I don’t know about you guys, but I love a good fish taco. A lot of the time, homemade soft shell tacos like this can seem like a lot of work, but in actuality, there are ways to “hack the system” so they really don’t take too long, or require that much effort! Start to finish, this recipe takes around 40 minutes! It’s perfect to whip up on a weeknight and impress people, or even to make on a weekend for a dinner party, family dinner, or anything! And the best part is, these taste and look SUPER impressive, but they are SO simple! This is my favorite fish taco recipe!
Why I BAKE the halibut
Ok, so yes, fish tacos with a white flakey fish can be difficult. I mean, I have certainly had my fair share of failures trying to pan fry or saute chunks of tilapia, cod, and other white fish that stick to the pan, never develop a good crust, and lose their flavor in the process. Luckily, I have found a solution to get the most flavorful fish for your tacos: bake it!
Baked white fish is a common type of recipe, but for these tacos, you make your own wet spice rub and bake in a casserole dish, which creates a sauce. After that, you flake the fish into chunks and toss it in the oils and sauces created by baking the fish at a lower temperature (not broiler). This gets the flavor ALL over the tacos.
Essentially, the first step is to make the spice mix consisting of paprika, oregano, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, ground red chipotle, and chili pepper. Then, set your fish on olive oil with garlic cloves in the dish.
After mixing the spices together, add olive oil and lime juice to the bowl and mix until combined, then slather over the halibut and add garlic cloves and lime wedges to the casserole dish to infuse flavor while baking.
Then, bake the fish for 25 minutes! If your fish has skin, remove it from the bottom after baking, then remove the garlic cloves and lime and flake into big chunks.
The homemade guacamole (and other components)
Other than the baked fish, heres what I had to make the tacos:
- Warmed corn tortillas (NOT homemade! I bought these from Wegmans and they were labeled gluten free!)
- Pre-made mango salsa (this was also from Wegmans, but the WHole Foods one is also delish!) If you want my homemade recipe, you can find it in my Gluten Free Blackened Tilapia with Pineapple Salsa recipe!
- Cabbage slaw (just red cabbage tossed in lime juice, salt, and rice wine vinegar)
- Homemade guacamole (you can use your recipe or mine, which is below!)
How to make the homemade guacamole (My favorite recipe!)
My homemade guacamole recipe is a family favorite, and super simple! It’s essentially just a textbook guac recipe: red onion, cilantro, jalapeno, lime juice and zest, salt and pepper, and avocados.
The recipe is exactly what is seems like: literally just mix everything together. It can’t get more simple than that! My biggest tip is to taste as you go!
My tips for the Baked Halibut Tacos:
- Make sure you remove all of the fish skin, garlic, and lime wedges from the casserole dish before you flake the fish into pieces. Nothing is more unpleasant than biting into a piece of fish skin or a whole clove of garlic. if you flip the fish upside down before flaking, the skin will peel off really easily.
- Make the guac while the fish is baking! It takes practically NO time, mostly just prep for cutting veggies, juicing limes, etc. If you can have the guacamole, the cabbage “slaw” and everything else ready by the time the fish is out of the oven, the recipe will literally be so quick to make!
- You can use cod or tilapia, or any flaky white fish you would like, for this recipe. However, adjust your baking times as needed! My pieces of halibut were so thick, so they took almost 30 minutes to bake. A think piece of flounder will only take 8 or 10.
- Get creative with what is going in your tacos! You can use whatever you want! These are just the ingredients that I enjoy.
Here is the recipe!
Baked Halibut Fish Tacos
Ingredients
For the fish:
- 2 lbs fresh halibut
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1/2 of a lime
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground chipotle pepper
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
For the homemade guacamole
- 3 large hass avocados
- 1 red onion (EXTREMELY finely diced)
- 1 large jalapeno (with the seeds removed, finely diced)
- 1 large lime (juiced and zested)
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
For the Slaw
- 2 cups freshly shaved red cabbage
- 1/2 of a lime (juiced)
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
Other components
- 1 container store bought mango pineapple salsa (notes in article and recipe linked below)
- 1 package gluten free corn tortillas
- cilantro, for garnishing
- extra lime wedges, for garnishing
Instructions
- Before prepping any other ingredients, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Coat the bottom of a large casserole dish with half of the olive oil, then place the halibut SKIN SIDE DOWN on top of the olive oil. place the six cloves of peeled garlic into the dish.
- In a separate bowl, combine the spices (paprika, oregano, salt, garlic powder, black pepper, chipotle, and chili powder) and zest the 1/2 of the lime and add that too. Then, juice the lime and add the lime juice and the rest of the olive oil. Mix to combine. This makes what's called a wet rub, and it creates a sauce to toss the fish in after baking.
- Cut up the lime that you juiced earlier. Cover the halibut in the wet rub and rub it in. Add the lime wedges into the casserole dish and bake for 25 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees.
- While the fish is baking, make the guacamole. Scoop the avocados into a large bowl and mash with a fork until smooth. Add the red onions, salt, jalapeno, chopped cilantro, and lime juice and zest, and black pepper into the avocado and mix until combined. Squeeze extra lime juice onto the top of the guac and set aside.
- In a very large bowl, add the freshly shaved red cabbage (I shaved mine using a mandolin) and then add the lime juice and rice wine vinegar and toss.
- When the halibut is done baking, carefully pick each piece of fish up with a spatula and remove the skin, then remove the garlic cloves, and lime wedges from the casserole dish. Flake the halibut into large chunks and toss it in the sauce that was created by baking off the wet rub.
- Warm up the corn tortillas on a grill or a large pan, then form the tacos! I like to use guac as the base, then add some of the flaked halibut, slaw on the side, mango salsa on top, and extra cilantro.
- Serve as a family/buffet style meal and enjoy!