I was very excited when I saw this easy Baja fish tacos with citrus slaw recipe on The Cozy Apron because we are huge lovers of Baja fish tacos. My husband introduced them to me years ago, and I fell in love with the combination of crispy fish with the crunchy slaw and the creamy sauce all on top of a charred corn tortilla. YUM! I made the beer batter right before I fried the fish, so the batter didn’t go flat, and it helped. My family loved these Baja fish tacos with citrus slaw and thought they paired nicely with salsa, guacamole, and charro beans.

Baja Fish Tacos with Citrus Slaw

Creamy Baja Sauce:

1 cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp lime zest
1 tbsp lime juice, more if desired
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Sea salt, to taste

Citrus Slaw:

¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tsp orange zest
1 tbsp lime juice
¼-½ tsp honey, if needed
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
6 cups cabbage slaw mix (or 4 cups of green & 2 cups of purple)
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Baja Fish Tacos:

1 ¼ lb cod, cut into short strips or bite-sized chunks
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp garlic powder
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
1½ cups flour (seasoned with sea salt and pepper, to taste)
1 (12 oz) bottle of Mexican lager
Vegetable oil for frying

How to Make Baja Fish Tacos with Citrus Slaw

Make the creamy Baja sauce by combining the mayonnaise, sour cream, minced garlic, lime zest, lime juice, cayenne pepper, and salt to taste in a food processor; blend until creamy. Add some sriracha, to taste, if you’d like it extra spicy. Set aside to allow the flavors to mingle.

Make the citrus slaw vinaigrette by combining the fresh-squeezed olive oil, orange juice, orange zest, lime juice, honey, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper, to taste, together in a jar; whisk until well combined. Set aside to allow flavors to mingle.

Toss the vinaigrette with the cabbage mixture and cilantro right before serving the tacos so the cabbage stays crisp.

Make the fish tacos by adding your cod to a bowl and seasoning them evenly with the cumin, coriander, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper, to taste; set aside to marinate for a few minutes.

Line a baking sheet with foil, then place wire racks on top to hold the cod after frying.

Add enough vegetable oil to a deep, large skillet so it’s about 1-2 inches deep to shallow fry, or use a deep pot with 3 cups of oil to deep fry. Heat the oil over medium-high heat until about 365 degrees.

While the oil heats, season the flour with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste then slowly pour in the beer and whisk just until smooth; once the oil is hot, dip the pieces of seasoned cod into the batter and place into the oil to fry in batches for about 2-3 minutes on each side for shallow frying or 3-4 minutes for the deep fry, or until pieces of cod are golden brown and crispy. Set the fried fish on the prepared baking sheet and fry the remaining fish.

To assemble the tacos, toss the slaw with the vinaigrette until well combined. Heat the corn tortillas over a gas flame for several seconds on each side (if possible) or in the microwave for a few seconds until pliable.

Add a few pieces of fried cod on the warm tortilla, then top with slaw, radishes, and creamy Baja sauce. Serve immediately. Enjoy.