Fish Taco Sauce
This post may contain affiliate links. Read the full disclosure here.
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!
Would you like to save this?
Enter your email below and we'll send the link straight to your inbox.
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 imperial sauce, yum yum sauce, quesadilla sauce, and burrito 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.
If you’re looking for a traditional sauce for fish, give my tangy tartar sauce a try. Or if you want a great taco sauce, try our chipotle sauce.
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:
- Coconut Cream Sauce
- Horseradish Sauce
- Garlic Butter Sauce
- Parmesan Cream Sauce
- Mumbo Sauce
- Peruvian Green Sauce
Fish Taco Sauce
Ingredients
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons diced chipotle peppers in adobo
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- ¼ tsp 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.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided is for convenience and as a courtesy only. It is not guaranteed to be accurate because nutrition information can vary for a variety of reasons. For precise nutritional data use your preferred nutrition calculator and input the exact ingredients and brands you used in the recipe.
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.
LOVED this sauce over our crispy fish tacos!! We have leftover sauce. I hate to toss it. Can it be frozen?
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.
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.
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:)
This is an amazing sauce. We use yogurt with the mayo. Sometimes we add some chopped capers as well. Yum!
So easy and delicious, just the right amount of heat.
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!
My whole family loved this fish taco sauce! It’s going to be a staple in out fridge from now on.
My whole family loved this fish taco sauce! It’s going to be a staple in out fridge from now on.