Fish Tacos
Happy Monday everyone! I hope y’all had a great weekend. We had a very easy going, relaxing weekend at home together and it was great. Just what we all needed. One of my favorite things about our weekends is we usually make one of our favorite dinners either Friday or Saturday, since Erick is home. For those of you who don’t know, he is quite the good cook, it’s just a matter of getting him to do it! BUT, when we put our heads together, great dinners are created!
This weekend, it was our absolute favorite fish tacos. We kind of just stumbled upon how we put these together through some trial and error, but we think we finally have the magic combo. Now we can’t take credit for the actual recipes themselves, like the seasonings and all that so I will post the links to where we found them at the bottom, but I just wanted to show you how we put them all together to make great tacos. We use tilapia as the fish. It’s super easy to make (it’s totally cooked in 8 minutes) and it holds onto the seasoning really well so it’s always incredibly flavorful. Also, E LOVES it. She will scarf down an entire filet by herself. We also love tilapia because we can get it in bulk from Sam’s Club for a reasonable price, so we always have it stocked in our freezer.
So first things first for these tacos (I’ll put the full steps in bullet form at the bottom so it’s a little more condensed at the bottom) is the rice because that’s what takes the longest. We ususally just buy Mahatma yellow rice from Kroger. Just cook it according to the package.
Up next is the tilapia. They defrost from frozen in less than 10 minutes so they don’t need to be set out too far ahead of time. Once defrosted, season them fully on both sides. The seasoning amounts are enough for 3-4 filets, depending on how big the ones you have are. After they are fully seasoned, heat up the olive oil in a large skillet pan. Once it’s hot, put the filets on for 4 minutes, then flip them for the remaining 4 minutes and that’s it. Juicy, delcious tilapia filets! We then put them to the side on a plate wrapped in foil so they will stay warm while we are preparing the rest of the dish. When we don’t always want to go through the hassel of making everything for the tacos, we will often just have the filets like this, with some salad or veggies, or rice.
Then the final step is the slaw and the sauce. Just mix all the ingredients together and that part is simple.
Now to assemble the tacos: the most important part. Start with the tortilla. We have used both flour and corn. We usually stick to corn since that’s a little healthier. Make sure to warm them up first, it makes a huge difference. We just pop them in our little toaster oven until they are warm. Then we put about a spoonful of rice on top of the tortilla, then the tilapia (which we have cut into pieces), then the slaw, then the sauce, then the sliced avocado, and lastly, the feta cheese. Feta cheese was the game changer for us. This is what put these tacos over the top to amazing. At first I used shredded cheddar cheese and Erick used double crema, and it was good, but the feta really was the best.
And there you have it! Amazing fish tacos. Simple to make and absolutely delicious. Except for refried beans, we usually don’t put any sides with it, but you could do a salad or whatever else you like with your tacos. As I mentioned above, when we want a lighter meal, we will just use this tilapia recipe and have it with veggies and brown rice. That’s a great meal too. I have also put this slaw, tilapia, avocado, and a little rice ontop of a bed of lettuce for a really good salad. There are so many different options. If you put some new combination together, be sure to let me know! We are always looking to try new things!
Below is our finished product. I also like to show how E eats it so you can see the toddler version. She had rice, the tilapia, and cheese. Not pictured on this was also the corn on the cob she also had for another veggie (and yes, she does use this Minnie Mouse plate for every meal she has, so get used to seeing it).
So here’s everything broken down with the seasonings:
Tilapia:
1/2 Tbs Chili Powder (original recipe calls for 1 Tbs, but we found it a little too spicy)
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp Onion Powder
1/4 tsp dried Oregano
1 1/2 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Sea Salt (I use Himalayan Salt)
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
Sauce:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp lime juice
1 tsp minced fresh cilantro
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp water
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground chipoltle chili
pinch dried thyme
pinch ground cumin
Slaw:
Sliced cabbage (about 1/2 a head, just depends how much you want to make)
1 can of Rotel with cilantro and garlic
Juice from 1 lime
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
1 tsp of cumin
Steps:
- Cook rice according to package
- Heat tbsp of oil on medium high heat in large skiller
- Season Tilapia on both sides
- Put tilapia in heated pan for 4 minutes, then flip for remaining 4 minutes
- Remove tilapia from heat and wrap in foil on plate
- Mix together ingredients for slaw & sauce
- Heat tortillas
- Assemble delicious tacos!
Here are the links for where we found everything:
Tilapia Seasoning: https://tastefulventure.com/tilapia-fish-tacos-avocado-cilantro-sauce/print/12476/
Sauce: https://blogchef.net/subway-chipotle-southwest-sauce-recipe/