The Best Recipes for Baja California Tacos
I love tacos. Today I am so excited to share with you the best recipes for Ahi, Potato, and Baja California Tacos!
I love tacos. All types of tacos. Living in Southern California, I am a bit spoiled because street tacos and taco trucks are plentiful. One of my favorite places for tacos is Beach House Tacos in Ventura, California. My favorites are the Baja California Tacos.
Tacos Por Favor
I decided to try to recreate my favorite Beach House Tacos and am so excited about how they turned out. They have three tacos on their menu that are my favorite, the Early California Taco which is a grilled shrimp taco, the Ahi Taco with seared ahi tuna, and the Crispy Potato Taco.
Since I got an air fryer last year, I have made tacos at home on a regular basis. No more frying tortillas in hot oil for me! Air fryer tacos are so much easier and healthier to make. I still like to grill tortillas first, so that they get that smokey char taste, but when I am short on time, the tortillas go straight into the air fryer.
All of the Beach House Tacos have sauces on them and one of them has a corn relish, so I started by making all of these first. Since all I had was the menu and my memory of what they tasted like, I set out to recreate both the tacos and the sauces.
I started with the corn relish. This turned out so wonderfully! You can use this corn relish in so many ways. On tacos, in a taco salad, as a side salad. So, so yummy!
Corn Relish
This corn relish is wonderful on tacos, sprinkled into a taco salad or just eaten as a side salad.
Ingredients
- 3 ears of corn, grilled or browned
- 1/2 red pepper, diced
- 1 tsp canned diced jalapenos
- handful of chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Shuck corn, remove all silks and grill corn on BBQ until lightly browned.
- If you are browning the corn indoors, Cut the corn off of the cob before browning in the pan with a little bit of oil.
- If you grilled the corn on the BBQ, once browned, cut corn off of cob and place in bowl.
- Mix into the corn the diced red pepper, diced jalapenos and chopped cilantro.
- Refrigerate and serve!
I love sauce. All. Of. The Sauces. So recreating the Chipotle Cream Sauce and the Lime Crema were really fun to make. A little bit of trial and error, but they turned out so great! I will be using these sauces on tacos for sure. Also burritos and grilled shrimp and chicken, so many options!
Chipotle Cream Sauce
Beware of the adobo sauce, it is HOT! Go slow, you can always add more, but you can't take it out once it's added.
Ingredients
- 1 tsp sauce from Chipotle with Adobo Sauce can
- 4 TBL Sour Cream
- 2 tsp mayonnaise
- 1/2 tsp lime juice
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp minced garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and adjust to your preference of heat
Lime Crema
So cool and yummy. Great on any Mexican dish!
Ingredients
- 4 TBL Sour Cream
- 2 tsp llime juice
- 1/2 tsp minced garlic
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Done!
The Ahi taco has a soy/ginger/lime crema on it, so I recreated this and am so in love with it. This would be incredible on grilled fish, shrimp or chicken or on seared ahi. Yum!
Soy, Ginger & Lime Crema
This sauce is bright and full of flavor. The sour cream keeps it cool so it is perfect for grilled fish or meat on a summer evening.
Ingredients
- 4 TBL Sour Cream
- 2 TBL Open Nature Sesame Ginger Dressing or your favorite Sesame Ginger dressing
- 1 TBL Lime Juice
Instructions
- Mix ingredients together in a bowl. Done!
OK, now that all of the sauces and the corn relish are made, I am ready to make some tacos! First up and by far, my favorite taco is the Early California Taco. Beach House Tacos offers this taco with either fried or grilled shrimp, I always choose grilled shrimp. It also has corn relish, avocado, shredded cabbage, and both a chipotle cream sauce and a lime dressing. I used the lime crema instead of lime dressing and I think I nailed this taco. I call this my Shrimp Baja California Taco. A Baja taco typically refers to a taco with fried (or grilled to make it healthier) fish or shrimp, shredded cabbage, and a creamy white sauce.
Shrimp Baja California Taco
Once all of your sauces are made, these are a snap to put together and so incredibly yummy!
