Beer Battered Crispy Fish Tacos

Crispy Fish Tacos with a cod fried with a light and crispy beer batter topped with slaw, crema and salsa is the perfect handheld summer meal.

Beer Battered Fish is a favorite here, we make it for family meal dinners often. In fact I use any excuse to make a batter including my Fried Pickles, Cheese Curds, Fried Okra, Shrimp Tempura and recently the Dynamite Shrimp which we inhaled within minutes of the photos being taken.

 Crispy Fish Tacos

Beer Battered Crispy Fish Tacos: these Baja fish tacos (Baja-Style Decoded: cabbage, crema and limes) are a breeze to make, but have that extra something because of the flavorful beer batter. Plan on fish tacos for your next summer get-together…then please invite me to it because they’re amazing.

I take a deep frying seriously, ask me about my love letter to fried chicken on this blog. I have KFC Fried Chicken, Pioneer Fried Chicken and the hands-down Crispiest Fried Chicken you’ll Ever eat.

Trust me when I batter something.

Best Fish for Fish Tacos

This Fish Tacos Recipe starts with Cod. You don’t have to use cod but it is my go-to. Cod is a flaky white fish, it is a very pleasant mild tasting fish and kids love it. Some people love to use mahi-mahi, halibut or even tilapia.

I like cod, partially because to me it’s a classic favorite. Partially because I love the way it flakes perfectly with bites. Either way, stick with a white fish for your fried fish fillets and I think you’re good to go.

Grilled Fish Tacos:

If you’d like to grill your fish tacos you can pick almost any fish you’d like the flavor of. When I grill fish tacos I tend to go for a more flavorful fish like salmon.

If you’re grilling you are going to need a seasoning for the fish as the seasoning in my batter is most of the flavor of this taco. I recommend chili powder, lime zest, lime juice, cumin, garlic powder, kosher salt and black pepper to taste. You can’t go wrong starting with 1/4 tsp of each on 2 pounds of fish then adjusting as you’d like.

What to serve with Fish Tacos:

We love serving Mexican Rice, Shrimp Ceviche, Bean Dip, Queso and Homemade Lime Chips to make a fun party meal.

Fish Tacos Are Kid Friendly

Kids are notoriously picky when it comes to seafood and when it comes to getting them to try fish I love using this recipe instead of the standard fried and frozen fish stick.

Beer Battered Crispy Fish Tacos are the no-fail way I get people who are on the seafood fence to eat fish. These fish tacos are covered in a super flavorful, and crispy light batter that isn’t bread-y or heavy.

On the inside, the fish is flaky, mild and moist. Plus a toppings bar is always going to be a winner. Give the kids a bowl of cheese to top their food with and you know they’re going to eat it.

Topping Ideas for Fish Tacos Recipe:

• Lime Wedges
• Cabbage Slaw
• Red Onion
• Jicama
• Cotija Cheese
• Cilantro
• Avocado
• Jalapeno Slices
• Hot Sauce
• Guacamole
• Chopped Mangos (I topped these fish tacos with mango chunks!)

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The perfect taco wouldn’t be complete without an amazing crema recipe. You could of course use sour cream. You could even just thin out a bit of sour cream with a little bit of milk or some lime juice and call it a day. But making an authentic crema is just a few extra ingredients and it tastes amazing. If you want to spice it up a bit I recommend a hit of hot sauce or cayenne pepper.

Homemade Crema Recipe

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1. Mix ingredients well and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Tips For Fish Taco beer batter

• Keep your batter on ice! I know it sounds weird and you probably feel like you can work quickly enough, but any light batter that is going to have an awesome crispy non bread-y texture like this batter or tempura is kept on ice.
• Go for a nice dark beer. The flavor and color it gives the beer is distinct. If you use what you have on hand it will of course “work” but it won’t be the same.

Tips For How to Make Fish Tacos

Some things to be careful of when making these Beer Battered Crispy Fish Tacos:

• Don’t overcrowd your pan, the oil temperature is important. If it gets too high or too low you risk having soggy heavy breading or burnt breading and raw fish. Use a thermometer!
• Careful you don’t break the breading using tongs or something else that smashes the fish, I use these to flip the food.
• Don’t drain on paper towels, the breading will get soft in a matter of minutes.
• I like to warm my tortillas, you don’t have to warm or even warm in the microwave. Sometimes I also just brown them for a couple of seconds on a hot griddle, I would’ve mentioned that in this recipe but you would be getting the griddle out JUST for this purpose and there are already a few moving parts to this recipe so I went with the easy damp paper towel in the microwave trick instead.
• I use corn tortillas because they avoid sogginess more, but if you prefer flour you can certainly use flour tortillas too.

This post is sponsored by La Victoria Salsa.

4.91 from 10 votes

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Beer Battered Crispy Fish Tacos

Crispy Fish Tacos with a cod fried with a light and crispy beer batter topped with slaw, crema and salsa is the perfect handheld summer meal.

Course Main

Cuisine Mexican

Keyword fish taco

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 6 servings

Calories 411 kcal

Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon Kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup cup cornstarch
• 12 ounces dark beer
• 1 large egg
• 6 cups ice , in a large bowl
• 1 pound Cod Fish , cut into 1½" strips
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon coarsley ground black pepper
• 16 small corn tortillas
• 1 cup green cabbage , finely shredded
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• La Victoria Salsa
• Crema (recipe above)
• Canola oil , for frying

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

1. In a large bowl add 1/2 tablespoon Kosher salt, 1 cup flour, cornstarch, beer, and egg to make the batter and sit the bowl over the bowl of ice to stay cold.

2. In a second bowl add the chili powder, coarsely ground black pepper and remaining 1/2 tablespoon of kosher salt to the remaining 1/2 cup of flour.

3. Pour canola oil into a dutch oven or cast iron skillet to a depth of 3" and heat to 375 degrees on a thermometer.

4. Dredge the pieces of cod in the flour mixture, then into the batter (let excess drip off) and carefully drop 4-5 pieces per batch into the oil and fry for 3-4 minutes or until browned and crisp then remove to a baking sheet with a cooling rack.

5. Wrap your corn tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwave for 15-20 seconds and add the cabbage and the juice of one lime in a small bowl and toss then assemble with crema and salsa.

Nutrition Facts

Beer Battered Crispy Fish Tacos

Amount Per Serving

Calories 411 Calories from Fat 27

% Daily Value*

Fat 3g5%

Cholesterol 67mg22%

Sodium 1265mg55%

Potassium 535mg15%

Carbohydrates 68g23%

Fiber 5g21%

Sugar 1g1%

Protein 22g44%

Vitamin A 290IU6%

Vitamin C 6.5mg8%

Calcium 87mg9%

Iron 3mg17%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.