Vegan Beer-Battered Fish Tacos

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Vegan Beer-Battered Fish Tacos

Spoiler: the "fish" is tofu. Stay with me! It gets soaked in a briny lemon-miso marinade, battered, fried until irresistibly golden and crispy, then stuffed into warm tortillas with creamy homemade vegan Baja sauce. They're crunchy, messy, ridiculously delicious, and just might become your new favorite taco night.

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Inactive Time1

Total Time1 30

Course: Entree, Main

Cuisine: American, Mexican-inspired

Servings:

Calories: 733kcal

Author: Alissa Saenz

Ingredients

For the Beer-Battered Tofu

1 cup hot water
3 tablespoons white miso paste
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 (14-ounce) package extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed for 30 minutes
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup ale
Vegetable oil, for frying

For the Vegan Baja Sauce

⅔ cup vegan mayonnaise
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon vinegar-based hot sauce (such as Cholula)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon lime zest
Pinch salt, or to taste

For Serving

8 small (soft taco-sized) flour tortillas, warmed
Shredded cabbage
Chopped fresh cilantro

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Stir the hot water, miso paste, and lemon juice together in a shallow dish. This is your marinade.
Cut your block of pressed tofu in half, thickness-wise, then cut each half into 8 slabs (Note 1). Place the tofu slabs into the marinade. Let them soak for 30 minutes, occasionally rearranging them and/or spooning the marinade over the top pieces to ensure even absorption.
Stir the Baja sauce ingredients together while the tofu marinates. Taste the sauce and make any adjustments needed to suit your preference.
Once the tofu has finished marinating, place ½ cup of the flour into a small bowl. To make the batter, whisk together the remaining cup of flour, salt, and ale in a second small bowl.
Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and add about ½ inch of vegetable oil. Let the oil heat up for a couple of minutes.
Once the oil begins to shimmer, begin battering your tofu. Dredge one piece at a time in the flour, then transfer it to the batter and dip to coat all sides. Gently shake off any excess batter, then transfer the tofu piece to the hot oil. Repeat the process for as many pieces of tofu as you can fit in the skillet without crowding.
Fry the tofu slabs for about 4 minutes on each side, until golden brown and crispy. Transfer them to a wire rack to drain when done, then continue battering and cooking the tofu in batches, adding oil to the skillet between batches if needed.
To serve, stuff each tortilla with cabbage and 2 pieces of fried tofu. Drizzle with Baja sauce and sprinkle with fresh cilantro. Add any additional toppings of choice.
Serve immediately.

Notes

You can cut the tofu into pretty much any size and shape pieces you like, but smaller pieces may require more batter

Nutrition