Baja Fish Taco Bowls made with beer-battered cod, Cilantro Lime Rice, Mexican Pinto Beans, Mexican Slaw, crunchy veggies, avocado and Chipotle Mayo! A tasty flavorful dinner! Vegan-adaptable.
Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like. ―
Have I ever told you how much my husband loves Fish and Chips? It’s usually an “out to eat” kind of thing and since we haven’t been doing that lately, I made him my own version, but instead of “chips”, I loaded the bowl up with healthy veggies, mexican pinto beans and cilantro lime rice, and gave it a Mexican twist.
So by the end of it, it was nothing like Fish and Chips, whatsoever, well, except for the crispy battered fish, which turned out so yummy, I had to share.
If you want, of course, you can skip the beer batter and prepare the fish more healthfully, like we do in this fish taco recipe, so if watching oil or calories- feel free to do that. But if you want something a little more decadent, this is pretty tasty.
It starts with prepping the fish, in this case, wild cod.
Make the flavorful batter with flour, spices, salt and beer.
Then dip the fish in the batter.
Heat oil in a skillet and fry the fish. Blot on a paper towel.
Then serve with your favorite fixins’.
Here I’ve made a base with the Cilantro Lime rice and Mexican Pinto Beans I posted a few days ago. I added the fresh crunchy Mexican Slaw, avocado, cucumbers, radishes and topped it with the crispy cod.
My husband loves the Chipotle Mayo so I drizzled some over his fish, for smoky flavor and a little heat.
Or feel free to use hot sauce or even this vegan avocado sauce for a lighter version. You get the idea. 😉
It was easy to put together after meal-prepping the cilantro lime rice and Mexican Pinto Beans a couple of days before. Just an idea I thought you’d like.
This would also very easy to adapt for vegans. You could substitute baked tofu or crispy tofu or even try beer battering the tofu- sounds good to me, but haven’t tried it yet though!
Have a lovely Mother’s day weekend.
xoxoxo
Baja Taco Bowls!
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: fish, bowls
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: Mexican
Description
Baha Fish Taco Bowls made with beer-battered cod, cilantro lime rice, Mexican pinto beans, Mexican Slaw, avacodo and chipotle mayo! (Fish takes 20 minutes but sides take longer!)
Ingredients
Baja Battered Fish (or shrimp or tofu!)
- 1 lb wild cod (or raw peeled shrimp, or cubed tofu)
- 1/2 cup AP flour, spooned and leveled (or GF flour blend)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 granulated garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 cup beer
- 1/4 cup oil for frying (high heat oil)
Baja Bowl Ingredients: ( pick out a few out, you don’t need to use all!)
- Cilantro Lime Rice
- Mexican Pinto Beans
- Canned seasoned Black beans
- Mexican Slaw
- Chipotle Mayo or Creamy Avocado Sauce
- Pickled red onions
- Fresh veggies: sliced radishes, sliced cucumber, cilantro, green onions, grated carrots, sprouts or avocado, Limes!
- Crumbled Queso fresco cheese (optional)
- Hot sauce
Instructions
- Prepare any of the Baja Bowl Ingredients you want. (It is best to do this ahead)
- Cut fish into four 4-ounce pieces. Pat dry.
- Make the Batter: Pour 1/2 cup beer into a medium bowl. Whisk in the all spices and salt. Slowly whisk in the flour. If you’d like a looser or thinner batter, add a little more beer. Place the fish in the batter coating all sides.
- Fry: Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat, until very hot, smoking hot (350 F) or sizzles when you drop a little batter in. Carefully place the battered fish in the oil, watching out for splatter. Cook 3 minutes or until fish naturally releases from the pan (it will release when crispy and golden) then carefully turn it over. Lower heat to LOW. Cook until this side is golden, crispy and fish is cooked through, another 3-5 minutes. Place on a paper towel lined plate, to blot the oil while you plate up the bowls. (You could also keep these on a wire rack in a 300 F oven, until ready to serve, so they stay crispy.)
- Create the base of the bowls with warm beans or rice or both, add veggies, avocado and/or slaw. Top with fish. Serve with limes and chipotle Mayo or hot sauce.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Cooking times and nutrition info are for the fish only.
Feel free to serve in tacos instead, cutting fish into 1-inch thick strips.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 ounces
- Calories: 273
- Sugar: 2.5 g
- Sodium: 428.7 mg
- Fat: 14.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 14.8 g
- Fiber: 0.7 g
- Protein: 21.7 g
- Cholesterol: 52.1 mg
I bought some wild cod not really having a recipe in mind. After searching your website for recipes, I decided on this one. Like every recipe of yours that I have made, it was outstanding!! Thank you Sylvia for sharing your recipes.
Awesome Amy-thanks so much and Happyyou enjoyed it!
The food is 5 stars the best food
Thanks so much!
Loved the recipe!
However, your discount code is not accepted by the Sitka Salmon website, just thought you’d want to know that.
Sorry about that, yes it expired. I will remove the code. 😉
I have made this receipt twice now and I’m really struggling with the frying part. It keeps sticking to the pan and I lose my tasty beer batter or if I manage not to stick the fish then the fish is a little soggy. It all still tastes good but it’s not the crispy fish I’m looking for. Do you have any suggestions?
Oh shoot. I hear you. Could you try a nonstick pan? Or have you already?
Hi Sylvia! This recipe was so good! Unfortunately I feel there may have been some misinformation in your article. In Oregon over the past few days we went through a record breaking heat wave so I searched “easy recipes for hot days”. This recipe came up and I suggested it to my wife not realizing it involved 6 different “easy recipes “ that need to start in the morning. Long story short- our ac went out in the morning and my heat affected wife held my request over my head until she eventually left me and my daughters age 10 and 7. As of now I would give it 3 stars but can be as high as 5 or low as 1 depending on whether you are willing to move out here and replace my wife/daughters’ mother who left me because of your misinformation. For now I’ll leave it at 3, please let me know which direction you’d like to move it. Thank you,
Sincerely,
Stranded
I see your point. 😉 I will remove this from that recipe collection. Hopefully, both your AC and wife recover and rejoin you.
Made this with cod and it was very good. Have you ever tried this beer batter with boneless chicken breast pieces. I think you would have to cook it longer but not sure if it would work
Right Kathy- because of that not sure if it would work either- use smaller pieces? Or maybe you could finish it in the oven?
I’ve made this twice now and it’s such a hit with my family. The flavors are amazing and the fish cooks perfectly. It’s a household favorite now. Thank you!
Awesome, glad you enjoyed this and thanks so much! 🙌
This looks delicious. What kind of beer do you recommend using?
Medium-bodied, Mexican! 😉
Yummy! Made it with swai, accompanied with black beans, avocado, carrots and cucumbers. Delicious breading
Perfect, sounds great! thanks! Tell me, where do you get your swai?
We split our time between the San Francisco Bay Area and Orange County in CA. Swai is readily available in our numerous Asian supermarkets. Love the mild taste and we use it in many of your fish recipes.
Great recipe. Family enjoyed it. Have made it twice.
New favorite. Used canned beans and made the rice, slaw and chipotle mayo. TASTY.
Thanks so much Sarah! Glad you enjoyed!
Absolutly delicious. Family gobbled it up.
I really want to make these for my daughter who eats GF. Do you think GF flour would work?
I do!
Do you think you could use any fish? Maybe blackened instead of breaded? I have some yellowtail in the freezer!
Give it a try!