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Oh hey!! Welcome to Taco Tuesday!!

Baja Fish Tacos with Chipotle Mango Salsa | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

I know I typically do something of the sweeter variety on Tuesday, but I’m throwing you guys a curve ball today. And hey, we are making tacos!! I mean, it’s Cinco de Mayo week, so I’m thinking extra tacos are surely in order!

These tacos though? They are particularly special. Two words: beer battered.

OMG. This is going to be SO good!

So you guys, I make a lot of tacos. Some of them you see and some of them you don’t. I feel like I’ve made Baja fish tacos a million times, but then the other day I realized that I’ve never shared one of my favorite recipes with you guys. Obviously that had to change, and ASAP.

Baja Fish Tacos with Chipotle Mango Salsa | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest Baja Fish Tacos with Chipotle Mango Salsa | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

For the longest time I had it in my head that all white fish was just boring. I blame my dad, he used to say he wasn’t really a huge fan of white fish and how he thought it was kind of boring. For a while I listened to him and cooked only salmon and occasionally some shrimp. Don’t you just hate how parents have the ability to make us think certain foods are no good? Life lesson: try everything once and then let yourself be the judge! Man, I should probably listen to my own advice more. I can give it, but actually following it? That’s another story. 🙁

Anyway, then came the day when I discovered fried fish. Suddenly my theory that white meat fish was boring was no longer rational.

Granted the fish is fried, that right there is a major factor in some of the deliciousness in this recipe. But my point here is, these days I regularly serve up white meat fish… fried, grilled, oven baked, whatever… I like it all!

I gotta say though, Mahi Mahi is my all time favorite when it comes to white fish. So that’s what I like to use in my Baja fish tacos. Really any white meat fish you choose would be fine though.

PS. these are probably dad’s favorite taco recipe. Ha, white fish fear be gone!!

Ok, so fish talk aside…how fun is the name Baja?!?! I kind of love saying it. It makes me feel like I’m in a tropical place…even though there’s snow outside.

Ugh.

I need all the Baja fish tacos please!!

Baja California is actually a Mexican state on the Baja Peninsula. It borders California and umm according to Wikipedia, the landscape spans mountains and beaches on the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of California. PLEASE… take me there!! 🙂

Baja Fish Tacos with Chipotle Mango Salsa | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

OKok, I am going to be serious now.

Tacos!

Aside from the annoyance of frying, these tacos are pretty simple and fast to throw together and it’s not a deep fry, so the frying part really isn’t even that bad. Here’s how it goes…

…season the fish lightly with some chili powder, salt and pepper.

…then dip it through a beer batter.

…fry the battered fish until golden perfection.

…sprinkle the fried fish with some flaky sea salt and a zest of lime.

…mix together a quick chipotle mango salsa.

…combine everything in a warmed corn or flour tortilla….add a little cheese (obviously).

…eat all the tacos and have a happy fiesta kind of Tuesday (or Thursday if you plan to make them for Cinco de Mayo).

Yum, right? And pretty simple too, right?

You guys got this, it’s Baja style taco time!

Oh, and don’t forget the chips and guac…only way to do up tacos right! 🙂

Baja Fish Tacos with Chipotle Mango Salsa | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Baja Fish Tacos with Chipotle Mango Salsa.

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings: 4 Servings
Calories Per Serving: 739 kcal

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pounds white fish cut into 1 inch chunks (I used mahi mahi)
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup light beer
  • vegetable oil or canola oil for frying
  • soft flour or corn tortillas warmed
  • shredded cheddar or cotija cheese crumbled
  • shredded lettuce fresh cilantro and yogurt, for serving

Chipotle Mango Salsa

Creamy Tomatillo Sauce

Instructions

  • Heat 1-2 inches of oil in a medium pot over medium heat until a deep fry thermometer reaches 375 degrees F.
  • Toss the fish with the chili powder. Add the flour, baking powder and beer to a bowl, stir until just combined. Once the oil is hot, dip the fish in the beer batter, then fry in batches until golden and just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain. Season with salt and lime zest.
  • Divide the fish among the warmed tacos shells and top with shredded lettuce, salsa (recipe below) and cheese. EAT!

Chipotle Mango Salsa

  • In a bowl, combine all the ingredients. Taste and adjust spiciness and salt as needed. Serve with the tacos

Creamy Tomatillo Sauce

  • Preheat the broiler to high. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Add the peeled tomatillos and place under the broiler for 3-5 minutes, turning once or twice or until the tomatillos are mostly charred all over. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Then add the charred tomatillos and the remaining ingredients to a blender or food processor. Pure until smooth and adjust salt as needed. Sauce with will keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.
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Baja Fish Tacos with Chipotle Mango Salsa | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Only thing missing is that margarita…maybe on Thursday?!?!?

Baja Fish Tacos with Chipotle Mango Salsa | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

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Comments

  1. I absolutely love your recipes, but the recipes that are powered by Jupiter are terrible to print. I wish all were the old format. No matter how I try to fix it, it prints on 3-4 pages often with just the title of the recipe on one page and missing chunks of the recipes. Please fix this because I love and use your recipes often’

    1. Hi Kara,
      Thanks so much for your feedback, I’m so sorry you are having issues printing. Are you using Safari? I would try using Chrome and you shouldn’t have any issues, but I will send this feedback to the Jupiter team to fix! xx

    1. Hey Ada,
      Sure, I bet that would work well for you! Please let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx

  2. 4 stars
    This recipe was great overall! I am intimidated by frying so i tried to bake the cod in panko with chili powder. At the last second i tried to add the beer to the panko but that was a fail. I baked the fish with some panko beer paste on it (hoping it would work out) but the breading came off when i pulled the fish out of the pan. The fish is still edible and i sprinkled chili powder and lime zest on the fish after it was baked to give it the flavor but i wish i was more confident in frying so i could do this the way its supposed to be. The mango salsa was so good and great with the tacos!

