Fish tacos aren't complete without fish taco sauce! This creamy white sauce is enhanced with chipotle and lime, making it the best topping for all your tacos.
This sauce is a delicious blend of mayo, sour cream, chipotle peppers, garlic, and lime!
What Sauce Is Used For Fish Tacos?
We've visited Mexico a few times and one time, in particular, we sat oceanside at an outdoor restaurant and feasted on the best fish tacos ever. What made these tacos so amazing, you ask... The fish taco sauce!
It was cool, creamy, and tasted like chipotle peppers. It paired wonderfully with the fresh ingredients and fish over a soft taco shell.
We still think about this crema and decided it was time to recreate it.
There are several fish taco sauces online and after plenty of trial and error, we finally adapted one to make it close to what we had in Mexico. It actually reminds us a lot of our yum yum sauce.
The great thing about sauces like this is you can add more or less of the ingredients to suit your taste. Play around with it until it's exactly how you like it.
Fish Taco Sauce Ingredients:
To make this fish taco sauce recipe, you will need:
- Mayonnaise: Makes up the base of the sauce
- Sour cream: Lightens up the mayo to make the sauce creamy
- Chipotle peppers: Use diced chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
- Garlic powder: Add more or less depending on your taste
- Lime juice: Brightens up the sauce
- Salt: You may or may not need it, you decide
How to Make Fish Taco Sauce:
To make this tasty crema, simply…
- Combine the ingredients. Place them all in a bowl and stir until smooth.
- Taste and adjust. Give the sauce a taste, and season with more salt, garlic, lime, etc.
- Use it right away or refrigerate it for later. Serve it over fish or shrimp tacos with fresh toppings.
Fish Taco Sauce Variations:
There are quite a few ways you can doctor up this fish taco sauce recipe.
- Add more garlic: If you love the taste of garlic, add a little more until you are happy.
- Add sriracha: If you love sriracha as much as we do, dry using it in place of chipotle peppers.
- Add cayenne: If you want some heat but don't want to use sriracha, add ¼ to ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
- Add onion powder: We love to add onion powder when we are in the mood.
- Add cumin: This works well if you are using sriracha and still want that smoky flavor.
- Skip the mayo: Use 1 cup of sour cream instead of half mayo and sour cream.
- Add yogurt: Use Greek yogurt in place of sour cream.
How to Store Fish Taco Sauce:
Refrigerate – Store sauce in a jar with a tight-fitting lid for up to 4 days.
If you enjoyed this sauce and want to try more like it, these are great:
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Fish Taco Sauce
Fish tacos aren’t complete without fish taco sauce! This creamy white sauce is enhanced with chipotle and lime, making it the best topping for all your tacos.
Ingredients
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons diced chipotle peppers in adobo
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Add ingredients to a small bowl and stir until smooth. Taste and add more seasoning if desired.
Make ahead tip
- Refrigerate – Store sauce in a jar with a tight-fitting lid for up to 4 days.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
2 tablespoonsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 126Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 14mgSodium: 174mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 1g
Nutritional values here on our recipes should be used as a general guide only. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the values shown are just an estimate.
Char W.
Friday 14th of January 2022
I’ve been making fish tacos for over 20 years, and always make this chipotle sauce. My family loves it, and if we have leftovers it’s excellent on prime rib, roast beef and even ham sandwiches.
Karen
Friday 4th of June 2021
LOVED this sauce over our crispy fish tacos!! We have leftover sauce. I hate to toss it. Can it be frozen?
Sauce Fanatic
Sunday 27th of June 2021
Hi Karen, I do not recommend freezing the sauce. For best quality and freshness, refrigerate the sauce and use it within 4 days of making it.
Karen
Wednesday 2nd of September 2020
OMGoshhhh.....YUM!!! LOVE this sauce! I made it tonight with our fish tacos. SO easy to make and SOOO good! I did use a lower fat/olive oil type of mayo (Best Foods) and a reduced fat sour cream and it was still VERY good and creamy. Of course, the chipotle peppers add a kick. I used all the ingredients and followed recipe exactly. This will be the only fish taco sauce I ever make.
Darcia
Tuesday 25th of August 2020
Since Taco Bell has gotten rid of their spicy potato soft taco and their spicy tostada I’ve been trying to find a copy cat recipe for their creamy chipotle sauce so I can make homemade versions of those dishes. This sauce tastes pretty close but was fresher and crisper thanks to the lime juice. Definitely tastes like it would go well with fish tacos too:)
Linda
Friday 12th of July 2019
This is my favorite sauce for both fish and shrimp tacos! The lime adds a great flavor. I also added some cilantro and cut the chipotle peppers in half so it wouldn’t be too spicy for my sensitive palate! Thank you so much!