If you like fish tacos as I do, you will love my grilled fish tacos with spicy slaw and avocado cream recipe. With the perfect balance of smoke, heat, and creaminess, and full of chargrilled fish and coleslaw, it just might become your new favorite taco!
Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner, and how better to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, or Taco Tuesday, than with a new recipe for grilled fish tacos?
Now, I have never met a taco that I didn’t like, but my favorite is fish tacos. Whether you grill, fry, or broil your seafood, it will be delicious. They are also quick and easy to prepare, and the fish only takes minutes to cook.
The star of this show:
The best fish, whether grilled or not, are mild, white, firm fish such as tilapia, grouper, snapper, bass, halibut, flounder, cod, and catfish. Try and find fillets that are close to the same thickness so that they will cook evenly. I usually look for fillets that are around ½ inch thick or thinner.
The fillets are lightly coated with smokey cumin, garlic powder, salt, and ground black pepper and can be grilled indoors on a grill pan or an outdoor grill.
No boring coleslaw here: how to put the spice in spicy coleslaw:
One of the essential components of this recipe is my spicy coleslaw. To make things easier, I purchased a bag of coleslaw, but it’s the sweet and spicy dressing that sets this coleslaw apart. Full of scallions, spicy jalapenos, cilantro, lime juice, and sour cream, this dressing is not your Mama’s coleslaw dressing.
To keep the heat down a bit, I removed the seeds from my jalapeno. If you like more spice or heat, leave the seeds in.
Avocado cream, say what?
With buttery avocado, fresh lime juice, cilantro, and crema, this topping seals the deal and wraps the entire package in a layer of creamy deliciousness.
Crema Mexicana is similar to sour cream or crème fraîche. All are slightly soured and thickened, but crema is the thinnest. Most grocery stores carry it now, but if you can’t find it, regular sour cream works just fine!
Don’t forget the cheese!
Did you know that authentic Mexican restaurants, don’t usually add cheese to their tacos? Shocking but true. Cheese is more of a Tex-Mex or Americanized Mexican thing. Authentic or not, cotija or fresco cheese is the final component in this recipe
Again, most grocery stores carry a good selection of these cheeses, but if you can’t find it, shredded Monterey Jack or a Mexican blend makes a good substitute.
How to grill the fish:
Pat it dry with a paper towel.
Combine the salt, pepper, cumin, and garlic powder in a small bowl. Sprinkle over both sides of the fillets.
Liberally coat your grill pan with olive oil to prevent the fillets from sticking and place it over medium-high heat.
When the pan is hot, add the fillets and cook for approximately 2-3 minutes. Use a pancake turner or fish turner and carefully turn the fillets over. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.
These cooking times assume your fillets are ½ inch or less thick. If they are thicker, they will take more time. The fish is done when it becomes opaque and flakes easily when pierced with a fork.
When the fillets are done, remove them from the grill pan and set aside.
How to make the spicy coleslaw:
Add the lime juice, sugar, dry mustard, sour cream, scallions, jalapeno, cilantro, salt, and garlic powder to a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse until the sauce is thick and creamy.
Place the cabbage in a large bowl and add the sauce. Toss to combine. Set aside.
How to make the avocado cream:
Add the avocado, crema, water, cilantro, garlic, salt, garlic powder, and lime juice to the same food processor and process until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Set aside.
How to assemble:
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Wrap the tortillas in aluminum foil and place in the oven for about 10 minutes to warm.
When the tortillas are warm, add the fish and a good helping of coleslaw to each tortilla. Top with about a tablespoon or so of the avocado crema, and finally crumble about a tablespoon of the cotija cheese over each.
Optional, squeeze fresh lime juice over each.
Sharon’s Expert Tips:
- If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a blender to make the crema and coleslaw dressing.
- Because the ingredients are so similar, I don’t usually wash or wipe out my food processor between making the coleslaw dressing and crema.
- You can make the coleslaw dressing and crema up to 24 hours ahead. Simply cover and refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the tacos.
- I prefer flour tortillas, but these tacos are delicious, whether you use corn or flour tortillas. Most corn tortillas are gluten-free, but be sure to check the label to confirm this.
- This recipe calls for an indoor grill pan. If you are grilling the fish outside, be sure first clean your grates, then oil them liberally to keep the fish from sticking. It’s even easier if you have a fish grilling basket. If you grill a lot of fish, I would highly recommend a fish grilling basket. They run around $15-$20, and you can use them for vegetables and shrimp.
