowl: To marinate the fish and shrimp.
Measuring spoons: To measure the spices for the Blackening Spice.
Measuring cup: To measure the flours to make the breading for the tacos.
Cutting board: To cut your vegetables for topping the tacos and to cut the fish.
Chef’s knife: A sharp knife for cutting the fish and vegetables is key!
Paring knife: Great to use for cutting open a brand new avocado and to make thin slices.
Sieve: To dust off any excess breading off of the shrimp and fish.
Saucepan: A saucepan was a good size to fry the pieces of shrimp and fish.
Cast iron pan: I used a large cast iron pan so I could heat all the tortillas all at the same time. This is great so that everything is ready at the same time and no one gets a cold taco!
Thermometer: Recommended if you need to check the temperature of the oil before frying.
Slotted spoon: To handle the shrimp and fish in the oil as they’re frying.
Taco stands: These really make eating tacos less messy because your tacos will actually hold their shape! I can’t live without these now!
Ramekins: For any dipping sauce you would want on the side!

Three crispy fish tacos with lettuce, tomato, and cheese in taco stands, served with a ramekin of dipping sauce on a white plate.

Ingredients for Crispy Fish Tacos

The full list of ingredients with their quantities can be found in the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD, which you can find by scrolling to the bottom of this post or by pressing the “Jump to Recipe” button. You can also scale the recipe based on how many tacos you want to make so that you have the right amount of breading for your fish and shrimp and the perfect amount of fillings for the best taco experience!

Ingredients for Baja fish tacos including shrimp, tortillas, fresh vegetables, avocado, lime, and seasonings arranged on a gray countertop.

For the Baja & Shrimp

Shrimp: Peeled and deveined shrimp. If you’re buying shrimp with the shell on, you’ll have to remove this first.
White fish: The traditional choice would be to use basa fish, but you can use any type of white fish you can find.
Onions: I used yellow onions that were diced into 1 inch cubes.
Flour: All-purpose flour and rice flour.
Baking powder: This helps with leavening the breading and getting a light crispy crust once fried.
Blackening spice: Prepared with cayenne pepper, paprika (or smoked paprika), dried thyme, dried basil, dried oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, white pepper, black pepper. For more details about blackening spice, be sure to check out my complete recipe here.
Canola oil: For frying the fish and shrimp. Alternatively, you can fry with another neutral oil, such as vegetable oil or peanut oil.
Salt and pepper: While the marinade already has lots of flavor, you may notice that some can fall off when you’re frying because the breading is so thin. Once you’ve fried the shrimp and fish, taste and add extra seasoning if needed.

For the Fish Tacos

Mini tortillas: At the restaurant I worked at, these were served small-sized, so I recommend mini tortillas! However, you can use regular-sized tortillas if you want larger tacos. Additionally, I’m using white corn tortillas, but you can use regular corn tortillas if you would like. While I do find corn tortillas the tastiest, if you only have flour tortillas on hand, then that is a-okay!
Fried baja and shrimp: From above.
Cheese: I used a block of old yellow cheddar and cut it into strips. I just really like to enjoy the cheese on my tacos like this, and I add the slices of cheese directly on the tortilla while it’s heating on the cast iron pan. If you like the cheese on top, then feel free to grate it on top!
Lettuce: Freshly shredded lettuce.
Tomatoes: Finely diced to top the tacos.
Lemon: Cut into wedges for garnish and for sprinkling some fresh lemon juice on top of the tacos.
Cilantro: A few sprigs to add on top of your tacos for garnish.
Green Goddess Sauce: This dressing is so versatile, and it really enhances the tacos! The main ingredients here are avocado, Greek yogurt, fresh herbs, and mayonnaise. Be sure to check out the recipe to make your own Green Goddess Sauce in just a matter of minutes! We add this over the cheese when heating up the tortillas.

Tips for Making the Best Fish Tacos

The breading mixture doesn’t really need to be seasoned well since the coating is very thin, the seafood and onion mixture is well seasoned and once fried, you can always toss some salt and pepper.
The oil should be hot before adding the breaded proteins. If the oil is not hot enough, the breading will absorb the oil and become soggy rather than crispy. If unsure, test the temperature by frying a piece or two.
You may use a sauce pan if frying a small batch or a stainless steel pan if frying a larger batch. Make sure not to overcrowd the pan which will cause the temperature of the oil to go down.
Make sure to sieve any excess breading from the proteins before adding to the oil. This will help protect the quality of the oil as extra flour will just collect at the bottom of the pan and burn.
Timing is everything. Make sure you time the frying of the proteins with the toasting of the tortillas on the pan so that by the time you are ready to finish assembly, the proteins are hot, fresh and crispy.
Using oil to toast the tortillas is key to ensure they have a light and crispy texture.

Three crispy Baja fish tacos topped with lettuce, tomato, avocado, and cheese, served with a small cup of orange sauce.

