Baked Fish Taco Recipe: Quick and Easy Dinner

On a hot summer night — coming soon to us here in Southern California, it seems — making dinner can be even more of a chore than normal so I make things like my baked fish taco recipe. If you’re busy and need to knock out dinner quick, it’s important to have quality kitchen gear that helps you make fast dinners possible. I have a host of appliances that I rely on daily, yet when Hamilton Beach offered me an opportunity to be an ambassador and test out new complimentary products so I can share the word about them with you, I quickly said yes.

Hamilton Beach products have long been a part of my kitchen and while they last a long time, many of my small appliances, by all brands, have traversed the United States twice and have seen better days. My toaster oven is one of those items. I love it, but it’s a little dinged up and is sort of hidden away in a dark corner where I can easily reach it without too much focus on the ‘moving scars’ or that one little mark where someone put some plastic bag too close.

I opened the new Easy Reach toaster and was pleased to see its footprint isn’t nearly as big as my old toaster oven. (My old one, to be clear, is not by Hamilton Beach.) It’s light, easy to move and didn’t have any sharp edges. The stainless is matte and the whole appliance has clean lines. The top isn’t flat, so if you’re used to storing things on top of the toaster oven, like I did, you’re out of luck, but that is not a deterrent to me in the slightest as I think that will prevent those little scorch marks when people forget to move things before they turn it on. Who hasn’t done that, right?

The toaster oven holds four slices of bread, but does more than toast. It also is a regular oven and a broiler. Perfect for those nights I make bruschetta with fresh mozz or I heat up flatbread and want my feta caramel-y. There are more nights lately that I only cook for three people, since Little Dude’s frequently at football practice until later, so on a hot night, the last thing I want to do when making dinner is to heat up the whole kitchen. It’s also more electric-use friendly, since it’s easier and faster to heat it up than an entire oven, particularly if you’re going to broil.

My first experiment with the Hamilton Beach Easy Reach Toaster Oven was with my baked fish taco recipe. They’re healthy, they don’t use a lot of ingredients and I haven’t ever met anyone yet that doesn’t like them. Made out of fresh ingredients and customizable if you have a picky eater on hand, they can satisfy any family.

Start with quality, fresh ingredients for the salsa.

Preparation for this baked fish taco recipe is minimal and requires very few items, most of which you’ll already have on hand.

I cheated and used frozen fish, but the filets were perfect size to cook faster and flake apart.

See what I mean?

The colors of this salsa were so rich! I love the chunky texture and how it doesn’t drip all over your hands while eating the tacos.

Then you end up with these.

Baked Fish Taco Recipe with Chipotle Salsa

• 6-8 tilapia filets
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper (I used pink salt)
• 3-4 fresh limes
• Ground chili
• Small flour or corn tortillas (healthier if you use corn)
• Fresh cilantro
• Green onions
• Cabbage

1. Pre-heat the toaster oven for five minutes to 400 degrees.
2. Oil the pan and put it on the lower rack inside the Easy Reach.
3. Place the fish filets on the tray, overlapping if necessary.
4. Lightly drizzle olive oil on the filets and sprinkle on the salt and pepper.
5. Squeeze a fresh lime over the top of the fish. Lay the two halves amongst the filets on the oven tray.
6. Sprinkle chili powder over the top.
7. Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 15-20 minutes. Heating time will depend on the size/thickness/quantity of filets.
8. While the fish is baking, chop up some cilantro, green onions and cabbage.
9. Steam your tortillas the last minute that the fish is in the oven; I did this via a microwave tortilla sleeve.
10. Assemble the fish, drizzle more of the fresh lime juice on top and place the produce toppings on top.

If you like it spicy, you’ll like my simple chipotle salsa spooned onto the top of each taco. It’s smoky and spicy and has the perfect texture to add flavor to the tacos.

Smoky and Spicy Chipotle Salsa

• 1 small can chipotle peppers, including adobo sauce
• 1 15 oz. can crushed tomatoes (fire-roasted if possible)
• 1 handful of fresh cilantro
• 1/2 medium onion
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• juice of 2 fresh limes
• 2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and cored

1. Place all of the ingredients into a food processor. Process until at the consistency you desire. Refrigerate.
2. If you want to make it even smokier, oil the Easy Reach oven tray and pour on the chipotle peppers, minus the adobo sauce from the can. Roast to your desired consistency.

Enjoy the tacos, and be sure to check out the Hamilton Beach Easy Reach 4-slice Toaster Oven! It heated up quickly, has an audible timer so you can hear that the timer is still going, and it lights up bright so there’s no mistaking that it’s heating up. The controls are easy to read and there’s no confusion about whether or not it’s on and in use. The roll-up door slides smoothly and the crumb tray in the bottom may be one of my most favorite things, as it’s seated in the oven evenly and just tightly enough to prevent the messy bottom that I have with my old toaster oven. It comes out without much work and can be dumped without hassle. The rack has two positions and also slides in and out easily, so you can do things with one hand. I am glad to have a new toaster oven to replace the big heavy scarred version that did us proud, but it’s time to retire. Thanks, Hamilton Beach for the new appliance!

Find Hamilton Beach on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and follow #EasyReach on social media for more photos.  And enjoy the baked fish taco recipe!