Tilapia Tacos

Fish and Mexican style food.  Despite my recently discovered love of cooking fish, I remained hesitant to mix these two together.  I've heard good things, but something about it didn't seem right to me.  My sister makes this dish frequently and tells me how good they are, so eventually my curiosity got the best of me and I had to give it a shot.


I didn't follow any specific recipe on this one, but had recalled that lime juice was an ingredient in many of the tilapia taco recipes I had come across last time I was looking at making them.  I decided I would use it to get the seasonings to stick to the fillets.

I mixed together some cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper, white pepper, black pepper, and salt on a plate.  Next, I rinsed the tilapia fillets off in cold water, then dipped them in lime juice before dredging them in the spices.  I got the olive oil heated over medium heat in my cast iron skillet, then added in the fillets.

I cooked them on one side for about 2 minutes, then flipped them over and cooked the other side (the fillets were small so they cooked quickly).  It was evident they were done because they were falling apart.

After removing the fish from the pan, I shredded it with a fork in a bowl and it was ready to be set up on a tortilla.

Oh my goodness.  Just getting this post typed is making my stomach growl.

YES!  These. were. awesome!  All that hesitation to give this a shot and I ended up falling in love with this recipe immediately (love at first bite?).  I thought the spiciness would be too much as a significant ingredient was chili powder, but not at all--they were perfect!  My absolute favorite part is just how easy these were to make. It literally took 10-15 minutes to prepare between mixing the seasoning, preparing the fillets, and cooking them. My husband said they were "Probably the best tacos I've ever had."  Heck yes.  I'm hooked!

Tilapia Tacos Recipe

Ingredients:

2-3 tilapia fillets
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions:

Combine cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper, white pepper, black pepper, and salt together on a plate. Rinse tilapia fillets in cold water. Dip or coat fillets in lime juice, then dredge in seasoning. Add to a heated cast iron skillet with Cook for 2-3 per side on medium heat, until fish shreds easily and is white throughout. Remove from pan and shred with a fork; serve on tortillas.