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Baja Fish Tacos with Tropical Salsa

A little like a trip to Baja California.

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by Angela Gallardo in Lunch & Dinner, Recipes

tacos

tacos

My love affair with cassava flour continues!

I’ve made this grain-free tortilla recipe quite a few times (I was trying to perfect it, ahem) and one of those instances involved a serious fish taco craving.  As Arizona natives with Mexican blood running through both our veins, fish tacos are an important part of lives.  (seriously)

There are a few ways to pull them off but our favorite is Baja-style, hands down.

Fruit salsa, chopped cabbage, ripe avocado, and a creamy-dreamy-smoky crema.  Maybe a little bit of cotjia or queso seco if we’re feeling rebellious.

The cassava flour made for the very best grain-free breading I’ve experienced EVER.  Previously I relied on a combo of coconut flour and tapioca starch but then you’ve got coconut-flavored fish tacos… 😒  Not the best.

These taste 100% exactly like fish tacos that are made with regular old white flour.

So crispy and flaky and moist on the inside.  They’ve pieced together a little hole in my heart that was the lack of a seriously good Paleo-friendly fish taco.



Get a printable PDF of the recipe

Baja Fish Tacos with Tropical Salsa

For the fish:

1 lb. flaky fish like rockfish, halibut, or cod

1 egg

¼ c. filtered water (optionally you could get a little crazy and sub a good GF beer)

1 tsp. onion powder

½ tsp. ground cumin

½ tsp. sweet paprika

¼ tsp. dried oregano

dash cayenne or chipotle powder

½ tsp. baking powder

⅓ c. + 2 tbsp. cassava flour, divided**

Coconut oil or avocado oil, for pan-frying

For the Tropical Salsa:

2 medium tomatoes, chopped small

½ large red onion, diced small

1 mango, cubed small

½ c. chopped pineapple

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 lime, juiced (about 2-3 tablespoons of juice)

½ c. chopped cilantro

½ tsp. sea salt

¼ tsp. black pepper

Splash of red wine vinegar & extra-virgin olive oil

For the Chipotle Crema:

¼ c. good-quality mayo (homemade, if possible)

¼ c. coconut cream or plain grass-fed yogurt

1 tsp. adobo seasoning

1 tsp. smoked paprika

¼ – ½ tsp. chipotle powder (use caution, it’s spicy!)

1 tbsp. fresh lime juice

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp. honey

Pinch of sea salt & black pepper

To assemble:

Tortillas (recipe for the grain-free version can be found here) or lettuce cups for wrapping

Chopped cabbage

Fresh avocado slices

Directions:

Prep the fish by patting dry with paper towels and slicing into long strips about 2″ thick.  Combine the egg, water, onion powder, cumin, paprika, oregano, cayenne, baking powder, and ⅓ cup of cassava flour in a wide bowl.  Whisk until a thick pancake-like batter forms.  Place the additional 2 tablespoons of cassava flour in another wide bowl.  Set them aside to pan-fry just before serving.

Prep the Topical Salsa by combining all the salsa ingredients in a medium bowl.  Toss well and set it aside to let the flavors meld.  This can be done the day before and kept in the refrigerator.

Prep the Chipotle Crema by whisking the crema ingredients together in a small bowl.  Set it aside until serving.  This can also be prepped ahead and kept in the refrigerator.

To assemble, chop the cabbage into thin strips and slice the avocado.  Fill a heavy-bottomed pan (I prefer cast iron) about 1″ deep with coconut oil.  Heat over medium high until the oil begins to shimmer.  To pan-fry the fish: dip a piece of fish in the plain cassava flour, shake off the excess, then dip it into the batter to coat it entirely.  Allow some of the excess batter to drip off and gently place the fish into the hot oil, laying it down in the direction away from you to keep splatters from coming at you.  Cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.  Move the cooked fish to a cooling rack and sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper.

Serve immediately layered into tortillas with cabbage, avocado, Tropical Salsa, and Chipotle Crema.

Note: if you haven’t already read, cassava flour is a great grain-free flour.  You could use other flours in its place (not straight starches like tapioca) but the amounts may differ slightly.  My advice is to add the flour of your choice to the batter one tablespoon at a time until it resembles the consistency of pancake batter.

**Edit: with time, I’ve found that using different varieties of cassava flour can greatly impact the results with a recipe.  Many are more absorbant than others.  To be safe, add the cassava flour one tablespoon at a time until it resembles the consistency of pancake batter.

9 Comments
  1. Jen says:

    This was DELICIOUS! I didn’t have everything I needed for the Crema and next time I’ll definitely be making that! But it was fantastic without it! We added a little cayenne pepper to the salsa and it was perfection! A new favorite for sure! 🙂

    1. Yeahhhh! So happy you loved it all. It’s one of my favorites. Curious what cassava brand you used and whether you needed the full 1/3 cup in the batter?

  2. Lany says:

    This is the best fish taco ever

    1. So happy to hear that!!

  3. Tracy says:

    I made a few changes but overall we loved them thank you

  4. Sasha says:

    What brand of cassava flour has worked best for you?

    1. I like both Otto’s and Anthony’s

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