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And I am back with more citrus…
And tacos and all things healthy and delicious!!
I figured that some fresh, colorful food would be welcome today, seeing as a lot of us may have eaten one too many plates of nachos or chips full of queso yesterday. I don’t know, maybe that’s just my idea of Super Bowl Sunday though?
Either way, this is some seriously good food to start off the very first week of February.
Which by the way, happy February!! Still can’t believe we are already thru with Christmas, but hey, that’s life. It’s fast, brutal and beautiful, all at the same time. With February though, comes citrusy things, chocolate galore, lots of pretty white snow and hopefully, maybe, some flowers – if you are lucky. I am not much of a girly girl (hello, how could I be after growing up with five brothers?), but I will not lie, I love flowers. They always put a smile on my face.
Same goes with citrus. Please just give me all the pretty citrus and I will be happy till spring when the berries and rhubarb start to roll in. The other day I wanted SO bad to use these pretty blood oranges that my dad found that I actually considered combining them with chocolate…but then I didn’t because as much as I love chocolate and blood oranges, I don’t really like them together. So I just made chocolate chip pancakes, ate the oranges as a snack and called it a day.
Sorry, that was random. I am in a random Monday mood today. It happens.
So lets discuss these Cuban fish tacos with citrus mango slaw. I know they may seem sort of summery and all, but these are all about winter and winter citrus. Plus some cuban flavors and a little Mexican Crema because, YUM.
I was all ready to use Mahi Mahi for these tacos, but then I found a frozen salmon fillet in my freezer and I had to use that. It just looked so pink and pretty and it meant I didn’t have to go to the store, so that just pretty much decided everything for me. You can totally use whatever your favorite fish is though. Tuna, shrimp and mahi mahi would all be equally awesome. It’s really about the marinade. It’s this orange, lime, cilantro combo that I have been craving ever since I made these Cuban Chicken Bowls. So many perfect fresh flavors and it’s just a bonus that we can use the in season winter citrus.
Well you know me, I could not possibly simply leave these tacos alone, I had to go and add some salsa or slaw, I didn’t know what to call it since I added a little red cabbage to the mix, but whatever you call it, it’s good stuff, full of grapefruit, cara cara and blood oranges. Oh, and a little mango because I can’t do cuban without some mango.
And then, the crema. It’s not really a traditional crema because it’s a mix of cream cheese and crema, but it’s awesome with fish. For some reason the very first fish taco I ever made, I decided to spread cream cheese along the bottom of the shell and ever since I always want cream cheese with my fish tacos. It may sound odd, but just try it! I promise it so good.
And that’s pretty much it. These are super quick and easy to make…which means dinner sometime this week, right?
Cuban Fish Tacos with Citrus Mango Slaw + Chipotle Lime Crema.
Ingredients
Cuban Fish
- 1 pound skin on, mahi mahi or salmon
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- juice of 1 lime
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 green onions
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika and cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt + pepper
- corn or flour tortillas, warmed
Citrus Mango Slaw
- 1 grapefruit
- 1 cara orange or blood orange
- 1 mango, sliced or diced
- 1 jalapeno, seeded + chopped
- 1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
- juice of 1 lime
- 1/2 cup red cabbage, shredded
- salt, to taste
Chipotle Crema
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup Crema, or mayo
- 2 in canned chipotle chilies adobo, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons buttermilk
- juice of 1/2 a lime
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Add the olive oil, lime juice, orange juice, garlic, green onions, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper to a blender. Blend until chunky smooth. Place the fish in a 9x13 inch baking dish, pour the marinade over the fish. Allow the fish to sit in the marinade while you prepare the rest of the meal, at least 15 minutes. Do not let the fish sit longer than four hours in the marinade.
- To make the slaw/salsa, cut off the peel and the white pith from all around the grapefruit. Working over a small bowl, use the knife to cut between the membranes to release the grapefruit segments into the bowl. Squeeze the juice from the membranes into the bowl. Remove the grapefruit segments from the bowl and cut into bite size pieces; return to the bowl. Now do the same with the cara cara orange (or blood orange), but only remove the inside membrane if desired. Add the mango, jalapeno, green onions, cilantro and lime juice. Taste and season with salt.