How to Make Baja Fish Tacos

Marinate the basa fish, shrimp and onions by adding them to a bowl and then adding the blacking spice and 1-2 Tbsp of Canola oil. Marinate for at least 1-2 hours.

Marinated basa fish and shrimp with diced onions in a white bowl, ready for breading.

Hand sprinkling blackening spice over basa fish and diced onions in a white bowl.

Marinated basa fish and shrimp coated in blackening spice and oil in a white bowl, ready for breading.

Prepare the breading mixture by mixing together the all purpose and rice flour with baking powder in a large bowl or container.

Add the marinated seafood and onions the breading mixture and cover the bowl or container with a cover or lid. Shake the bowl or container until each side is well coated with the breading.

Pouring breading mixture of flour and baking powder into a glass bowl for coating fish tacos.

Pouring flour mixture into a glass bowl for Baja fish taco breading

Hand shaking a glass bowl of white breading mixture for fish tacos.

Breaded seafood pieces coated in seasoned flour mixture in a white bowl, ready for deep frying.

Breaded fish and onions in a clear container being shaken to coat evenly with flour mixture.

Breading mixture of flour and rice flour with marinated seafood and onions in a glass bowl ready to be shaken.

Remove any excess breading by transferring the portion to a sieve and shaking.

Deep fry the seafood mixture for 1 minute 15 seconds to 1 minute 30 seconds or until golden brown and crispy. Once cooked, transfer the portion to a bowl line with paper towels.

Fried fish pieces in a fine-mesh sieve being shaken to remove excess breading.

Golden fried fish pieces being transferred from a sieve to a bowl of oil during deep frying.

How to Assemble the Tacos

While the portion is deep frying, heat a pan or griddle on medium heat, add a drizzle of oil and then place the tortilla on the pan. Add a third of cheese in the center, followed by the green goddess sauce.

Cook until the tortillas are warmed and lightly toasted.

Three flour tortillas warming and lightly toasting in a red cast iron skillet on a stovetop.

Three flour tortillas warming in a red skillet with sliced cheddar cheese on each one.

Three flour tortillas heating on a griddle, each topped with avocado crema and roasted yellow peppers.

Transfer the tortillas to a taco stand or serving plate and top each taco with 1/6th of the lettuce.

Then, distribute the fried seafood, the remaining lettuce, 1 Tbsp tomato, avocado slice and garnish with cilantro sprig.

Three crispy fish tacos topped with shredded lettuce and sliced avocado on a white plate.

Three Baja fish tacos on a white plate with shredded lettuce, fried fish, tomato, and cilantro, with sauce being drizzled on top.

Three crispy fried fish tacos topped with shredded lettuce, diced tomato, and fresh garnish on a white plate.

Three crispy battered fish tacos topped with avocado slices, diced tomatoes, and shredded lettuce on a white plate.

Serve with a fresh wedge of lime or lemon and your favorite hot sauce!

Enjoy.

Baja fish taco held in hand with fried fish, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, cilantro, and orange sauce in a corn tortilla

Serving Suggestions for Fish Tacos

These tacos are so delicious that they can definitely be served on their own! As you can see here, I topped mine with some tomatoes and avocado slices. However, there are lots of other ways you can top your tacos! Here are a few ideas:

Tomatillo Salsa Verde
Guacamole
Cabbage: Purple or green.
Pico de Gallo
Valentina sauce: This is a Mexican hot sauce. This is how the tacos were served at the restaurant I worked at, but I honestly don’t like this sauce very much. I find it’s got too much of a cumin flavour with too much heat. That being said, you could serve with any kind of hot sauce!
Sour cream
Spicy Mayo
Garlic Aioli

Now, here are ways you can pair your tacos for a restaurant experience right from home!

White rice with a touch of lemon juice!
Black Bean Salsa
Refried Beans
Mexican Red Rice
Chipotle-Style Cilantro-Lime Rice

You can also enjoy with some fries! Since you’re already frying, you could prepare some Restaurant-Style Deep Fried French Fries. For a lighter spin, try Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries. If you’re looking for some vegetables to go with the tacos, I recommend Garlic-Butter Sautéed Broccoli or an Arugula Goat’s Cheese Salad.

If you want to go all out, you could even serve the Baja Fish and shrimp over tostadas!

Can I Make These Tacos in Advance?▼

No, you most certainly cannot! You really can’t enjoy tacos any other way other than to have them hot and fresh as soon as they are ready!

Now, I can understand wanting to prep to get ahead so that when you are ready to cook the tacos, you’re all set up for an efficient and seamless process. What you can do - and what I did - was to cut up my vegetable toppings and to marinate the fish and shrimp before preparing the tacos. I even sliced up my cheese and covered the cheese slices in plastic wrap before making the tacos! Keep everything in airtight containers in the fridge until you’re ready to fry the fish and assemble the tacos.

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What Are Crispy Baja Fish Tacos?

Why You’ll Love This Baja Fish Tacos Recipe

Tools Needed to Make Fish Tacos