Easy Spice Rubbed Fish Tacos
It's so super easy to make your own fish tacos at home: Here I just pan-seared some tilapia after letting it sit for a short time in a lime/spice rub, but grilled is great too -- and any firm white fish works if you don't do tilapia.
Servings 4
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh tilapia fillets or other firm white fish of choice
- Juice from 1 small lime
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- ½ tablespoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper omit if sensitive to spice
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- Black pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ a medium yellow onion diced
- Taco fixings of choice, such as tortillas, pico de gallo, black beans, cabbage slaw, fresh lime wedges, sour cream, salsa, avocado, cilantro...
Instructions
- Place the tilapia in a baking dish or on a large plate. Combine the lime juice with chili powder, cumin, cayenne, smoked paprika, oregano, black pepper, and Kosher salt to create a paste.
- Rub the lime/spice rub into both sides of the tilapia and let it sit to marinate for about ten minutes.
- While fish is marinating, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and garlic and saute for two minutes.
- Add tilapia to the same skillet and cook it for 2-3 minutes per side (depending on thickness), until fish becomes opaque and flakes easily with a fork.
- Flake the tilapia into pieces and serve with any taco fixings of your choice!
Notes
You'll definitely want to use your oven fan if pan-searing the fish as I did here, but can grill instead if you prefer. If using frozen fish, let it thaw before doing the spice rub.