Flaky chunks of white fish roasted in a flavorful spice rub and topped with a crunchy, tangy, sweet cucumber citrus salsa. Top with a dollop of yogurt (or sour cream) and squeeze of lime for that perfect bite!
Ingredient highlight
Oranges! are high in vitamin C and flavonoids, making them a great immune booster. One orange fills you up with almost 100% of your daily vitamin C. If you find yourself with random amount of leftover orange odds and ends, freeze them for smoothies. I love throwing them in my winter smoothies (along with some sweet potato).
Servings 4
Prep Time 15 minutes 
Cook Time 10 minutes Ingredients
For the Fish Tacos:
- 1 lb flaky white fish (halibut, cod, rockfish)
- 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt, divided
- 1 tbsp tapioca starch (optional)*
- ½ purple cabbage, thinly sliced (about 5 cups)
- 8 small corn or flour tortillas
- Plain whole milk yogurt, for topping (optional)
- Cilantro, for garnish
- Lime wedges
For the salsa:
- 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeds removed, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 2 cara cara or navel oranges, peeled, cut into small pieces (about 1 cup)(see video)
- ¼ cup chopped red onion (optional)
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- *Tapioca starch helps to make a crispy/thicker coating, but you can leave it out or sub with cornstarch.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450F or 425F convection (use convection if you have it). Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cut the fish into 2-inch pieces. Add them to a large bowl along with 2 tablespoons olive oil, spices (cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, and cayenne, if using) and 1 teaspoon salt. Toss to coat. Sprinkle on the tapioca starch (if using) and toss again. Place the fish pieces on ½ of the baking sheet.
- Add the cabbage to the other half and toss with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. If your fish has the skin on, peel it off (it peels off easily once cooked).
- Meanwhile, add the cucumber, orange, red onion (if using), lime juice and salt to a medium bowl and toss to coat.
- Warm the tortillas on the stove over an open flame or in a pan. Top with cabbage, fish, yogurt (if using), salsa, cilantro, and squeeze of lime.
Items you can prep ahead (optional)
- Thinly slice ½ cabbage (about 5 cups)
- Mix the spice mixture together
- ½ purple cabbage, thinly sliced (about 5 cups)
- Peel, de-seed, and chop 1 large cucumber (1 cup)
- Peel and dice 2 oranges
- Chop ¼ of a red onion (optional)
- Make the salsa
Substitutions:
- To make vegetarian, follow the recipe using tofu (drained, pressed, and cubed) instead of fish or just use black beans. For either, you would toss them in 2 tablespoons oil, spices, and salt and bake at the same temperature until crispy.
- To make vegan, use the tofu method and add guacamole or avocado slices instead of yogurt.
- While this is best with flaky white fish, you could totally use salmon.
- I love the cucumber orange salsa, but you could use anything crunchy for the cucumber (fennel, celery, radish, etc..) or a different fruit instead of orange.
Storage:
- Store leftover fish, cabbage, and salsa separately in airtight containers in the fridge.
- Fish: up to 3 days
- Salsa: up to 5 days
Leftovers + Repurposing:
- Make it a rice bowl! Warm up the fish and cabbage with some rice or roasted veggies and serve with avocado and salsa.
- Warm up the cabbage and fish in the microwave on low power mode until just warm OR reheat them in a covered skillet with some oil. Serve with all the toppings.
