These vegan fish tacos are loaded with pickled onions, red cabbage coleslaw, avocado, and a hint of lime, they'll make you feel like you're in paradise! These tacos have a nice crispy exterior and a soft flaky inside.
These vegan fish tacos are light and refreshing meals and are perfect for sharing with others. You can make these for special events or a random night during the week, you will not be disappointed!
Why I Made Vegan Fish Tacos
I talked about not being a huge fan of fish before going vegan and while that remains true I did have fish tacos I really did enjoy once while living in San Diego. So now I'm going to base my entire personality around that... Just Kidding but I did want to try and recreate them using our new vegan fish recipe!
Growing up my family never had like set nights for dinner. You know the ones you see on tv? On Sundays, we eat meatloaf and we have taco Tuesday etc. those ones. That was never my family and to be honest, I'm kind of happy about that. My family wasn't very convenient and so I had a different upbringing than most. Today I live my life very differently than most people and that's why we're having tacos on a Wednesday!
I always like pushing the boundaries of my culinary abilities because I firmly believe that is how we all get better at our respective crafts. This is definitely one of the recipes that did that for me. Not that these vegan fish tacos are overly complicated, it's pretty straightforward, but getting all of the flavors just right so that they all worked well together was tough. I'm glad I tried this recipe out a couple of different ways so I know for sure that I loved this way the most!
How To Make Vegan Fish Tacos
Everyone enjoys their tacos differently. Some people enjoy hard shells some enjoy softshells (this is the correct answer) so you may want to add different things to your vegan fish tacos than me but this recipe gives you a framework to work with and you can go from there. I personally think the way I constructed these vegan fish tacos is perfect but everyone is different and that's okay!
Ingredients for Vegan Fish Tacos
- Vegan Fish Fillets (or frozen fillets)
- Corn Tortillas
- Red Onions
- Red Cabbage Coleslaw
- Avocado
- Corn
- Lime Crema
- Cilantro (optional, but not really)
- Lime
Kitchen Equipment I used for recipe:
- Quality Wide Mouth Pickling Jar Set - I somehow ran out of mason jars as I was recipe testing so I had to order some more and these were great! They have a large mouth than typical mason jars so it was easier to stuff the red onions in them for pickling!
- Wok for Deep Frying - If you have a deep fryer feel free to use that but I don't and I don't plan on ever buying one. This wok is great because the few times a year I want to deep fry I can do it in this and for the rest of the year, I can use it for other things!
Instructions for Vegan Fish Tacos
Pickled Onions
- Thinly slice 1 large red onion. Stuff the slices fairly tight into a large mason jar. Depending on the size of the onion/jar you may have to split it into 2 jars. Add peppercorns to the jar.
- Bring 2 cups of water, 2 cups of vinegar, ⅓ cup of sugar, and 2 tablespoon of sea salt to a boil. Then gently pour into the jars until the onions are completely covered.
- Seal the jar with a lid and let refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. The larger the slices the longer the pickling process can take.
Red Cabbage Coleslaw
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together ½ cup of vegan mayonnaise 4 tablespoon of lemon juice, and 2 tablespoon of cilantro. Next add 4 cups of sliced red cabbage, and 1 cup of corn kernels and mix together until combined.
- Set aside in refrigerator until ready to be used.
Vegan Fish Sticks
- Open the can of hearts of palms and gently squeeze excess water from the sticks. Tear the palm sticks apart by hand shredding them into smaller pieces. In a mixing bowl add your shredded hearts of palm ½ cup of panko crumbs, 2 tablespoon of vegan sour cream, 2 teaspoon of old bay spice, and 1 tablespoon of crumbled roasted seaweed. Grab a handful of the mixture and form them into small sticks approximately half an inch wide and 3 inches long shapes. The mixture creates between 10-12 fish sticks depending on how big you make them. Place them on a plate and refrigerate them while you prepare the batter.
- In a large Wok or deep fryer heat oil on high. Oil is ready when you put one droplet of water in and it begins to sizzle, alternatively, you can use an oil thermometer.
- In a large mixing bowl mix all of the dry ingredients for the beer batter together. Then mix in your beer a half a cup at a time, you want your batter to resemble a runny pancake batter but not too wet.1 cup Flour,1 tablespoon Garlic Powder,1 tablespoon Onion Powder,1 tablespoon Old Bay Spice,1 teaspoon Paprika,1.5 cups Beer
- Once the batter is ready place your fillets in and cover them completely in batter. Using tongs or the spider spatula lower the vegan fish fillets into the heated oil one at a time. Cooking until golden brown and crispy about 3-5 minutes, flipping if necessary. Repeat this process for all of the fish sticks.
Serving
- Put all of the finished ingredients into bowls/plates and serve potluck style.
Full Measurements & Instructions Below!
Commonly Asked Vegan Fish Tacos Questions
Can you make these ahead of time?
