Healthy Fish Tacos
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Last updated on May 02, 2024
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These healthy fish tacos are made with grilled white fish and topped with a cabbage slaw and avocado crema. They make for such a quick and easy weeknight meal!
These healthy grilled fish tacos are my idea of the perfect summer dinner!
They’re so fresh and flavorful and the entire recipe takes 30 minutes from start to finish, which is ideal when you’re wanting to make a healthy dinner, but don’t have a ton of time.
Why You Need to Make This Recipe
- Fish tacos are the perfect recipe for Taco Tuesday and taste so fresh!
- The tacos cook up in under 30 minutes.
- I’m obsessed with the honey Dijon cabbage slaw and the avocado crema.
Ingredients Needed
- fish – the main ingredient for this recipe. I recommend tilapia, but any other mild-tasting white fish like halibut, mahi-mahi, snapper, rockfish, cod or sea bass would work well.
- fresh lime juice – you’ll want to squeeze the juice of one lime over the fish before seasoning.
- seasoning – combine garlic powder, cumin, cayenne and sea salt to sprinkle over fish before grilling. Feel free to skip the cayenne if you don’t want these tacos to be less spicy. Chili powder would also be a good substitute for the cayenne.
- tortillas – I used small corn tortillas to keep this recipe gluten-free, but feel free to use your favorite style of tortilla!
- honey dijon cabbage slaw – this slaw really amps up the flavor and texture with a crunchy, tangy mix of cabbage, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, dijon mustard and honey.
- avocado crema – this creamy sauce takes these fish tacos to the next level! It’s a blend of avocado, Greek yogurt, cilantro, fresh lime juice and a dash of sea salt. If you’re vegan or dairy-free, you can swap Greek yogurt for a dairy-free yogurt.
- lime wedges – for serving!
- additional toppings – fresh pico de gallo, salsa, sour cream and cheese are all good options. Or for a little heat, try hot sauce or jalapeños.
How to Make
Prepare fish: Place in a glass pan and squeeze the juice from one lime over the fish fillets. In a small bowl, whisk together garlic powder, cumin, cayenne and sea salt. Sprinkle over fish and gently rub in. Allow the fish to marinate for about 10 minutes while you make your slaw and avocado crema.
Make cabbage slaw: Combine cabbage, onion, cilantro, lime juice, mustard, honey, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Set aside.
Make avocado crema: Combine avocado, yogurt, cilantro, lime juice, salt and water in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Set aside.
Cook fish and heat tortillas: On a preheated and oiled grill, cook fish for 3 to 4 minutes per side or until cooked through. Wrap stacked tortillas in aluminum foil and place on the cooler part of the grill for 5 to 8 minutes until warm. Alternatively, you can warm the tortillas in the oven and cook the fish in a skillet on the stovetop over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes each side.
Serve: Break fish into large pieces and divide among tortillas. Top with slaw and avocado crema. Make sure you have extra lime wedges for serving — a squeeze of fresh lime juice right before eating the tacos makes the flavors pop!
Customize Your Fish Tacos
I love this recipe as is, but feel free to make these tacos your own! Here are some ideas:
- Different protein – they wouldn’t be fish tacos without fish, but you could definitely try this recipe with something like chicken or shrimp. These cauliflower tacos would also be delicious with the honey dijon slaw.
- Switch up the toppings – the crunch of the cabbage slaw and freshness of the avocado crema pull these tacos together, but the topping choices are endless. You could swap the slaw out for plain shredded cabbage or lettuce or, instead of the avocado crema, use sliced avocado and a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt! Try adding pickled red onions, fresh tomatoes or carrots. Sprinkle on crumbled cotija or feta cheese. Fish tacos even pair well with a fruity salsa like my pineapple salsa.
How to Serve Fish Tacos
This healthy fish taco recipe makes a meal on their own, but it’s always fun to have a few sides and a festive drink… especially if you’re hosting dinner. Here are some options:
- Sides: chips and salsa, black beans or refried beans, cottage cheese queso, black bean dip, healthy guacamole, avocado salad or Mexican street corn salad
- Drinks: skinny paloma or skinny margarita
How to Store
Store any leftover fish in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 2-3 days. Store any leftover avocado crema and slaw in separate containers in the fridge for up to 5 days. For reheating, I recommend warming the fish over the stovetop to crisp it up a little.
More Taco Recipes
- Cauliflower Tacos
- Ground Turkey Tacos
- Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
- Healthy Chicken Tacos
- Shrimp Tacos
- Ground Beef Tacos
Be sure to check out all of the dinner recipes as the full collection of Mexican recipes on EBF!
