Grilled Fish Tacos with Cilantro Lime Sauce

Let's grill! These grilled fish tacos are topped with avocado and a tangy cilantro lime sauce for an easy, light summer meal!

These grilled tacos can easily stand on their own for a simple weeknight dinner. You can also add a bit of grilled corn salsa for a little more substance!

I grew up on the West Coast where seafood is available just about everywhere, and while I was not a huge fan of it when I was a kid, I absolutely love it now. If cooking seafood at home makes you a little nervous, then this post is for you! Fish tacos are a super simple way to experiment with seafood.

How to make this recipe

For this recipe, I wanted to create a quick, flavorful taco that could be made just about anytime. You can easily make these for a weeknight meal, but they are also great for casual summer entertaining.

Heat the tortillas. I really like warm tortillas, so I like to heat them up on the grill while the fish finishes cooking. They usually get some little charred spots here and there which adds to the flavor.

Pro Tip ⇢ Fish is one of the few things I don't generally recommend cooking ahead of time as it's just never as good reheated. You can make the yogurt sauce a couple of days in advance and store it in the refrigerator.

Cooking fish on the grill

Grilling is one of my favorite ways to cook fish. With the right preparation and tips, grilling fish can be easy.

• Make sure your grill grates are really clean and then preheat your grill on high. This helps to keep the fish from sticking to the grill and also gives you nice grill marks. You are looking for a grill temperature of at least 400°F (a bit higher is fine too).
• Once the grill is hot, give the grates an additional scrub with your grill brush to make sure any leftover cooking bits have been removed.
• You want to warm the fish up a bit before grilling so this means taking it out of the refrigerator about 5 minutes before you are ready to start prepping it for the grill.
• Be sure to generously oil both sides of the fish before adding any seasoning.
• When removing fish from the grill, a fish spatula is an ideal tool to have. If you don't have one, use the largest spatula you've got. Using a back and forth motion, carefully slide the spatula between the fish and the grill grates.

How to serve fish tacos

One of the best things about tacos is they don't really require any additional sides, although you can really never go wrong with some chips and fresh guacamole when serving tacos!

I'm pretty happy to eat these fish tacos on their own, with a nice glass of dry Rosé. Or if you are more of a cocktail fan, they go well with this Grapefruit Margarita.

Grilled Fish Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Sauce

Author: Kathryn | Urban Foodie Kitchen

These grilled fish tacos are topped with a tangy cilantro lime sauce for a healthy weeknight meal!

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

  

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For the Lime Cilantro Sauce:

• 6 ounces of plain Greek yogurt
• pinch sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon lime zest
• 1 finely chopped tablespoon green onion
• ¼ cup cilantro leaves, chopped
• ¼ teaspoon finely diced jalapeño

For the tacos:

• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika
• ¼ teaspoon garlic salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon onion powder
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound tilapia filets
• 6-8 corn tortillas
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 2 ounces queso fresco, crumbled

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Instructions

 

• Make the sauce. Mix the yogurt, salt, sugar, zest, onion, cilantro, and jalapeno in a small bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
• Prepare the fish. In a small bowl, mix cumin through onion powder. Brush fish with olive oil and sprinkle with spice mixture.
• Grill the fish. Heat grill to about 400°F, place fish on the grill, and cook for 5 minutes. Carefully turn fish and cook for 4-6 minutes or until done. Remove fish from the grill and let it rest for 3-5 minutes. Use two forks to pull the fish apart.
• Heat the tortillas. When you turn the fish, place tortillas on a grill to heat.  If you have several burners on your grill, turn one to low so you can get the tortillas warm without making them too crunchy.
• Assemble the tacos. Place 2-3 tortillas on each plate, divide fish evenly amongst the tortillas. Top with avocado, green onion, Queso Fresco, and lime-cilantro sauce. Serve immediately.

Keywords : grilled fish recipe, light summer dinner

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This recipe post was originally published in August 2014. It was updated with some new information and photos in June 2025. No changes have been made to the original recipe.