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Loaded with plump and flavorful shrimp, these Shrimp Tacos are perfect for a weeknight meal or entertaining guests. Served with a homemade creamy garlic lime sauce and slaw, everything comes together quickly and easily. Everyone will want seconds!
If you want a fresh and delicious taco, you need to make these shrimp tacos pronto! Made with simple, healthy ingredients, these tacos will satisfy your cravings. Even better, my creamy homemade garlic lime sauce is such a delicious addition that you’ll want to add it to everything! I promise that these are the best shrimp tacos you’ll ever make.
These crowd-pleasing tacos don’t take long to make. They make for a fabulous quick weeknight dinner ready in around 30 minutes and can easily be scaled up to feed a crowd. If you want to make this into a taco bar night, make my fish tacos recipe and lobster tacos recipe as well!
What You Need to Make This Recipe
Cilantro — make sure to pick vibrant green cilantro without yellow leaves. If you are not a fan of cilantro, you can sub in parsley.
Greek yogurt — I like using full-fat Greek yogurt for the best richness and creaminess. Make sure you are not buying flavored yogurt.
Shrimp — you can purchase deveined and peeled shrimp to cut down on prep time. Feel free to use fresh or frozen shrimp for these tacos.
Seasoning — for these shrimp tacos, you’ll need chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, chipotle powder, and salt. Make sure your seasoning is fresh for maximum flavor.
Cabbage — while I like to use green cabbage, it is interchangeable with red cabbage. You can also buy pre-shredded cabbage to save time.
Tortilla — pick your favorite corn or flour tortillas.
How to Make Shrimp Tacos
1. To make the garlic lime sauce, add the greek yogurt, lime juice and zest, cilantro, jalapeño, garlic powder, and salt to a blender. Blend on medium speed until smooth. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to serve.
2. In a large bowl, combine the shrimp, 1 tablespoon olive oil, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt, and chipotle powder. Toss until well coated and let the shrimp marinate for 15 minutes.
3. In another large bowl, combine the shredded cabbage and 3 tablespoons of the garlic lime sauce, and toss until well coated. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
4. Warm the tortillas by either charring them over the flame of a gas burner or heating a skillet over high heat and cooking on both sides until blistered. Cover and keep warm until ready to serve.
5. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook until pink, firm, and opaque, about 4 minutes, flipping occasionally while cooking.
6. Remove the cooked shrimp from the heat and serve immediately in the warmed tortillas topped with cabbage slaw, avocado, cilantro, cotija cheese, and garlic lime sauce with lime wedges.
Pro Tips for Making This Recipe
- For the best flavor, use fresh limes and not bottled lime juice. You will not get the same bright, fresh flavor from a bottle.
- If using frozen shrimp, you must fully thaw the shrimp. Pat them dry with a paper towel before using them, so the seasoning sticks better.
- You can shred cabbage finely with a knife, but you can use a mandolin for quick, uniform pieces.
- Careful not to overcook shrimp as they become rubbery. The internal temperature of fully cooked shrimp is 120°F or when they’ve turned opaque.
- If you cannot find cotija cheese, any crumbly or shredded cheese would work in its place.
- A squeeze bottle is perfect for serving the garlic lime sauce if you have one.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I store leftovers?
I recommend letting everyone assemble their own tacos so you can pack leftover ingredients separately. It would be best to keep everything in the fridge in airtight containers. Leftovers should keep for three days.
How do I reheat the shrimp?
I recommend microwaving the shrimp for approximately one minute and adding 30-second increments as needed to prevent the shrimp from drying out.
What to serve with tacos?
This shrimp tacos recipe is perfect on its own, but I like to serve it with a classic margarita, pico de gallo, guacamole, mango salsa, salsa verde, and some chips with homemade salsa or queso.
If you’ve tried this Shrimp Taco recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Shrimp Tacos
Equipment
- Blender
- mixing bowl
- Large skillet
Ingredients
For the Garlic Lime Sauce:
- 1¼ cups plain greek yogurt 2 5-ounce containers/300g
- 2 limes juice and zest
- ¼ cup cilantro
- ¼ to 1 jalapeño chopped (optional)
- ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the Shrimp Tacos:
- 1 pound large shrimp peeled and deveined (fresh or frozen, thawed) (450g)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- 2 cups shredded cabbage 100g
- 12 corn or flour tortillas
To Garnish:
- sliced avocado
- sliced red onion
- chopped cilantro
- crumbled cotija cheese
- lime wedges
Instructions
For the Garlic Lime Sauce:
- In the container of a blender, combine the greek yogurt, lime juice and zest, cilantro, jalapeño, garlic powder, and salt. Blend on medium speed until smooth. If your crema is too thick to blend, add a tablespoon or two of water. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to serve or up to 5 days.
For the Shrimp Tacos:
- In a large bowl, combine the shrimp, 1 tablespoon olive oil, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt, and chipotle powder. Toss until well coated and let the shrimp marinate for 15 minutes.
- In another large bowl, combine the shredded cabbage and 3 tablespoons of the Garlic Lime sauce, and toss until well coated. Chill the slaw until ready to serve.
- Warm the tortillas by either charring them over the flame of a gas burner or heating a skillet over high heat and cooking on both sides until blistered. Cover and keep warm.
- Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook until pink, firm, and opaque, about 4 minutes, flipping occasionally while cooking. Remove from the heat. Serve immediately in corn tortillas topped with cabbage slaw, avocado, cilantro, cotija, and Garlic Lime Sauce with lime wedges.
Notes
- For the best flavor, use fresh limes and not bottled lime juice. You will not get the same bright, fresh flavor from a bottle.
- If using frozen shrimp, you must fully thaw the shrimp. Pat them dry with a paper towel before using them, so the seasoning sticks better.
- You can shred cabbage finely with a knife, but you can use a mandolin for quick, uniform pieces.
- Careful not to overcook shrimp as they become rubbery. The internal temperature of fully cooked shrimp is 120°F or when they’ve turned opaque.
- If you cannot find cotija cheese, any crumbly or shredded cheese would work in its place.
- A squeeze bottle is perfect for serving the garlic lime sauce if you have one.
Nutrition
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