      1. Love all your recipes.
        Hosting a family dinner with your fish tacos as the main can you please recommend some side dishes that would go well.
        Thanks

  3. 5 stars
    Delicious and quick! I didn’t have everything on hand so substituted:
    – For the Tomatillo Sauce – instead of the tomatillos and jalapeños, I substituted a pre-made tomatillo salsa and mixed with the other items
    – For the batter – used whole wheat flour –
    I haven’t used “chipotle peppers in adobo” before – such an interesting flavor! That is one of the many reasons I like your recipes: you teach us new ingredients

    1. Hey Mara,
      Thanks a lot for giving this recipe a try, I am glad to hear that it was enjoyed. Have the best weekend!! xTieghan

    2. Wanting to make this recipe soon but not a fan of deep frying (I’m scared lol) do you think you could air fry the fish?

      1. Hey Amanda,
        Sure, I don’t see why not! I hope this recipe turns out amazing for you, let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan

  4. I totally screwed up on frying the fish with the batter and I just used some store bought salsa, but it was very tasty! Next time, as in tonight, I’m going to give it another shot!

  5. 4 stars
    Everything was great, but I think the measurements for the batter might be off. I ended up using about a 1:1 ratio of flour and beer—it was way too thick as written. I think I saw another review with the same feedback. Would definitely use the same (adjusted) batter for other dishes in the future! Turned out very crunchy and tasty. Next time I’ll cut my fish into strips instead of chunks to make it less scary to lower into the oil.

    1. Hey Tonya,
      Happy Weekend! I am thrilled that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! Sorry to hear about your batter. xTieghan

      1. My batter came out the consistency of thick glue. I put the beer in bowl and then added flour and baking soda. Maybe they need to be added the other way around?

        1. Hi Jane,
          Hmm so weird! Yes, next time I would mix in the order directed and see if that fixes the issue! Let me know! xTieghan

    2. 5 stars
      I made this recipe tonight for Cinco De Mayo and it was amazing!! I was a little intimidated with frying the mahi mahi but it turned out perfect! My husband said it’s one of the best meals I’ve ever made. I’ve been trying many of your recipes and my family has been loving them, thank you!!

      1. Hey Terri,
        Happy Friday!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for giving it a go! xxT

    1. Hey Judy,
      I’ve never cooked with Basa fillets before, but I’m sure they would work just fine. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan

  6. looking so forward to making this, i just don’t have access to tomatillos – is there something I can sub for them or should I just leave out the creamy tomatillo sauce altogether? TIA!

    1. Hey Lauren,
      Unfortunately the tomatillos make the tomatillo sauce. As a sub, you can use under ripe tomatoes and a squeeze of lime juice. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan

    1. Hey Rebecca,
      You can use sparkling cider in place of beer. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan

  7. 5 stars
    I’ve tried some of your other tacos and loved them….wanted to use some frozen codfish filets, so thought to try this. Had to make a few variations….. 1- used an air fryer instead of frying in oil. It was very messy, the fish chunks stuck to the grate and left little pancakes on the bottom of my air fryer ?, but they came out pretty well! Yes, fried in oil would’ve been so much tastier, but we’re watching our arteries. 2- I didn’t have most of the ingredients for the tomatillo sauce, so just made the mango/avocado/tomato salsa and threw in some leftover bbq’d corn and some chipotle seasoning. All in all, it was pretty darned good, tho the missing sauce would’ve made it fantastic… maybe next time! Would also maybe just use a panko or breadcrumb coating if using the air fryer again, but I really wanted to see what the beer batter would do, lol. Or maybe I’ll stick to the beer batter and use the broiler…? Thanks for another great recipe! Oh, and I drank the 2/2 of the beer w/it and it wasn’t a bad sub for a margarita!

  8. 5 stars
    Wow – everything about this recipe was delicious! For the salsa, I added an extra chipotle pepper in adobo for extra smokiness and heat. SO SO SO GOOD with great flavors. I also made coleslaw for added crunch and freshness. Saving your recipe to make in the future! Thank you for sharing 😀

    1. Thank you for trying this Susan!! I am really glad this recipe turned out so well for you! xTieghan

  9. 4 stars
    I tried to do this recipe with my parents, and we put the right amount of flour and beer but the mixture literally ended like glue or something like that. I’m not sure if it was the fish we used or maybe the beer? But at the end we managed something for it to be good 🙂

    1. HI! I am so sorry for the trouble. Can you give me more details on how you prepared the recipe. Thanks so much! xTieghan

  10. 4 stars
    Thanks for the recipe. I’ve had this saved for awhile and finally tried it. Loved the combination of flavors. I’ve never battered fish before and thought this was really good.

    Ps….Congrats to your brother and his Olympic gold! Enjoyed watching.

    1. Hey Bev! Yes, you can use sparkling water. That works great. Also, buttermilk works too. Let me know if you have questions.