These mini fish tacos are such a fun dinner or party appetizer! We use wonton wrappers for the base, fill them with spiced fish, and top with our easy chipotle slaw.
These mini fish tacos fly off the plate when I serve them to friends and family. They are such a fun twist on fish tacos. We use baked wonton cups for the base, which hold the perfect amount of fish and slaw.
The recipe comes together quickly, and if you want to get a head start, you can make the wonton cups a week in advance. Then, the day you plan on serving them, bake the fish with our delicious spice rub and make the spicy chipotle slaw.
Key Ingredients
- Wonton Wrappers: I use square wonton wrappers to make little taco cups. I do the same for these chili lime shrimp wonton cups. Wonton wrappers generally come in a few different thicknesses. If you have the choice, go with thin or medium. If you’d like to use tortillas, you can use the smaller tacos, often called street tacos, or make your own, but intentionally make them mini. Here’s our corn tortillas recipe or flour tortillas recipe.
- Fish: We have used tilapia in our photos, but any firm white fish will work in this recipe. Consider mahi-mahi, cod, or sea bass.
- Fish Taco Seasoning: I combine chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, onion powder, and salt for my fish seasoning. If you’ve not seen our homemade chili powder yet, I highly recommend it! Otherwise, when shopping for chili powder, I love ancho chili powder, which I find much more flavorful than generic chili powder.
- Cabbage: Use red or green (white) cabbage for this slaw.
- Sour Cream and Lime: I like a creamy slaw for this, so I mix my cabbage with a bit of sour cream and fresh lime juice.
- Chipotles in Adobo Sauce: I add minced chipotles in adobo sauce to my slaw for a spicy kick. These smoky, spicy peppers are smoked jalapeños preserved in a flavorful adobo sauce made with spices and chili peppers. You can buy them in small cans, usually found next to salsas or in your store’s International aisle. I also use them to make our roasted corn with chipotle butter, the creamy spread for salmon burgers, and our sweet potato black bean tacos.
How to Make Mini Fish Tacos
These mini fish tacos are super easy to make. First, make the cups. Brush wonton wrappers with oil, then press into mini muffin cups. Bake them until golden brown and crisp. They take 8 to 10 minutes.
While the wontons bake, you can get the fish ready. Season with the spice blend, then bake until just cooked through. You’ll know when it is done when a fork can easily flake the fish.
We round the recipe out with an easy chipotle slaw. Toss finely chopped red cabbage with sour cream, salt, lime, and chipotles in adobo sauce. From there, you can assemble the tacos. Place a cilantro leaf at the bottom of each wonton cup (help prevent them from becoming soggy over time). Then, fill it with fish and slaw. Easy!
Mini Fish Tacos with Chipotle Slaw
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
These mini tacos are great for a fun dinner or to serve at parties. I like assembling them just before I plan to serve them so that the filling doesn’t make the bottom of the wonton cups soggy. You can make the wonton cups in advance and keep them (unfilled) for up to a week. You can also make the fish and slaw a day in advance.
You Will Need
15 wonton wrappers
2 tablespoons avocado oil or olive oil
8 ounces (226g) tilapia fillets or firm white fish
1 ½ teaspoons ancho chili powder, try homemade chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 cup finely chopped red cabbage
1 tablespoon sour cream or more as needed
Juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon finely minced chipotles in adobo sauce
12 fresh cilantro leaves, plus more as needed
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
Directions
- Bake Wonton Cups
1Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Set aside a mini muffin pan.
2Lightly brush wonton wrappers on both sides with oil. Lightly season one side with salt. Press the wonton wrappers into the cups, spreading back the corners and pressing the bottoms to make a defined cup.
3Bake until lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Keep a close eye on them as they bake to ensure they are not over-browning. Transfer to a rack and let cool. Baked wonton cups will keep, unfilled, in an airtight container for up to a week. For the best results, fill them right before serving.
- Make Fish Tacos
1In a small bowl, stir 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder, 1/4 teaspoon cumin, 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1/4 teaspoon onion powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Rub both sides of the fish fillets with a tablespoon of oil and spice mix.
2Place the fish onto a baking sheet and bake uncovered until the fish flakes, 8 to 12 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets.
3Meanwhile, make the chipotle slaw. Rub the cabbage with 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Add the sour cream, lime juice, chipotles in adobo, and cilantro, then toss well. Taste, then adjust with more sour cream if it is too dry. Or adjust with salt or chipotle as needed.
4Assemble the mini fish tacos by placing a cilantro leaf at the bottom of each wonton cup (this prevents the filling from making the bottom soggy). Divide the fish between the cups, and then top with chipotle slaw. Serve right away.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Wonton cups: Occasionally, a wonton will collapse during baking, making it difficult to stand up without falling over. So, we bake a few extra cups.
- Nutrition facts estimates.
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I really enjoyed your artlice! I am a full on fisher so your blogs are really appealing to me and my friends. Thx.
would it work with blackening the fish? Or will the slaw make it too spicy…
That would be nice. It really depends on your spices for the fish.
Made these tonight. They were good but not fabulous. For our taste the fish needed more spice and we cut way back on the lime and found it a little overpowering and we love citrus. For the record these are just fine at room temp. I will definitely make these again with some tweaks. Thanks for the awesome inspiration!
Hi Lisa — Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! So happy you were able to make them into something you and your family enjoyed.
Would these really be good cold, you think? I’d love to bring them to a BBQ this weekend, but now I’m re-thinking the cold fish aspect…
Hi Vanessa — We enjoy the fish warm, however, these do taste great at room temperature.
Can’t wait to try …yum.
These look fabulous! A nice twist on tacos and I love using wonton wrappers fr all different items. Thanks for sharing.
These look DELISH and I can’t wait to try! Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing!
These look really really good. :0) I can’t wait to try them.
thanks, beverly!
Wow! What a cute idea! They would be perfect for Superbowl Sunday! This is exactly what our food lovers on our community page love to read about! We hope you stop by!
I love the idea of making these inside wonton wrappers. It’s no wonder they fly off the plate. They look just amazing.
What a delicious looking recipe! Really great idea for serving fish as an appetiser 🙂
Seriously these look amazing and super creative! I’ve never been to your site before but the Novice Chef Blog facebook page had this link….and now I have another sweet place to find recipes!! 🙂
These look awesome! I love the idea of making them into little bites!
thanks, Jessica 🙂
Great idea! What a fabulous appetizer! Going to pin it, too!
Holy. Crap.
I LOVE THESE.