- To make the crema, mix together the cream cheese, crema Mexicana (or mayo), chipotle chilies, lime juice, buttermilk and a pinch of salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Cover and place in the fridge until ready to use.
- When ready to cook the fish, heat a grill pan or cast iron skillet over medium high heat (may also use an outdoor grill). Once hot, add the fish, skin side down, and sear for 3-4 minutes, brushing the fish with the marinade as it cooks. Flip and cook until your desired doneness. Remove the skin.
- To serve, dice the fish into pieces. Warm the tortillas and fill with fish. Top with slaw, crema and shredded red cabbage. Sprinkle with cojita cheese if desired. Happy tacoing!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
For sure.
Hi! Love your recipes. What could I sub for the buttermilk? Have a dairy allergy in the family?
Thanks!
Hi Barbara,
You could use a non-dairy milk. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
This was such an amazing dinner. The sauce is to die for. The slaw was good enough to eat alone.
Love to hear that! Thank you so much Kira! xTieghan
Making this for my wife for Mothers Day tonight. Wish me luck!
I hope thee turned out amazing for her Piet! That is so nice of you! xTieghan
I would like to know, since I am unable to have grapefruit and this blood orange what can I use in the place of them ? I can have reguar oranges.
HI there! If you can have regular oranges than use those in place of both the grapefruit and blood oranges. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Wonderful meal.
Thanks Emily!
Made this yesterday night. Absolutely delicious! A definite make-again 🙂
I am so glad you enjoyed this! Thank you Tanya!
Wow!! Just made these tacos for a large family meal along with your Carne Asada in a slow cooker.w/ Mexican Sweet Potato Fries..loooove!!! So tasty,,,every element of the recipe! My mother-in-law kept raving about the complexity of flavors. And our other family members all loved the entire meal too!
I am so happy to hear that! Thank you Jeannine!
You’re welcome!! I am a major aficionado of your recipes…you are my go to when I’m entertaining or want to make a special meal for my family and friends! I so appreciate the work you do and admire the life you’ve created following your passion. All the best to you for continued success!
Thanks for sharing a great recipe,
Thank you!
Just wondering–in the instructions it says to add lime juice to the Crema, but the ingredients for the Crema don’t mention lime juice. Is it just something to add according to taste? For a ball park sense of the flavors/etc. would a Tbsp. be the right amount?
Hi! Sorry about that it’s about 1/2 a lime juiced. Recipe is fixed! Hope you love this!
These look absolutely delicious but please, you may want to consider taking Cuban out of the name of this dish…unless it is referring to the mango itself being a Cuban type. Tacos are not Cuban. Slaws and salsas are not common in Cuban food, nor is cilantro.
Don’t want to be a downer (I love to cook and I love variety)…just asking to honor food cultures. This has Latin flair for certain…but not Cuban.
Hi Alison, thank you for kindly letting me know how you feel. I will take that into consideration. I really appreciate your thoughts and will look into possibly changing the title of this recipe and just taking out the Cuban. I really hope you give the tacos a try and I hope you love them regardless. Thank you so much! Happy 4th of July!!
Hi there! I’m wondering if you think these would work with cod loin and broiled in the oven? Looking forward to trying that slaw!
Hey Gail! I think that will be fine. Let me know if you have other questions and I hope you love the tacos!
I’m curious about the tortillas. Are they hand made? Store bought? They look extra delicious in the photo.
HI Emily! They are just store bought. Sorry, I have never made my own tortillas.
I’m going to make these this weekend. Is the avocado part of the salsa recipe or just a topping for the taco?
Hey Tammy! The avocado is just a topping. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!
I made these tonight and OH MY GOSH that salsa!!!!!!! I was very skeptical because I have never had citrus in my salsa but wow, it is my new favorite thing!! I have been majorly missing out!!
SO happy you loved the tacos, thank you!!
Just finished scarfing these down. They were absolutely fantastic. They didn’t look anything like yours but tasted even better than I imagined. I served them with sweet potato fries and used mahi. My eight-year-old stepdaughter, who scrunched up her face at the word “fish”, ate every bite. Hubby had seconds and I… Well… I had thirds. #NoRegrets
Thank you!
YEAH! So happy you loved the tacos, thanks!!