The Best Sauce for Fish Tacos

It can be tricky to find the best fish taco sauce when fish tacos themselves can take so many forms. Maybe you like a crispy, deep fried piece of fish in a flour tortilla. Maybe you’re taking advantage of the warm weather, cooking your fish on the grill, and stuffing it in a hot corn tortilla. Or maybe you’re going totally rogue and just stuffing some frozen fish sticks in a that last crunchy taco shell in the back of your fridge and calling it lunch—no judgement. No matter which direction you go, we have a sauce to make your fish taco journey taste even better. From creamy to tangy (to creamy and tangy), we’ve found the best sauce for fish tacos.


Kroger Cilantro Lime Street Taco Sauce

I’m a citrus fiend, so Kroger’s Cilantro Lime Street Taco Sauce is the best sauce for fish tacos in my book. You can stop reading now! (Just kidding, keep reading.) But if you’re like me and think that the acidic tang of lime is the perfect accompaniment for seafood, be it grilled or fried, you’re gonna love the sheer amount of citrus in this sauce. Sporked managing editor Gwynedd Stuart felt like she was getting little bits of lime meat in her mouth as she ate it, and even though that sounds gross, we assure you, it’s a good thing. If you’re making Baja fish tacos and want to try something a little different, toss this sauce in your shopping cart. You won’t regret it!

Read the full ranking of the best taco sauce

Kroger Agave & Chipotle Street Taco Sauce

Yep, another Kroger sauce. When we taste tested taco sauces, we were surprised by how good these are, too. And this one is super well suited for fish tacos, especially if you want to enhance the already smoky flavor of fish you cooked on the grill. Or, if you’re cooking fish in the comfort of your kitchen, drizzle some of this stuff on your tacos—it has enough smoky flavor that people might even think the fish was grilled over an open flame. We’re all for deception when it comes to sauce! And don’t let the agave scare you off—this sauce is mostly savory rather than sweet.

Read the full ranking of the best taco sauce

Lighthouse Southwest Jalapeño Ranch 

Would I trust Taco Bell to serve a fish taco? Absolutely not. Do I dream of having their spicy ranch on a fish taco? Absolutely. Luckily, Sporked senior writer Jordan Myrick found a grocery store dupe for Taco Bell’s spicy ranch, Lighthouse Southwest Jalapeño Ranch! But this isn’t just the best fish taco sauce for Taco Bell freaks. It’s “tangy and creamy and zesty,” according to Jordan, so much so that it “makes your mouth water.” Put this on a fish taco with some red cabbage slaw, and thank us later.

Read the full ranking of the best spicy dip

Terry Ho’s Original Yum Yum Sauce

Yes, Terry Ho’s Yum Yum Sauce explicitly calls itself “the original Japanese shrimp/steak sauce,” but who’s to say it can’t be one of the best sauces for fish tacos, too? Fish and shrimp are basically cousins, anyway (we all think of the sea as a big family, right?). Sporked editor-in-chief Justine Sterling described this sauce as a little sweet with a consistency that coats shrimp perfectly. Drizzle this over a beautifully fried piece of fish and watch it do the same. Hey, sometimes the best sauce for fish tacos is the best sauce for other things, too.

Read the full ranking of the best yum yum sauce

Yellowbird Organic Sriracha

If you want some citrusy zing with your fish taco but you don’t want something creamy like the Kroger Cilantro Lime sauce, Yellowbird Organic Sriracha is the way to go. When Jordan tried a gauntlet of sriracha sauces, they loved the notes of lime and date in Yellowbird’s sriracha. In fact, they called it the “perfect combination of sweet, acidic, and spicy,” and that makes this the best fish taco sauce if you’re a sriracha fiend. It’s garlicky, spicy, and super versatile. Keep this in the fridge for fish taco night and you’ll wind up using it for lots of other nights, too.

Read the full ranking of the best sriracha


About the Author

Vinz Karl

Vinz Karl is a freelance contributor to Sporked and self-proclaimed Guy Fieri superfan. He believes in breakfast supremacy and is on a never-ending mission to try every flavor of Oreo out there. Originally from the Midwest, Vinz now resides in Los Angeles, where you can find him going on hikes, checking out new restaurants, and preparing for his eventual casting on CBS's Survivor.

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