- This recipe calls for one seeded jalapeno. If you want more heat or spice, either leave the seeds in or add an additional pepper.
Related recipes:
If you like tacos as much as I do, I’m betting you might also like these recipes: Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa, Easy Salsa Verde Chicken Tacos, Shrimp Tacos with Mango Slaw, and Easy Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Tacos.
And, while technically these are not tacos in the strictest sense of the word, these taco-like recipes certainly deserve a quick look too: Beef Taco Salad with Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing, Fish Taco Bowl with Green Apple Guacamole, and Easy Crunchy Taco Cups. Can you tell I love them?
★ If you make this recipe, please leave a comment and give it a star rating. I would love to know how you liked it!
Thank you so much for visiting Grits and Pinecones!
📋 Recipe:
Grilled Fish Tacos with Spicy Coleslaw and Avocado Cream Recipe
Ingredients
Grilled Fish Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1-½ lbs fish fillets about 3 fillets
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
Spicy Coleslaw Ingredients:
- 3-4 cups shredded cabbage can substitute 1-16 oz bag of pre-shredded coleslaw
- 2 teaspoon fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon dry mustard
- ½ cup sour cream can substitute mayonnaise
- 3 scallions coarsely chopped, white and green parts
- 2 tablespoon cilantro coarsely chopped
- 1 jalapeno seeded and coarsely chopped
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Avocado Cream Ingredients:
- 1 avocado seeded and chopped
- ½ cup crema Mexican cream, may substitute sour cream
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup cilantro coarsely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic coarsely chopped, may substitute 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Misc. Ingredients
- 6 tortillas 6-8-inch, flour or corn
- 1 cup cotija or fresco cheese crumbled, can substitute shredded Monteray Jack or a Mexican Blend.
- 1 lime optional
Instructions
Grilled Fish Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
- Pat dry the fish with a paper towel.
- Combine the salt, pepper, cumin, and garlic powder in a small bowl. Sprinkle over both sides of the fish.
- Liberally coat your grill pan with olive oil to prevent the fish from sticking and place it over medium-high heat.
- When the pan is hot, add the fish fillets and cook for approximately 2-3 minutes. Use a pancake turner or fish turner and carefully turn the fish over. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. These cooking times assume your fillets are ½ inch or less thick. If they are thicker, they will take more time. The fish is done when it becomes opaque and flakes easily when pierced with a fork.
- When the fish is done, remove it from the grill pan and set aside.
Spicy Coleslaw Directions:
- Add the lime juice, sugar, dry mustard, sour cream, scallions, jalapeno, cilantro, salt, and garlic powder to a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse until the sauce is thick and creamy.
- Place the cabbage in a large bowl and add the sauce. Toss to combine. Set aside.
Avocado Cream Directions:
- Add the avocado, crema, water, cilantro, garlic, salt, garlic powder, and lime juice to the same food processor and process until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Set aside.
Grilled Fish Taco Assembly:
- Wrap the tortillas in aluminum foil and place in the oven for about 10 minutes to warm.
- When the tortillas are warm, add the fish and a good helping of coleslaw to each tortilla. Top with about a tablespoon or so of the avocado crema, and finally crumble about a tablespoon of the cotija cheese over each taco.
- Optional: Squeeze fresh lime juice over each one.
Notes
- If you don't have a food processor, you can use a blender to make the crema and coleslaw dressing.
- Because the ingredients are so similar, I don't usually wash or wipe out my food processor between making the coleslaw dressing and cream.
- You can make the coleslaw dressing and crema up to 24 hours ahead. Simply cover and refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the tacos.
- I prefer flour tortillas, but these tacos are delicious, whether you use corn or flour tortillas. Most corn tortillas are gluten-free, but be sure to check the label to confirm this.
- This recipe calls for an indoor grill pan. If you are grilling the fish outside, be sure first clean your grates, then oil them liberally to keep the fish from sticking. It's even easier if you have a fish grilling basket. If you grill a lot of fish, I would highly recommend a fish grilling basket. They run around $15-$20, and you can use them for vegetables and shrimp.
- This recipe calls for one seeded jalapeno. If you want more heat or spice, either leave the seeds in or add an additional pepper.
Nutrition
This grilled fish tacos were so delicious!!!! Awesome recipe. I am new to your post and have made 3 of your recipes in a row this week and all have been really good and delicious and pretty easy peasy.
Thank you so much and happy I found your blog.
Hi Justine, thank you so much for taking the time to leave such a sweet comment. I’m thrilled you are enjoying the recipes.
All the best,
Sharon