You can make many elements of the vegan fish tacos ahead of time. Preparing the pickled onions, the red cabbage coleslaw and the filling for the fish sticks the night before will save you a lot of time when it comes to actually cooking these and is highly recommended. It is however not recommended to deep fry them ahead of time as they will become soggy and deteriorate quickly.
How do you store vegan fish tacos?
It's recommended that if at all possible eat all of the vegan fish tacos fresh. You can save and store certain elements, such as the red cabbage coleslaw and pickled onions.
What else can you serve with fish tacos?
Tacos in general are very versatile. You can serve them with so many different things for so many different tastebuds. Some of my favorite things to serve with fish tacos are:
- Limes
- Sour Cream
- Cheese Shreds
- Guac
- Jalapenos
- Salsa/Pico de Gallo
- Nachos
- Elote (Mexican Street Corn)
- Refried Beans
Vegan Fish Tacos
Equipment
- Wok or deep fryer
Ingredients
Vegan Fish
- 2 cans Hearts of Palm 15 oz cans
- ½ cup Panko Crumbs
- 2 tablespoon Vegan Sour Cream
- 2 teaspoon Old Bay Spice
- 1 tablespoon Roasted Seaweed or nori sheet
Beer Batter
- 1.5 cups Beer preferably red beer (see notes)
- 1 cup Flour
- 1 tablespoon Garlic Powder
- 1 tablespoon Onion Powder
- 1 tablespoon Old Bay Spice
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
Red Cabbage Coleslaw
- 4 cups Purple Cabbage sliced
- ½ cup Vegan Mayonaise
- 4 tablespoon Lemon Juice
- 1 cup Corn Kernels
- 2 tablespoon Cilantro chopped
Pickled Onions
- 1 Large Red Onion
- 2 cups White Vinegar
- 2 cups Water
- ⅓ cup Sugar
- 2 tablespoon Whole Peppercorns
- 2 tablespoon Sea Salt
To Serve
- 10 Corn Tortillas
- 2 Avocados sliced
- ½ cup Lime Crema
- Cilantro
Instructions
Pickled Onions
- Thinly slice 1 large red onion. Stuff the slices fairly tight into a large mason jar. Depending on the size of the onion/jar you may have to split it into 2 jars. Add peppercorns to the jar.
- Bring 2 cups of water, 2 cups of vinegar, ⅓ cup of sugar, and 2 tablespoon of sea salt to a boil. Then gently pour into the jars until the onions are completely covered.
- Seal the jar with a lid and let refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. The larger the slices the longer the pickling process can take.
Red Cabbage Coleslaw
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together ½ cup of vegan mayonnaise 4 tablespoon of lemon juice, and 2 tablespoon of cilantro. Next add 4 cups of sliced red cabbage, and 1 cup of corn kernels and mix together until combined.
- Set aside in refrigerator until ready to be used.
Vegan Fish Sticks
- Open the can of hearts of palms and gently squeeze excess water from the sticks. Tear the palm sticks apart by hand shredding them into smaller pieces. In a mixing bowl add your shredded hearts of palm ½ cup of panko crumbs, 2 tablespoon of vegan sour cream, 2 teaspoon of old bay spice, and 1 tablespoon of crumbled roasted seaweed. Grab a handful of the mixture and form them into small sticks approximately half an inch wide and 3 inches long shapes. The mixture creates between 10-12 fish sticks depending on how big you make them. Place them on a plate and refrigerate them while you prepare the batter.
- In a large Wok or deep fryer heat oil on high. Oil is ready when you put one droplet of water in and it begins to sizzle, alternatively, you can use an oil thermometer.
- In a large mixing bowl mix all of the dry ingredients for the beer batter together. Then mix in your beer in a half a cup at a time, you want your batter to resemble a runny pancake batter but not too wet.1 cup Flour, 1 tablespoon Garlic Powder, 1 tablespoon Onion Powder, 1 tablespoon Old Bay Spice, 1 teaspoon Paprika, 1.5 cups Beer
- Once the batter is ready place your fillets in and cover them completely in batter. Using tongs or the spider spatula lower the vegan fish fillets into the heated oil one at a time. Cooking until golden brown and crispy about 3-5 minutes, flipping if necessary. Repeat this process for all of the fish sticks.
Serving
- Put all of the finished ingredients into bowls/plates and serve potluck style.
Pups Notes
- The red cabbage coleslaw is optional to make, I enjoy it with my vegan fish tacos but others might not!
Nutrition
If you try this recipe, please leave a 5-star review in the comments section below! I’d love to hear from you! You can rate it, comment about it, send us pictures about it on Instagram @RescueDogKitchen.
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Angela Burke
These vegan fish tacos are so easy to make and are a hit among my friends and family. I even make extra vegan fish sticks for the kids for days they are feeling picky - I serve it with some of the extra lime crema and they are beyond happy, too!!