Frozen Fish Sticks Are The Secret To Easy Weeknight Tacos

Using a shortcut is a fantastic way to turn making dinner into a quick, easy affair. Not only is there no shame in using store-bought products to simplify your cooking process, but the results can often turn out just as delicious as if you whipped up everything from scratch. And on most weeknights, we'll take all the shortcuts we can get to spend less time in the kitchen without sacrificing the tastiness of our dinner. Enter tacos made with frozen fish sticks.

This may sound a little elementary at first, but there are plenty of good reasons to try it out instead of making your own crispy salmon or cod. These sticks are basically just breaded fish, which is what you'd be throwing in your tacos anyway. But you can skip all the steps of buying and slicing fresh fish, wrangling together a breadcrumb mixture, going through the motions of dipping your seafood and coating it, and heating up the stove to pan-fry it. Instead, all you have to do is throw your frozen fish sticks in the air fryer (or oven) for a few minutes, which will leave you more time to focus on creating all sorts of tasty toppings. Plus, if you have extra fish sticks, you can keep them in the freezer instead of wasting them.

Prepare your fish sticks by following the package instructions, or, for the crispiest method possible (and to avoid turning on your oven), toss them in the air fryer. If you go with this option, heat them at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes, rotating them halfway through. You'll want two sticks per taco, but avoid overcrowding your air fryer basket, as this will prevent all the fish from cooking evenly. While they're crisping up, carefully warm your tortillas over a gas burner or in a skillet placed over medium heat.

Now for the fun part: the assembly. When you use a frozen fish stick base, you free up plenty of time and energy to get as creative as you want with all the other delicious ingredients. A classic beer-battered fish taco recipe deploys shredded cabbage for crunch, crumbled cotija cheese, thinly sliced radishes, and cilantro. However, you can also make a tangy slaw, or a creamy sauce with mayo and sour cream (or Greek yogurt), chipotles in adobo sauce (or chili powder), lime juice, and salt. Spoon a little salsa on top as well, whether it's a jar of the red stuff or a homemade citrusy salsa with grapefruit. For a simpler garnish, drop a slice of avocado and a sprinkle of pickled onions onto each taco.