This easy Fish Taco Sauce is the creamy, flavorful hero of any fish taco recipe. Blended smooth in a food processor, it's rich yet light with layers of flavor from fresh lime, garlic, and spices. The tangy zing pairs perfectly with fish tacos, shrimp tacos, bowls, and more.
Fish Taco Sauce Recipe Essentials
- 🍽️ Course: Condiment
- ⏱️ Cooking Time: 2 minutes total with no cooking required.
- 🍴 Servings: 20 servings at 1 tablespoon each.
- 🧄 Flavor Profile: Creamy, tangy, fresh, and lightly spicy with hints of lime, garlic, cumin, and cilantro.
- 🍚 Best Served With: Perfect for fish tacos, shrimp tacos, grilled seafood, burrito bowls, or as a dipping sauce.
- 🧊 Make Ahead?: Yes, this sauce can be made ahead and stored chilled until ready to use.
Summarize and Save This Content On
I wanted a fish taco dressing that would pair well with any type of fish while still complementing the flavors instead of overpowering them. This is the best sauce for fish tacos that I've ever made! Using a food processor is a total game-changer because it creates the silkiest sauce ever with almost no effort. I also love that it tastes bright and fresh without feeling too heavy.
Some other tasty sauce recipes for tacos include copycat Diablo sauce and Taco Bell green sauce.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- It's ready in 2 minutes: In just two minutes, you can combine and blend the ingredients for this sauce and have it ready to serve.
- It goes on everything: You aren't limited to just fish tacos! From chicken to pork, or even other seafood like shrimp, there are unlimited possibilities.
- Fresh garlic is key: The most important element is fresh garlic to give it a savory punch of flavor. Garlic powder just isn't the same!
Ingredients
All the main components for this fish taco dressing are listed below. Each provide their own unique flavor profile to create a balanced sauce.
- Sour cream and mayo: These ingredients make up the base for the fish taco dressing. Full-fat works best to help it emulsify and remain creamy. You can swap sour cream for plain Greek yogurt for a lighter option.
- Lime juice: Freshly squeezed lime juice is preferable to bottled because it's much brighter and tangier, which makes this sauce taste as delicious as possible.
- Garlic: I love the flavor of fresh garlic here. Since it gets blended in the food processor, you won't get pieces of raw garlic when using the sauce. Keep the flavor balanced and not too sharp.
- Sriracha: You may use less or more sriracha, depending on how spicy you want the taco sauce for fish tacos to be. Sriracha isn't that spicy and works well with sweet ingredients, like in this sausage sheet pan dinner.
- Cilantro: I like to leave this optional for anyone who doesn't like it, but I enjoy the freshness it adds.
- Cumin: This has a lovely smoky, earthy flavor that I feel gives the sauce a Baja feel.
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
Variations
- Dairy-free: Try making it with vegan mayo and dairy-free sour cream for a dairy-free version.
- Swap herbs: Make this sauce recipe using freshly chopped parsley, chives, or even dill instead of cilantro.
- Spicier version: One of my favorite ways to add heat to this taco sauce is with chipotle in adobo. Start with 1-2 teaspoons and add a little more at a time until you reach your desired heat level.
How to Make Fish Taco Sauce
Below are the steps needed to make this easy taco sauce for fish tacos. Just gather and measure the ingredients before you make it!
Step 1: Add the ingredients to the food processor. Start by combining the ingredients for the sauce in the food processor.
Step 2: Blend the ingredients. Cover and blend until smooth. Serve it on the side with this pancake batter fried fish for dipping.
Expert Tips
- Thicken with more sour cream: If the consistency of the sauce is thinner than you would like, add a couple of tablespoons of sour cream to thicken it up.
- Don't freeze it: I don't recommend keeping this in the freezer. The dairy will separate and become watery.
- Make a double batch: If you're making this taco sauce recipe for a crowd, it's easy to scale up. Double the recipe so you have plenty for guests!
- Storage directions: Keep any extra sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 10-14 days. It's amazing to make ahead (even just 30 minutes to 2 hours in the fridge allows the flavors to meld together).
This Kraft tartar sauce recipe is another creamy sauce that I love to pair with fish!
Serving Suggestions
- Fish tacos: Go classic and use this sauce as a topping for your favorite varieties of fish tacos. Some of my favorites are blackened fish tacos and easy catfish tacos.
- Other fish recipes: If you want to use this on other seafood, try cocktail shrimp or these Red Lobster crab cakes.
- More ideas: Creative uses for this sauce include surf and turf burrito, chicken burrito bowl, and taco salads!
Fish Taco Sauce Recipe FAQs
You can, but it won't be smooth. If you don't have a food processor, you can use a blender instead.
If it's too thick for your preference, then add an extra squeeze of fresh lime juice to thin it out. Add a little at a time and gradually use more if needed.
This is a very versatile sauce that works on other fish, such as salmon or tilapia, and other proteins like chicken and pork, too. It would even be great with baked sweet potato fries or roasted vegetables.
More Delicious Sauce Recipes
Do you like homemade sauce recipes? Here are some recipes you may also like to try.
If you try this recipe and love it please leave a star rating in the recipe card below or even better, drop a review in the comment section. I always appreciate your feedback. Be sure to follow along with me on Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube for more easy recipes!
Fish Taco Sauce
Ingredients
- ¾ cup sour cream
- ½ cup mayonnaise full fat
- ¼ cup lime juice freshly squeezed
- 1 teaspoon sriracha
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- cilantro to taste
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend until smooth.
Notes
- If the fish taco sauce is thinner than you prefer, stir in a couple of extra tablespoons of sour cream to thicken it.
- If the fish taco sauce is too thick, add a little extra fresh lime juice to thin it out. Start with a small squeeze and add more as needed until it reaches your preferred consistency.
- You can make this fish taco sauce without a food processor, but it won't be as smooth. If you don't have a food processor, a blender works well too.
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