Grilling or cooking fish at higher temperatures will give you more flavor and texture. When baking or griddling fish, make sure to check it every few minutes as each type of cod is cooked differently. Thin flaky white-flesh fish like trout and halibut are easier to cook because they do not require too much time in the grill or pan. Others such as salmon and tuna need to be cooked slightly longer due to their thickness.
When prepping vegetables for the tacos, remember that grilled veggies taste better than raw ones! Almost any vegetable can be used in a fish taco including carrots, broccoli, peppers, and mushrooms. Just wash them and then season with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Then, toast in the oven or broil until soft.
If you love having crunchy bits in your food, try adding some coconut or rice flour to the mixture to see what changes you get. Both add little taste and texture which is okay when eating meat!
Fish tacos are great vegetarian options since the toppings include lettuce, tomatoes, and cabbage! If you are looking to gain more nutrients from the foods, use fresh ingredients and limit processed junk.
Brush the cod with oil
After washing your fish, you will want to brush it with olive or vegetable oil so that it does not stick in the grill. This is particularly important if grilled cheese tacos are on the menu!
Olive oil is usually best since it has some flavor of its own. You can use soft oil, but make sure it doesn’t burn too quickly, as this could eliminate the taste of the fish.
To cook the cod completely, which takes about six minutes per one-inch thickness, have it sit at room temperature until just before grilling.
Put the cod on a grill pan
When cooking fish like flaky white–fleshed fish like cod, trying to get that beautiful brown color and flavor is difficult! Grilling the fish directly on the grill can sometimes result in dry or burnt flesh due to not enough heat being distributed onto the meat.
To solve this, most people either use a pre-heated grill plate or a hot grill pan. The trick is to cook the fish on one but never the other! Using a hot grill pan will totally take away the crispiness of the fish, while using a cold grill plate won’t give you the pretty golden hue needed to satisfy the eye.
So how do we achieve both? We make sure the grill pan is at least two inches hotter than the grill plate. This way, the fish gets just enough time to sear on the grill plate before getting stuck with the warm grill pan surface which would lose its texture and taste.
Cook the cod until it flakes easily
When cooking fish, thickness is an important factor! Too thin will not cook all of the way through and could potentially cause food poisoning due to raw seafood being consumed.
Thicker pieces of meat require more time to fully cook through, which can be a good or bad thing depending on how much you like your meat cooked.
Too thick though, may result in dryness because the grill can’t heat enough water off of the surface of the meat. This could also risk burning or drying out the meat. The solution? Find a happy medium!
Grilling the cod at a lower temperature and then finishing it up high would be our recommendation here. Try grilling the cod for one minute per side at low temperatures before raising the temperature.
Serve the cod with your favorite taco ingredients
When it comes time to eat this grilled fish, what kind of toppings you layer onto the tacos makes a big difference!
You can either put avocado or tomato salsa on the tacos, or you can add roasted corn, cooked rice, shredded lettuce, and/or sliced pickled radishes. Add some fresh chopped onions and tomatoes and you have a delicious crunchy topping that rounds out the flavor of the fish.
Try cooking other fish or meat for tacos
When grilling cod, there are two things that can be tricky to manage. One is ensuring it’s cooked all the way through, and the other is making sure it doesn’t get dry. Both of these occur when eating fish tacos so nothing new here!
If you like super crispy taco shells then just make sure your grill is very hot before putting the cod onto it. This will help achieve this!
When baking the fish in the oven, check it every few minutes to see if it has browned enough and if it has dried out a bit.
Serve with your favorite chips
When it comes time to eat this grilled fish, what kind of toppings you use in the tacos is up to you! Most people like fresh salsa or roasted tomato sauce, rice, broccoli, and/or cabbage as filler, but if you are hungry we don’t want to stop you!
If you would rather not have oil, then bread is always good option. To make crispy fries style potatoes, put 1-2 slices of white bread in a baking sheet and bake at 350°F until browned and crisp.
Serve with your favorite salad
For our fish tacos, we will be grilling some cod fillets and then topping it with sliced avocado, tomato, and pickled jalapeño slices. To cook the cod properly, you want to make sure that it is cooked all the way through and also that it does not burn.
To do this, start by pre-heating your grill to high heat. Once it has fully heated up, lower the temperature to medium-high and let it get warm while the cod cooks on the cold side of the grill. This helps the cod bake more slowly, an important factor in ensuring it is well done but still juicy inside.
After two minutes, check to see if the cod is white and flaky at the center like raw fish should be. If so, continue cooking it until it turns light pink and feels slightly soft when pressed.
Enjoy with your friends and family
If you are hosting or attending an event that requires grilled fish, then this article has got you covered! We have gathered some helpful tips here for how to grill cod for fish tacos. This article will help you make the most out of your guests’fish tacos by giving instructions on how to cook the fish properly.
First off, let us talk about what kind of grill we want to use. A good general rule is to use a charcoal grill as it more stable than gas grills. This allows for better temperature control and consistency.
Next, we need to know if the fish needs salt or not. Most fresh caught seafood does not require any additional seasonings unless the recipe calls for them. Make sure to check out our article: The Best Grilling Tips For Summer! for other great recipes.