Ingredients
- 18 Grilled Shrimp, seasoned with cumin to taste, cut into bite sized pieces
- 12 TBL Corn Relish
- 6 TBL Chipotle Cream Sauce
- 6 TBL Lime Crema
- 3 Avocados, diced
- 6 TBL shredded cabbage
- 6 Corn Tortilla, grilled or warmed (1 tortilla per taco)
Instructions
- Toss shrimp with desired amount of cumin and grill until pink and tails begin to curl
- Chop into bite sized pieces and set aside until you are ready to assemble tacos
- Grill or warm tortillas
Assembly for each taco:
- Begin by adding 1 TBL shredded cabbage to the torilla
- Add 2 TBL grilled shrimp next
- Add 2 TBL corn relish next
- Finish with 1 TBL chipotle cream sauce and 1 TBL lime crema
- Top with sliced avocado, approximately 4 slices
The Beach House Ahi Taco is a close second as far as my favorites. Beach House Tacos offers their Ahi Taco with seared rare Ahi tuna, Soy Ginger Lime Cream, Asian Red Pepper Sauce, Sesame, Cucumber Ginger Slaw, and Avocado. I have a favorite Sesame Ginger dressing that I used to dress the cabbage with to recreate their slaw. It is made by Open Nature which is an Albertson’s brand. If you have any of the Albertson’s brands near you (Safeway, Lucky, Vons, etc) you can find this dressing. If not, feel free to use your favorite sesame ginger dressing instead.
Seared Ahi Taco
I love the soy and ginger tang that these tacos have.
Ingredients
- 12 Ounces Ahi Tuna
- 6 TBL Sesame Seeds (I used black sesame seeds)
- 6 TBL shredded cabbage, tossed with 1 TBL Sesame Ginger Dressing
- 6 TBL Soy, Ginger Lime Crema
- 3 Avocado, sliced
- 6 Corn Tortillas, grilled or warmed
Instructions
- Press sesame seeds onto both sides of ahi
- Sear in pan (no oil) for approximately 5 minutes per side.
- Slice Ahi into 2 inch slices and set aside until taco assembly
- Grill or warm tortillas
Assembly for each taco:
- Begin by adding 1 TBL shredded cabbage to the torilla
- Add approxmately 2 ounces of seared Ahi next
- Finish with 1 TBL Soy Ginger Lime Crema
- Top with sliced avocado, approximately 4 slices
I am experimenting with vegetarian tacos and discovered the Beach House Tacos Crispy Potato Taco during my last visit. This is where my air fryer really came in handy. I seasoned diced potatoes and popped them into the air fryer to get them really crispy. If you don’t eat meat or are just looking for an interesting alternative, I highly recommend these crispy potato tacos!
Crispy Potato Tacos
A great vegetarian alternative with a nice crunch!
Ingredients
- 3 Potatoes, diced and tossed with cumin and garlic to taste
- 12 TBL corn relish
- 6 TBL Chipotle Cream Sauce
- 3 Avocados, sliced
- 6 Corn Tortillas, grilled or warmed
Instructions
- Dice potatoes and toss with cumin and garlic to taste. Each air fryer cooks a bit differently, I cooked the potatoes on Air Fry for approximately 12 minutes until golden and crispy.
- Grill or warm tortillas
Assembly for each taco:
- Begin by adding 2 TBL of the crispy potatoes to the torilla
- Add 2 TBL of corn relish
- Add 1 TBL of the Chipotle Cream Sauce
- Top with sliced avocado, approximately 4 slices
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Just in case you don’t want to make the sauces, I highly recommend that you try these delicious pre-bottled sauces instead!
If you are looking for something to make during this holiday weekend, these are quick, easy, and a crowd pleaser! My house will be full of family and guests and these Beach House tacos are on the menu for sure! Enjoy your long weekend!
I love to grill shrimp!
Frequently Asked Questions
I love to serve a simple green salad with a Mexican vinaigrette with tacos. Tacos are so full of flavor, that the side dish should complement, but not overtake the flavors of the tacos.
I love both grilled and warmed tortillas. If you grill them, the timing is about 4 minutes per side. Be careful if using tongs so that you don’t rip the tortillas. Do not use oil on the grill or it will create a flame that can burn your tortillas. If warming them, I love to use my air fryer or you can wrap them in foil and pop them in the oven at 350 for 10-15 minutes.
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These recipes all look AMAZING 🤗
Thank you so very much for sharing.
I hope you have a wonderful July 4th celebration 🥂🍾🇺🇸
Karen in VA
Thank you, Karen! I hope you enjoy. Happy 4th of July!
Lovelovelovelove this blog article!!!!!! Can’t wait to make this for me mum!