Tilapia Tacos with Cucumber Cilantro Sauce

If you haven’t noticed yet, to say that I’m a fan of cilantro is an understatement. I made a Thai dish a few weeks ago, and made fresh spring rolls on Friday – both were loaded with cilantro. Call me obsessed, but I’ve even tried a cocktail with Scotch and cilantro – that one needed some work. Again with this recipe, it’s the fresh flavors and simplicity that I enjoy so much.

For such a simple recipe, there are vibrant flavors to be found in these tacos, and the mildness of the tilapia lets them shine through. I have recommended this recipe to several friends and received great feedback, and, as I normally do, I’ve made some modifications to the original recipe. The original recipe called for radishes, but I’m not a fan of radishes. The next time I made it I omitted the radishes, but the presentation was dull and bland without the vibrant red radishes. This time around I improved upon the recipe by substituting orange bell pepper and red onion for the radishes. The bell pepper plays well with the fresh flavors of cilantro and cucumber, and the red onion adds a subtle onion spice. You’ll notice that I prefer to create a sour cream based sauce in a food processor, but you could also mix this by hand if you mince the garlic and cilantro, or just add them as separate toppings. I generally put some cucumber (not much because it’ll make the sauce too watery), onion, and cilantro in the food processor too.

I chose Anthem’s Arjuna, to pair with this meal with because of its unique refreshing flavor. I used to say “I’m not a beer guy”, but this is one of the beers that made me realize I can’t say that anymore. The Arjuna is a Belgian-Style Wit with notes of coriander, orange peel, and chamomile which reminds me more of tea than beer. Anthem says it pairs well with breakfast food, steamed mussels, Marscapone cheese, orange crepes, and I think you will agree that fish tacos needs to be added to that list.

Anthem is from Oklahoma City, so fellow Oklahomans should have no difficulty finding any of their beers bottled or on tap. You can find out more about Anthem here.

Print Recipe

Tilapia Tacos with Cucumber Cilantro Sauce

Prep Time25 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time35 minutes mins

Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 4 6-ounce tilapia filets
• 8 corn tortillas
  

Fresh Toppings

• 1 orange bell pepper diced
• ½ cucumber halved and sliced thin
• ¼ cup red onion diced
• ¾ cup cilantro chopped
• ½ tablespoon lime juice plus wedges for garnish
  

Cucumber Cilantro Sauce

• ½ cup sour cream
• ¼ cup cilantro
• 4 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons cucumber diced
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• salt
• ground black pepper
  

Fish Seasoning

• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

• Mix the bell pepper, cucumber slices, red onion, cilantro, and lime juice in a medium bowl.
• In a food processor add cilantro, sour cream, lime juice, olive oil, cucumber, garlic, coriander, and black pepper. Process until it is the consistency of a thick sauce. If too thin, add more sour cream. Add salt and pepper according to taste.
• For the seasoning, combine the ground coriander, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, then season both sides of fillets.
• Heat olive oil on medium high in a skillet and cook 1-2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate or bowl before breaking into pieces.
• Wrap tortillas in a damp paper towel and warm in microwave.
• Top each tortilla with fish, fresh ingredients, cucumber cilantro sauce, and garnish with lime wedges.

Notes

This recipe was adapted from a recipe which can be found here: Tilapia Tacos with Cucumber Relish