Blackened Tilapia Baja Tacos

By Addie

Make food truck-style fish tacos at home using fresh tilapia, avocado, cilantro and corn tortillas and topping with a creamy onion-jalapeño mixture for amazing flavor. You can use prepared Cajun seasoning if desred.

Ingredients

• JALAPENO SAUCE:
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 cup thinly sliced white onion
• ...............................................
• CAJUN SEASONING:
• 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• .............................................
• 4 (6-ounce) tilapia fillets
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
• 1/2 ripe peeled avocado, thinly sliced
• 4 lime wedges

Details

Servings 4
Adapted from myrecipes.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a food processor; process until smooth. Combine jalapeño sauce and onion in a small bowl.

2. Combine paprika and next 6 ingredients (through ground red pepper); sprinkle evenly over fish. Heat oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.

3. Warm tortillas according to package directions. Divide fish, onion mixture, and avocado evenly among tortillas. Serve with lime wedges.
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REVIEWS:

My husband and I loved this! Very easy to make (I did the onion mixture hours ahead of time for convenience and ease of preparation). YUM.

This is the Goldilocks of spice rubs. It's *just right*. Perfect blend of flavor and heat. I substituted thawed frozen wild cod for the tilapia for a healthier fish option. And I made the cream mixture using plain yogurt & a chipotle with a little adobo instead of sour cream & jalapeño (that happened to be what I had in the house but I'll use it next time too, the chipotle lent a nice smoky/spicy touch). I mixed the sliced onion with a little lime juice and kept them separate from the yogurt/chipotle sauce. I used my cast iron skillet, which is naturally nonstick, so no oil was necessary. This one is going into the regular rotation.

Wow - great, easy recipe. The fish was delicate, flavorful and pretty. The onion jalapeno sauce was delicious. To shave calories, we ate the leftovers on top of a salad, added tomatoes, and omitted the avocado and tortilla. Served with spanish rice and green beans.

The sauce really MUST be prepared in a mini-food processor. The portion was too small to touch the blades in my standard size processor and I had to borrow a friend's mini. After processing it was a little runny, but very tasty. I don't like raw onions so I left those out. The rub was tasty - not very spicy or overwhelming. I didn't have corn tortillas and subbed flour. It was a nice change for dinner but likely not a repeater.

This was so tasty. All the flavors worked wonderfully. I blackened haddock instead of tilapia, fried in butter and I also just sprinkled the onions on instead of mixing them with the sour cream. This is a keeper in our house and we'll be making it again. The prep time was quick and easy. Yum.

DELICIOUS! The spice on the fish is perfect and the onion mixture is so tasty. My 5 year old daughter coudn't get enough, although I did use green salsa in her portion rather than the the onion mixture. I stuck to the recipe as written. I would make this on a weekday or for a special occassion. I made is with a boxed Mexican rice mix and a salad of field greens, avocado, oranges, and jicama with an orange vinegrette. I can't remember the last time I had something this good. My husband said this is the best meal he has had in a while, even from a restaurant. Can't wait to make it for company!

This was so good! Followed the recipe as written, however, I would add more jalapeno to give it a greater kick. I also would recommend more avocado and cilantro to place inside the taco. I served with black beans and rice. Can't wait to make again! Delicious!

This recipe just isn't that good, though it's got some potential. First off, there's not enough rub: maker sure you double the rub. In order to get a good blackened fish fillet you want a solid covering of spice mix on your fish. Oh, and you also want butter. Of course you don't have to use the copious amounts of butter traditionally used when blackening fish: CL has a terrific recipe for blackened catfish wraps (perhaps the greatest wrap ever created!) and I don't see why this recipe didn't just follow that one in terms of the fish. I also don't like the use of tilapia in this recipe. Blackening is a pretty aggressive cooking method and tilapia is simply too delicate. The fish fell apart a good bit when I made this recipe and that never happens when I blacken catfish. Other than that, the onion "sauce" was ho-hum. This recipe could have been a lot better but as it stands, it's just not very good. I won't make it again.

These were so good! I don't like cilantro generally, but I just added a bit more sour cream to the mixture to mute it. As a side dish, I threw all of the following into a pot: 1 can black beans, 1/2 jar salsa, chopped onion, and some frozen corn (season as you want). Perfect meal!

I made this for lunch and my mother devoured it. I thought it needed more salt. After tasting the cilantro sauce I added more cilantro and thought it was a bit bland but in the end, adding salt to everything heightened the flavors. The spice rub is excellent. Will make again!

This recipe is so fast and easy! The seasoning on the fish is delicious. The flavors of the fish, onion slaw and avocado match so well...It tastes so fresh and light! This meal would be perfect on a hot summer night with a cold beer. I plan on making it often!

I sometimes have difficulty cooking fish...and getting my husband to eat it! This turned out beautifully! I did soak the onions in some cold water for about 30 minutes before adding them to the sauce to tone them down a bit. Besides that, I follwed the recipe exactly. I served them with a side of black beans, which I added to the two tacos I reheated for lunch the next day. The beans made them even better!

The spice rub for the tilapia adds great flavor. We like to add a little slaw topping too! This will be a go-to summer recipe - we've made it 3 times already!

I love the marinated spicy onions! I too had problems blackening the fish but I didn't care in the end because it's delicious. Have made this twice, the only thing I change is I like basil on the onions better than cilantro.

These were amazing the best fish tacos I have made by far. I used mahi mahi instead of tilipia. I highly recommend these!

Awesome. This made it into our regular meal rotation. Love the use of the sauce and onions rather than the traditional cabbage / slaw you get on baja fish tacos. Fresh lime at the end is a must. Also, we slice the fish into strips, double the recipe for the seasoning, and get a fair amount of it on each of the strips. It really helps blacken the tilapia.

