In episode 17 we learn how to make gluten-free blackened fish tacos, that not only taste amazing, but are especially quick and easy. In less than 30 minutes you’ll have baked spicy fish, piled with tangy slaw, and drizzled with creamy, finger-licking taco sauce! Join Melissa as she shares many easy, pro tips, plus the best ingredients and methods for success. This audio recipe for gluten-free tacos will be a hit with the whole family!
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Transcript
Hey everyone. I’m Melissa Erdelac, host of the Gluten-Free Recipe Challenge podcast and creator behind the gluten-free website, Mamagourmand. Here we take beloved recipes you thought you’d never enjoy again and transform them into easy copycat versions, just as good as the originals.
Before we get into this week’s episode, I was wondering something. Do you have any recipes you wish you could enjoy again? Not just like an edible gluten-free version, but something that really replicates how good it used to taste. I’m looking for ideas. Anything that you used to enjoy that I can recipe rehab. So if you have any ideas, hit me up on Instagram. You could direct message me @mamagourmand or you can email melissa@mamagourmand.com. And Mamagourmand is spelled M A M A G O U R M A N D.
Today we’re going to talk about one of my favorite summer meals. I guess you can enjoy this all year, but for some reason fish tacos just screams summertime for me. This recipe in particular, has this great combination of like slightly spicy blackened seasoning with a fresh, crisp honey lime slaw, and then you drizzle this creamy sriracha taco sauce over everything. It really nails everything in the flavor department.
I created this recipe because every time I saw fish tacos on a menu, it would be this little barb of how it fucking sucks to be gluten free. The restaurants usually serve them with some sort of battered coating on the fish, which means they’re off limits. And yet another thing I can never eat again.
Of course I could have created some copycat, gluten-free battered version to make at home. But, also that sounds like something I’m never actually going to have the energy to make. Battering and frying fish and then making all the other shit to go with it. I’m sorry, but that sounds awful.
I wanted to be a little bit more realistic about my standard energy level when it comes to making dinner, this recipe came out of it. Even if these don’t have the batter on ’em, in no shape or form are you going to feel like you’re missing out. In fact, I feel like they have a lot more flavor because of all the different components and how they layer on top of everything.
The fish is briefly marinated, meaning you don’t have to think ahead with some spices that you should already have right in your kitchen, a little oil and fresh lime juice. And then when that’s working, it’s magic, you mix together the slaw. Then it only takes like 10 minutes to bake or grill the fish and you can mix up the two ingredient pink taco sauce while the fish is cooking and donezo.
So let’s talk about the ingredients or anything else that you need to know. You need one pound of tilapia and if you are anti-tilapia, you can use cod or haddock or pollack, or any sort of white fish that floats your boat.
You will need two tablespoons of olive oil. One lime that’s juiced. A teaspoon of paprika, a teaspoon of dried oregano, a teaspoon of chili powder, a half a teaspoon of cumin, a half a teaspoon of garlic powder, a half a teaspoon of salt, and a fourth of teaspoon of cayenne pepper. And that’s where it gets its kick. If you want more of a kick, go for it. Add some more.
So you mix all of those ingredients in, I just use a Ziploc bags. So first I mix together the marinade, and then you put the tilapia in and it just has to sit for like 10 minutes or so before you cook it. You don’t want it to sit longer than that because then the acid in the lime will start to cook your fish, and then when you go to cook it, it will be tough and overcooked.
While the fish is sitting and marinating, that’s when I make the honey lime slaw. In a large bowl you make the slaw dressing, that is just another lime that’s juiced, two tablespoons of honey, one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, or you could use any vinegar you have on hand, a half a teaspoon salt and an eighth of a teaspoon of pepper.
You whisk that together and then you add the bag of coleslaw. Or if you want, you could just chop a small head of red cabbage or green cabbage, whatever you like, and then add a half a cup of cilantro in there as well. Mix that all together and let that sit to let the flavors come together while the fish cooks.
If you’re going to cook the fish in the oven, you’ll wanna preheat it to 425. If you’re cooking the fish on the grill, go ahead and heat up the grill to medium heat. For the oven, get a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper just so you don’t have to clean up a mess after. And then lay the fish on the baking sheet and bake it for 10 to 15 minutes or until the fish flakes easily with the fork.
If you’re going to cook it on the grill, what I do is I lay two pieces of fish on a large piece of foil, so they’re laying right next to each other, wrap up the foil so you have a little foil packet and make as many foil packets as you need to use up all the fish, and then put it directly on the grill for 8 to 10 minutes until the same thing, until it flakes easily.
If you’re using a fish like cod or Pollock or something thicker than tilapia, it is probably gonna take longer to cook.
While the fish is cooking, then that’s when you make your pink taco sauce, and that is just sour cream mixed together with sriracha.
I use three-fourths cup of sour cream with one to three teaspoons of sriracha sauce, depending on your spice level. If you’re serving it to your family, I usually use a little bit less sriracha, and then my husband and I will just add more at the end. The other thing you could do is you can make an avocado sauce, which would be an avocado blended with sour cream, lime and cilantro, and blend that together in a food processor or a blender, and use that in addition or instead of the pink taco sauce.
When you serve ’em, you could just use those three components. You could use the fish, the slaw, and the pink taco sauce, and you’re good. It’s incredible. But if you wanna add more things, you could do jalapenos, additional cilantro, sliced avocado, you could do cheese on them as well.
And then also, of course, corn tortillas slightly warmed if you’re gonna use those. Or I just published a recipe for gluten-free flour tortillas, which, holy shit, they’re so good. So I will link to that recipe as well.
If you’re making this for entertaining, say you wanna make some of the components ahead of time, you can make the slaw ahead of time, the taco sauce, and you can make the marinade for the fish ahead of time. But I would store all of those separate in the refrigerator.
Don’t put the fish in the marinade no more than 30 minutes before you’re going to cook it because the lime’s acidity will start to break down the fish and cook it.
So that’s all for this recipe. Remember, you can always find the full printable recipe on the show notes page, and to get to it, click on the link provided in whatever podcast app you’re listening on, or you could go to my recipe website, which is mamagourmand.com, and click on the podcast tab. And the show notes will include this full recipe, any tips and recommended ingredients I mentioned.
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