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!
Salmon Baja Style Fish Tacos
Print Recipe SaveIngredients
The Fish
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup ice water
- 1 1/2 lbs. salmon Cut into 8-pieces (each piece will make a taco, 2-tacos per person) OR cod, tilapia, mahi-mahi
- flavorless oil, for frying like canola, vegetable, or sunflower seed
The Tacos
- 8 flour tortillas 6"
- 1/2 small red cabbage
- 1 cup cheddar cheese
- 1 pint pico de gallo or use the recipe in blog post for homemade
- 8 tsp hot sauce I use Valentina and truly believe it is the best
- 8 tsp ranch I know this sounds weird, but trust me
- 2 limes cut into 8 wedges total
Instructions
The Fish
- Add enough oil to your pan so it is 3 inches deep. I use a smaller pot and fry in batches. Heat to about 350-375F.
- Make the batter: Make sure the water is actually 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. Do not overmix.
- In small batches (I do 2-pieces at a time), dip the fish slices in the batter and immerse into the hot oil. Cook for 1-2 minutes per side until the batter is a light golden brown.
- Place them onto a wire rack, or a plate lined with a paper bag or paper towel to absorb the excess oil.
- Remove floating batter and continue until the whole batch is cooked.
The Tacos
- Each person gets 2 tortillas. Top in this order: cheese, cabbage, fish, ranch, salsa, hot sauce, squeeze of lime.
Fish tacos are a favorite over here and I have never thought to use salmon. Taco Tuesday will be getting an upgrade!
Glad to hear it, Deseree!
Thanks for a fun taco recipe. This is perfect for Taco Tuesday. Very colourful and inviting.
Glad to hear you liked it, Kari 🙂
My sister and I made this and it’s out of the world. She loved the texture and flavor a lot. Thanks for the recipe.
I’m so glad to hear it, Sophie. You are so welcome!
Mmm… I think I just heard my tummy growl. lol. Thank you for making me hungry! This Salmon Baja Fish Tacos is absolutely yummy.
I’m so glad to hear you loved them, Maggie!
this looks so gooooddd! and thank you for sharing how to make tempura from scratch .
You are so welcome, Çitra!
I had some salmon in my fridge that was perfect for this! I love all the toppings you added and I plan on doing the same next time. My husband is a huge salmon lover so I know he’s going to love this.
So glad to hear it, Jamie!
I’ve always use mahi or shark for my fish tacos, but this recipe, I need to try! I love that the salmon is tempura-battered.
The tempura batter is my favorite way to fry any fish. Can’t wait to hear what you think, Martha!
I LOVE fried fish tacos, but I have never thought of making fried salmon fish tacos! This is wonderful and easy …making these again this week!
I’m so glad to hear it, Andrea… enjoy!
I’ve had fish tacos, but never have experienced salmon tacos. Now, this is all I can think about. I am going to add these to our menu again for next week. Thank you!
I’m so glad to hear it, Jacque… I just love when recipes become regulars!