Salmon Fish Tacos (Baja-Style)

These Salmon Fish Tacos served baja-style will have you craving them every single taco Tuesday. The perfect bar food at home, these tacos are inspired by my favorite taco restaurant in San Diego. Best of all, they’re ready in 30 minutes!

Baja-style food refers to the style of cooking and ingredients from Baja California. The food of Baja California is characterized by super-fresh ingredients and seafood, with some well-known dishes including white fish tacos and seafood tostadas. Baja-style food represents an incredible fusion of Mexican and American cuisine.

This recipe was inspired by my favorite taco Tuesday spot in San Diego, South Beach Bar and Grill. Oh, how I miss living close enough to walk there!

The more traditional Baja-style taco uses mild white fish that swim through Baja. Tilapia, cod, and mahi-mahi work great in this recipe. I am using salmon from the Prince William Sound (read more here), some of the world’s richest waters. It is a budget-friendly, nutrient-dense, mild salmon that works great in this recipe.

This method is really easy, and it only takes a few minutes to fry each fish fillet. When placed in the taco with the other ingredients, the crispy batter provides a tasty contrast with the flaky fish inside.

Ingredients & Substitutions

To get to work on your tacos, you will need the following ingredients: all-purpose flour and ice water for the batter, salmon, flour tortillas, red cabbage, cheddar cheese, hot sauce, limes, ranch dressing, and Pico de Gallo salsa.

How to Make Salmon Baja-Style Fish Tacos

Start by making a simple tempura batter. You need two basic ingredients: flour and water. Make sure the water is ice water to ensure crispiness after frying. Simply mix 1 cup of ice water with 1 cup of pastry flour or all-purpose flour with a fork or chopsticks (photos 1 & 2). Only roughly mix or the batter will not be airy. Do not use a whisk.

As you can see in photo 3 the batter was too thick so I added more ice water (about 1 tablespoon) until it was the consistency of photo 4. Once mixed, the batter is ready!

If you don’t fancy a tempura batter, a beer batter is also really popular and tastes great. For the beer batter, just mix 1 frothed egg white, 1 cup of dark beer, 1 cup flour, 3/4 tsp salt, and 1 tbsp of baking powder.

Start by prepping your salmon to be fried. Add enough oil to your pan so that the oil is about three inches deep. I like to use a smaller pot and fry the salmon in batches, rather than try to do it all at once in a big pan. Heat the oil to about 350-375F.

You do not need to remove the skin from the salmon if it doesn’t bother you. However, if you prefer a skinless salmon, either ask your fishmonger to skin the salmon for you or you can skin a salmon filet yourself using this method from Fine Cooking.

In small batches (I do 1-2 pieces at a time), dip the fish slices into the batter (photo 5), and then immerse them in the hot oil (photo 6). Cook for 1-2 minutes per side until the batter is a light golden brown.

Place the battered salmon pieces onto a wire rack (Photo 7), or a plate lined with a paper bag or paper towel to absorb the excess oil. Remove any excess floating batter in the oil, and continue until the whole batch is cooked.

Each person gets a serving of two tortillas. Assemble each taco in this order: cheese, cabbage, fried fish, ranch dressing, pico de gallo salsa, hot sauce, and finish with a squeeze of lime.

Add a Quick Pico de Gallo Salsa

For a quick and easy pica de Gallo, you will need:

• 1 1/4 cup finely diced tomato
• 3/4 cup finely diced red onion
• 1 jalapeño, finely diced (seeds removed for a milder salsa)
• 1 lime juiced
• salt, to taste

Simply mix them all in a bowl, and you have a delicious fresh pico de gallo!

More Salmon Dishes to Love!