Sweet & Savory Catfish Street Tacos

Sweet and Savory Catfish Tacos

The holidays are HERE!!! The Thanksgiving-into-Christmas time of year is just the BEST. Lights, good food, generally lighter spirits, early sunset… I know it makes me a weirdo to like the early sunset, but (a) it makes it easier to see Christmas lights sooner in the day, (2) when it feels like 8:00, it’s only 6:00!! So much time left in the day!! And (d) it’s easier to get your kids in bed at a reasonable hour because they feel like they’re staying up later than they really are!

So to go along with the early sunset, I enjoy a shifted schedule because I start cooking supper an hour or so earlier! I guess the sun going down gets me in the supper mode, and in the winter, I know I still have a good amount of time to cook from sundown forward! Which gives me more time to experiment with things! 🙂 

I have the best memories of watching my mama experiment with recipes, so I’m loving the opportunity to hopefully create similar memories for my babies! I distinctly remember being little, sitting at our kitchen counter around Christmas time, fire and our hung stockings in my left peripheral, watching my mama make some pasta sauce from scratch. I tasted it and commented how good it was, and that I might want that recipe one day! So she gave me a pen and a recipe card and told me what to write down so we could keep the recipe on file. I honestly have no idea if that card is still around anywhere, but I can still tell you how good that sauce was from that sweet time in the kitchen with her!

Sweet and Savory Catfish Tacos
Sweet and Savory Catfish Tacos

So on the topic of food experiments… I had some fun in the kitchen recently with a recipe I’ve had in my head for a little while now, and I was SO happy to get to play with it— I love how it turned out! This recipe is for Sweet and Savory Catfish Street Tacos! 

It all started with the day I found the cutest little street taco tortillas at Kroger. They’re mini, they’re precious, and Lily Ryan would not let me leave the store without them!

And I love a good fish taco (and as many of you know, I’m very picky about fish!) so Catfish was the first thing that popped into my head. U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish is, of course, great in pretty much any savory setting, but I actually love it most when there’s a little sweet going on with the catfish! It’s so mild that it can easily adapt to either direction! With this line of thinking, the idea of a fallish sweet-and-savory taco was born. 

Sweet and Savory Catfish Tacos
Sweet and Savory Catfish Tacos
Sweet and Savory Catfish Tacos
Sweet and Savory Catfish Tacos

I baked some catfish strips with brown sugar, cinnamon, and maple syrup! Hello, wonderful fall aromas!! I also did some sweet potato and onion hash in the skillet, then made a sour cream sauce with a sweet slant. All of this on a little tortilla was simply divine! I even experimented with adding pico de gallo and cilantro and I thought it was GREAT! And so pretty! The pico and cilantro made it look more holidayish. I think a tray of these would make an awesome app for a party. And on normal size tortillas, they make a great dinner!

Allow me to share this recipe with you! 

SWEET AND SAVORY CATFISH STREET TACOS

Yield: 10 street tacos

What you need… 

8 thawed U.S. Farm Raised Catfish strips

2 1/4 teaspoons Cinnamon, divided

2 1/2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar, divided

3 Tablespoons Maple Syrup, divided

1/4 cup Chopped Onions (about 1/4 large onion)

1 cup Chopped Sweet Potato (about 1/2 potato) 

1 1/2 Tablespoons Butter, divided

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1/4 cup Sour Cream or Greek Yogurt

Fresh Cilantro 

Fresh Pico De Gallo

10 Street Taco tortillas (flour and corn are both great!) 

What you do…

  1. Preheat your oven to 350.
  2. Take your catfish strips and arrange them side by side in a baking dish. 
  3. Mix 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar together and sprinkle evenly over fish.
  4. Drizzle 2 Tablespoons of maple syrup over the top of the fish.
  5. Bake for 18 minutes, or until white and flaky on the inside. 
  6. While the fish is baking, melt 1 Tablespoon of butter in a skillet over medium heat.
  7. Once the butter is melted, add your chopped onions, sweet potatoes, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, and salt and stir regularly until brown. This took me about 8 minutes. Then set aside for a moment.
  8. Now, take a small bowl melt 1/2 Tablespoon of butter in the microwave. Once melted, add your sour cream, 1 Tablespoon of maple syrup, and 1/2 Tablespoon brown sugar. Mix thoroughly.
  9. Once your catfish is finished baking, take two forks and “shred” it while it’s still hot. You may wish to carefully drain the liquid after shredding! 
  10. Now for the fun part- assembling the tacos! Layer the sweet potato hash, the catfish, and sour cream mixture onto each mini tortilla. If desired, add pico and cilantro to garnish.
  11. Serve and enjoy!

I hope you enjoy these as much as we did!! The kids loved that the tacos were perfectly sized for them, and they did like the sweet and savory!! They were not, however, fans of the pico and cilantro. I kept those for myself 😉 

Sweet and Savory Catfish Tacos
Sweet and Savory Catfish Tacos
Sweet and Savory Catfish Tacos
Sweet and Savory Catfish Tacos

I hope you get in some good kitchen time over the coming months, making memories with your people and replaying the good times from the past! The kitchen really is the heart of the home where so many special things happen. I challenge you to make the most of your family time in the kitchen this holiday season. And I triple dog dare ya to, as a family, try making a new recipe together! This one may a great one to start with! 😉 

As always, thank you SO MUCH for stopping in today! And HUGE thank you to U.S. Farm Raised Catfish for supporting this post! They have tons of wonderful recipes on their website, which you will certainly want to check out! 

Have a great day, and Happy Thanksgiving / Merry Christmas! 

This post is sponsored by U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish. All opinions are my own, as always! 🙂 

2 Comments

  1. Grandmary November 9, 2021 / 4:05 pm

    HAHA, my current pasta sauce plan is to find the readymade jars with NO sugar (I’m a label reader). Then I add crushed red pepper, a drop of oregano essential oil, plus whatever veggies are on hand (diced small) & garden herbs (this year Lee grew lots of parsley & dill). This usually turns out pretty spicy: exactly what we like in our old age!

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