Crispy Beer-Battered Vegan Fish Tacos
With a crispy beer-battered crust, flavourful pico de gallo, and creamy tartar sauce, these Vegan Fish Tacos make for the ultimate plant-based taco experience!
Sometimes even when you’ve been vegan for a while, you still crave certain dishes based on tradition or time of year. For me, one of these cravings was fish on Good Friday, which is a tradition here in Jamaica. When I wanted to whip up a dish that would satisfy that itch for something traditional and nostalgic, I decided to use my vegan fish sticks recipe as a starting point for these vegan fish tacos.
Vegan fish? Yes! My plant-based fish sticks are made with hearts of palm and dried nori, which give the faux-fish that authentic seafood flavor. Add Old Bay seasoning, which isn’t inherently fishy but is associated with seafood because it’s so often used to season it, and you’ve got a stellar stand-in for fish—especially when it’s paired with an irresistibly crispy beer batter.
Fish tacos always benefit from the addition of garnishes, and these vegan fish tacos are no different! I serve them with a plant-based tartar sauce and bright, acidic homemade pico de gallo. The contrasting textures and flavors in these tacos makes them a real treat, and the perfect dinner for Lent, Easter, or any day of the week!
Notes on Ingredients
Please note that this is important information on the ingredients and instructions and the FULL recipe with amounts and details can be found DOWN BELOW (scroll to it) in the recipe card.
For the Pico de Gallo:
- Onion – A white onion is traditional, but yellow or red onion will work too.
- Tomato
- Chili pepper – This is optional.
- Parsley – Or use cilantro if you prefer.
- Lime juice
- Sea salt
- Ground black pepper
To Assemble the Tacos:
- Vegan fish sticks – Grab the recipe for my vegan fish sticks.
- Vegan tartar sauce – Grab the recipe for my vegan tartar sauce.
- Lime wedges
- Parsley – Cilantro can be used here, too.
- Tortillas – Use any kind you like!
- Optional handful of pickled cabbage or pickled onions
How to Make Vegan Fish Tacos
To make these fish tacos, you’ll need to start with my fish stick and tartar sauce recipes. Once you’ve made those, follow the steps below.
Make the pico de gallo. Place all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and gently toss to coat.
Warm the tortillas. Heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a skillet set over medium heat. Place a tortilla onto the skillet and warm until it’s puffy and golden brown, then flip it over and warm the other side. Transfer the warmed tortilla to a plate, then repeat with remaining tortillas.
Assemble. Top each tortilla with the pico de gallo, pickled veggies, crispy fish sticks, vegan tartar sauce, and chopped parsley. Serve with a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
Tips for Success
Here are my best tips for perfect vegan fish tacos.
- Getting the proportions right. I found that 1 ½ fish stick worked for one taco, but this will depend on the size of the tortillas you use.
- Making in advance. Make the different toppings and store them separately to keep everything fresh. When you’re ready to eat, make the fish sticks, heat the tortillas, and assemble.
- Meal prep advice. If you want to also make the fish sticks in advance, I recommend swapping the batter for seasoned panko breadcrumbs (to roll the fish sticks in before frying), which store much better. This will also allow you to bake the fish, too.
How to Store and Reheat
Just like real fish, these fish sticks taste best fresh. If you do have leftovers, they’ll keep in the fridge for about 3 days; store each component separately, then reheat the fish sticks in the oven, warm the tortillas, and put together your tacos.
Can This Recipe Be Frozen?
No, I don’t recommend freezing this recipe. If you’re looking for some freezer-friendly meal ideas, here are some of my favorites: 30 Freezer Friendly Recipes for Back to School
Enjoy friends! If you make this vegan fish taco recipe, please snap a photo and tag #jessicainthekitchen on Instagram! We’d also love it if you would leave a comment below, and give the recipe a rating! Thanks so much!
Crispy Beer-Battered Vegan Fish Tacos
Ingredients
Pico de Gallo
- 1/2 small onion, diced
- 1 small tomato, diced
- 1 whole chili pepper, diced (optional)
- 3 tablespoons parsley, chopped
- juice of 3 small limes or 1 ½ large limes
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
To Assemble Tacos
- 1 batch vegan fish sticks
- 1 batch vegan tartar sauce
- optional handful of pickled cabbage or pickled onions
- 2 limes, sliced into wedges for garnish and fresh squeeze over tacos
- 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
- 5 taco soft shells, use corn tacos if gluten free
Instructions
Pico de Gallo
- Stir all the ingredients together and set aside until ready for it!
To Assemble Tacos
- Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat (if possible, brush with a pastry brush).
- Place a taco shell in the heat until golden brown spots appear and they are slightly puffy for a few seconds, then flip and cook the same. Set on a plate to assemble.
- Layer with pico de Gallo, pickled veggies, crispy fish sticks, vegan tartar sauce and chopped parsley over the soft taco shells. Add other toppings here if so desired. I found that 1 ½ fish stick worked for one taco.
- Serve with limes to squeeze over for a fresh burst of flavour. Enjoy!
Notes
Disclaimer: Although jessicainthekitchen.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, kindly note that these are only estimates. Nutritional information may be affected based on the product type, the brand that was purchased, and in other unforeseeable ways. Jessicainthekitchen.com will not be held liable for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on nutritional information. If you need to follow a specific caloric regimen, please consult your doctor first.
Made your original version, and we devoured them!
Hi Amanda,
Aww so happy to hear that and that you enjoyed them!!
Hi Amanda we’re happy that you enjoyed! Thanks for this comment!
Thanks for sharing – wonderful write up.
So delicious and really not complicated at all. Instead of the Tartar Sauce (i was missing a few ingredients) – I made a chipotle cashew cream (soak cashews, add lime, lemon, salt, Oat milk and chipotle peppers – and blend) which worked out great too.
The Fish came out so great though – throwing this into the rotation ASAP….hard to not eat the fish sticks before you even make the tacos.
Hi Jessica, great recipe Im going to make tacos for vegan friends I noticed in some recipes they dont batter the fish but pulse into chunks bake and then add to shell but I thought the battered would be more authentic and give it that YUM FACTOR. Question: instead of a whole fish stick can i just break this up after its cooked into chunks? Would it stay together or crumble into bits. Thanks for the great recipe Liz
Hi Liz!
I hope you love it! I would recommend breaking it into the chunks you want first, and then battering and frying that instead. It generally keeps it shape but that may give you what you’re looking for and have a better consistency!
Really delicious recipe. I love it yummy!!! It’s really awesome. Will surely try this.
Thank you Chris! We hope that you like it.
Wow, these tacos are amazing! I went vegan several months ago, and prior to that was never able to eat seafood due to being allergic to it. When I saw this recipe I was excited to try “fish”, and I’m so glad I did! I baked my fish sticks instead of frying them; I first dipped them in the beer batter, then in panko breadcrumbs. I sprayed them with olive oil spray and baked them at 400 for about 20 minutes, flipping halfway. The pickled onions and pico de gallo are a must! I can’t wait to make these tacos again!
Awesome Colby! We’re so happy that you enjoyed it! We wish you all the best on your vegan journey!