These were the BEST fish tacos I've ever had!! The spices on the fish would go well with shrimp, too. All the flavors went so well together. I used ground coriander instead of fresh cilantro and LaTortilla Factory Smart & Delicious tortillas instead of corn tortillas. Can't WAIT for leftovers tonight!

Made exactly as directed and they are fantastic! And still great as leftovers! Next time I plan on searing the fish over high heat on our Big Green Egg with some wood chips thrown in for added flavor.

The hubby said he thinks this is the best fish taco he's ever had and gave this recipe a five stars. He only asked that I double the onion sauce and have extra avocado on hand next time. Easy to make and I made no substitutions.

My husband and I LOVED this. We did substitute mahi mahi for tilapia and it turned out great. The only thing I would've added more of was salt, but I will admit that I'm a salt lover. LOVE the amount of protein in this recipe! We also made a side salad with avocado, black beans, corn and iceburg. YUM.

These were phenomenal! They were quick, inexpensive and packed with flavor!! The only thing I would do differently next time is add some chipotle chile pepper and less brown sugar... needs a little more spiciness and less sweetness. The onion cream was spot on. This has been added to the rotation!

These are delish! Made it exactly!! Yummo!!

Some of the best fish tacos around. The tilapia was sooo moist and the spice combo delicious. The brown sugar gave it an unusually pleasant kick. I used plain lowfat yoghurt instead of sour cream, works just as well and cools it nicely, and healthier. I substituted mint for cilantro just because I hate cilantro and the mint worked great. I would add more veggies to the mix, maybe simply some torn lettuce. I used blue corn tortillas. Easy and yummy.

We LOVE these fish tacos and have made them several times. I usually sub in chipotle pepper powder for the cayenne to add a bit of smokiness without losing the "kick" in the spice mixture. I forgot to add cumin last night when I made them and didn't miss it a bit. We don't care for raw onions so I shredded some cabbage, carrot, and used some left over spaghetti squash to make the jalapeno sauce mixture and it was delicious with the tacos.

This recipe is fantastic. I didn't change anything and have made this twice. The last time for a dinner party of 8 where I set up a Mexican Food Bar and our guests made their own Baja Tacos. I might add, our guests were die-hard Texans with picky palettes for Tex-Mex dishes. Everyone loved this dish and the cilantro rice I served on the side.

Superfast and very easy. Made to recipe except held the sliced onion in some cold water while prepping the rest of the meal, then drained before mixing with jalapeno sauce. Nice spice rub for fish and good combo of flavors & textures in the taco. Served with some red refried beans & chiles and a bit more sliced jalapeno and scallion to taste. Very good.

Sauce is excellent, but recipe overall is lacking. Disappointing after all the rave reviews.

I made this last night for dinner and we loved it. I like the seasoning blend for the fish very tasty. I did not have fresh cilantro so I didn't make the sauce just used the sour cream. I loved the avocado but the hubby did not. I will make this one again.

I prepared this for friends and everyone loved it! No leftovers. Definitely going to make it again...it's so easy and so good.

I made this last night for dinner and it was dee-licious!! Loved it, I will definitely be making this again! The rub was great, if you want to use this alone, but I'm thinking why not make the taco's! It was great, you really need try this dish!!

I even forgot to avocado on my tace and I loved them. Great recipe!

We loved this recipe. Pretty easy and really tasty! I couldn't find tilapia so I used salmon instead. One half an avocado may have made it healthier but we used more than that! I don't think it is necessary to soak the onions. After being in the sour cream sauce they lost a lot of their strong onion flavor. Yummy

These were wonderful. I thought the onion would be strong and overpowering, but I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't at all.

These were fabulous! We didn't have any leftovers. Made the recipe exactly and added salt to taste at the end. So delicious and easy.

These are fantastic. My husband and I made these last week and absolutely loved them. Relatively easy to make and amazing flavors. We will definitely be making these again.

Absolutely delicious! The rub on the filet was yummy and they were so quick and easy. I think these will become part of the regular dinner line up!

I made these for dinner with some frozen tilapia that had been given to me by moving neighbors-wonderful! I pan seared the fish in my cast iron wok and replaced the sour cream with plain non fat yogurt, even my finicky husband liked them. The avocado slices make these umami! I will definitely make this recipe again.

Excellent!! The rub was excellent...will make extra next time. My tilapia did not fall apart at all. I did use less red pepper so children would eat it. All six children LOVED it, including my 2 yr. old. I did use flour tortillas instead of corn. I thought the jalapeño sauce would be hot, but it wasn't at all. Loved the raw onions & avocado on top of the fish. Will definitely add this to our regular rotation!

Delicious. The 6 oz fillets provide a very generous serving of fish. I cut my fillet lengthwise, putting one half in each tortilla and added the avocado slices and onion sauce and a squeeze of lime juice, just like the recipe suggests. Yummy but quite messy!

Outstanding! I made this for dinner tonight and my neighbor and myself devoured (I had 3 tacos) these. The sauce and rub were a perfect compliment to each other. This is a perfect meal for a warm summer's night. I served this with Trader Joe's Cuban style Black Beans, Tortilla chips and red grapes for dessert. The only thing missing was an Ice cold beer. I will be DEFINITELY adding this to my rotation along with the beer.

My fiancee made these for a weeknight dinner, and they were fantastic! I was afriad becuase I made a really bad fish taco recipe in the past, but this one was easy and very tasty. The seasonings and sauce make it great! Will make again for sure.

Really enjoyed this simple recipe. Husband asked for it again and again. Great way to get more fish in the diet.

Easy and quick! I added Adobo seasoning to blackening mix.