Crispy fish tacos with cabbage slaw
Golden, crunchy fish with no pot of oil in sight, tucked into warm tortillas with a tangy slaw and cool lime crema.
- 40 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 2
- About $3.85 a serving
- 720 calories
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 2 limes, 1 juiced, 1 cut into wedges
- 2 cups red cabbage, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
- 12 oz tilapia fillets, cut into 1-inch strips
- 6 corn tortillas
- 1 avocado, sliced (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- 1 tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
Each serving has about 720 calories, 41 g protein, 69 g carbs and 34 g fat, and costs about $3.85 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No sour cream? Plain greek yogurt works.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No red cabbage? Green cabbage or coleslaw mix works.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
- No tilapia fillets? Cod fillets work.
- No corn tortillas? Flour tortillas work.
- No avocados? Guacamole works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the sour cream with half the lime juice and of salt in a small bowl. That’s your lime crema.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
the cabbage and cilantro with the rest of the lime juice and of salt, and set it aside to a little.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Softened. For vegetables it means cooked until they bend and lose their crunch; for butter, left out until it dents easily. Soft onions taste sweet, and soft butter mixes in smoothly.
How you’ll know: Onions squash easily against the pan with your spoon, and butter dents under a finger without looking greasy.
the fish strips very dry with paper towels. Mix the cornstarch, chili powder, garlic powder and ½ teaspoon of salt on a plate.
Pat dry. Patting dry means pressing paper towels onto food to soak up the moisture on its surface. Wet food steams instead of browning, so this is how you get a good sear and crisp skin.
How you’ll know: The surface feels tacky, not wet, and the last paper towel comes away barely damp.
Press each strip into the cornstarch mix until it’s coated all over, and set them on a clean plate.
Warm the tortillas one at a time in a dry large over medium-high heat, about 30 seconds a side, and wrap them in a clean towel.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium-high heatTimer: 1 min
Add the oil to the skillet. When it , lay in half the fish with space between the pieces and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until and underneath.
Shimmering oil. Oil shimmers when it’s hot enough to cook: its surface looks rippled and wavy, like heat over a road. That’s your cue to add the food, just before the oil would start to smoke.
How you’ll know: The oil looks wavy and runs thin like water when you tilt the pan, with no smoke yet.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Medium-high heatTimer: 2 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Crowding steams the fish instead of crisping it. Two batches is worth it.Flip carefully with a thin spatula and cook 2 minutes more, until and the fish flakes in the center. on paper towels and repeat with the rest.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Medium-high heatTimer: 2 min
Dolly’s tip: If the oil spits or smokes, turn the heat down a notch.Food safety: Fish is done at 145°F, when the middle looks opaque and flakes apart easily with a fork.
Fill each tortilla with slaw and fish, then top with avocado, a of lime crema and a squeeze of lime.
Drizzle. Drizzling means pouring a thin, slow stream over the top of something. A thin stream spreads a little flavor a long way.
How you’ll know: You see thin lines across the food, not a puddle collecting underneath.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