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Healthy Fish Tacos
Ingredients
Tacos
- 1 lb tilapia, halibut or other white fish like rockfish, cod or sea bass
- Juice from 1 lime, about 2 Tablespoons
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 8 small corn tortillas
- Lime wedges, for serving
- Hot sauce or salsa, for serving (optional)
Honey Dijon Cabbage Slaw
- 1 cup red cabbage, thinly sliced
- ⅓ cup red onion, thinly sliced
- ⅓ cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
- Juice from 1 lime, about 2 Tablespoons
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon honey
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ground pepper, to taste
Avocado Crema
- 1 large avocado
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt
- Juice from 1 1/2 limes, about 3 Tablespoons
- 3 Tablespoons fresh cilantro
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons of water
Instructions
- Place fish in a shallow dish and squeeze the juice from one lime over the fish. In a small bowl, whisk together garlic powder, cumin, cayenne and sea salt. Sprinkle over fish and gently rub the seasoning in. Allow the fish to marinate for about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine cabbage, onion, cilantro, juice from the lime, mustard, honey, salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Set aside. Taste slaw and season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.
- Make avocado crema by combining avocado, yogurt, cilantro, lime juice, salt and water in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and combined. Set aside.
- Heat grill to medium-high and lightly oil grill-grate with cooking spray. Arrange tortillas in a stack and wrap with aluminum foil. Grill fish until cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Place tortillas on cooler part of grill (we used the top rack) until warm, 5 to 8 minutes, turning halfway. Alternatively, you can warm the tortillas in the oven and cook the fish on the stovetop over medium-high heat with a little olive oil for about 3 minutes each side.
- Break fish into large pieces. Divide fish among tortillas and top with slaw and avocado crema. Serve each taco with a small lime wedge for squeezing over the taco before eating.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Oh my gosh!! SO GOOD! Easy to make! I have complicated migraine so I did some substitutions. Smoke is an issue for me. I learned that with the wildfires a couple of summers ago. I put the fish in the air fryer, 8 minutes. And, I used distilled vinegar instead of the lime juice. I can’t eat yogurt so I just simplified it and instead of making the avocado cream I just diced up a little avocado. So good! Well done!👏🏼
Oh, and I also used strip bass. So yummy!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it, Lynn. Your substitutions sound perfect, and I love that you made it work for you. Thanks for the review! 🙂
Amazing recipe! I made this for dinner tonight, it was so yummy! Thank you!
YUM! This is such a good one and I am so glad you are enjoying it too, Tira! Thank you for your review + star rating, I really appreciate it!
Any advice for using frozen fish? I’m not sure if it’s the brand but I find cooking with frozen fish comes out rubbery and watery and overall not good!
This was delicious! I doubled the slaw recipe, added a little fresh chopped baby spinach, and served as a fish taco salad. YUM! Thank you for another great recipe!
I am SO happy that you enjoyed this recipe, Jen! Thank you for your review + star rating, I really appreciate it!
Hello! Thanks for sharing this recipy with us! Soamazing!
Of course, thank you for your review + star rating. I so appreciate it!
Used halibut for the recipe. this came out amazing!!! Love the cabbage and grilled avocado with it.
Yay!! So excited that the recipe turned out well for you with the halibut! And thank you so much for taking the time to come back here and comment and leave a star rating. I so appreciate it!
What brand are the tortillas? And where do you usually do all your grocery shopping? 🙂
hmm… I don’t remember what brand I bought. I do almost all of my shopping at Whole Foods and then pick up a few things from Trader Joe’s as well. I think I actually got the small tortillas from Trader Joe’s.
Congrats on the new layout, it looks awesome!
This looks aaaaaaaaaaaaamazing and I don’t even like fish!
This looks so good! I LOVE avocado but have never tried it grilled. Doing it ASAP!
Yay! I hope you love it as much as we do.
Absolutely love the new design and your fish taco photography is beautiful!
The design is very pretty and clean! I love it! And of course, the recipe looks delish – I love fish tacos and love grilling, so I’m sold!
I made black bean and salsa tostados for Cinco de Mayo. Your new site design is lovely. It seems like a lot of sites are changing now. Your text is readable-I’ve seen others that are too light.
love the new look! just as beautiful as the tacos!
Mmmmm!!! That looks like a keeper in my recipe box. The pics also look gorgeous!
I love the new look of your site! I will look into Deluxe Designs when I’m ready to hire someone to jazz up my blog! 🙂
Those fish tacos also looks delicious! Yum!
Those fish tacos are gorgeous! I have a head if red cabbage waiting for me at home. That slaw has my name all over it. Happy Cinco!
Fish Tacos are one of my favorite meals of all time. I love the warm grilled fish with the refreshing salsa, topped with the creaminess of avocado. Perfection! I am trying out your cabbage slaw/salsa for sure!
Xx,D
I like the design, it is clean and there’s nothing distracting about it! This fish taco recipe looks delicious, far better than the norm!
Thanks so much for the feedback Traci. I appreciate it!
Love the new site!!
WE ARE CLEARLY on the same pagee!!! Fish Tacos for the WIN! 🙂
Indeed! 🙂
Your new site is stunning!!! I will definitely consider Deluxe Designs for design work in the future.
I made fish tacos this weekend, too… with mango avo salsa — cheers!
Thanks so much Hillary. Fish tacos for the win. Love them!