Shrimp Tacos (The Quick And Easy Way)
Served with guacamole, salsa and shredded cheese, these shrimp tacos are a great recipe for Cinco de Mayo. But it’s so tasty, you’ll want to serve it more than once a year.
These easy shrimp tacos are a great dish for Cinco de Mayo. Every time I have served them, everyone has loved this recipe!
It is quick to make, tastes delicious and has fewer calories than traditional beef tacos.
Shrimp tacos are also great to serve at parties because you can put out the supplies and have people make their own!
I like to dress them up with diced tomatoes or salsa, my favorite homemade guacamole, shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream. (But you can skip the last two ingredients if you’re trying to keep the calories down).
Ingredients
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Don’t let the number of ingredients scare you! They’re really not that hard to make.
Here’s the shopping list for this shrimp tacos recipe:
- Uncooked shrimp – 1 pound – I like to use the small sized ones (40 to 50 per pound) since they fit in the taco shells better than the larger ones. Also, buying them already peeled makes for less work. You can use fresh or frozen shrimp.
- Taco shells – 8 shells
- (optional) Broccoli slaw – 1 package – For a more traditional taco, you can omit this ingredient. But I love the flavor and texture it adds to the tacos.
- Fresh fruit and vegetables – half of a lime
- Fresh spices – ¼ cup cilantro, 1 clove garlic
- Dried spices – ½ teaspoon cumin
- Seasoning – ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper
- Hot sauce – ½ teaspoon – I like to use Tabasco or Frank’s Red Hot, but any hot sauce you like will work.
- Oil – 1 Tablespoon – Any kind of vegetable oil or olive oil is fine.
- Toppings – guacamole or chopped fresh avocado, salsa or diced tomatoes, shredded cheese, sour cream – or whatever other toppings you like to put on your tacos.
Prep work
If your shrimp still have the shells on them, peel them before continuing.
Mince the garlic.
Juice half a lime.
How to make shrimp tacos
Heat up the oil in your wok or frying pan.
Add the shrimp along with ½ teaspoon ground cumin, the minced garlic, ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper.
Cook until the shrimp has turned pink, stirring constantly.
Then add the package of broccoli slaw (if using), ¼ cup fresh cilantro, 1 Tablespoon of lime juice and ½ teaspoon hot sauce to the pan.
Cook for another couple of minutes until everything is warm, again stirring constantly.
Fill the taco shells with the shrimp mixture and top with salsa, guacamole and shredded cheese (or whatever your favorite toppings are).
Other Cinco de Mayo recipes you might like
Shrimp Tacos
Equipment
- Wok or large frying pan
- measuring spoons
- lemon (or lime) juicer
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 pound uncooked, peeled shrimp (frozen or fresh)
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 10 ounce bag broccoli slaw optional
- ¼ cup loosely packed fresh cilantro
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
- ½ teaspoon hot sauce
- 8 hard taco shells
- salsa for topping
- guacamole for topping
- grated cheese for topping
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large wok or frying pan until almost smoking.
- Add 1 pound shrimp, ½ teaspoon cumin, 1 clove garlic (minced), ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
- Toss until shrimp turn pink, approximately 2 minutes.
- Mix in the broccoli slaw (if using), ¼ cup cilantro, 1 Tablespoon lime juice and ½ teaspoon hot sauce.
- Cook another 2 minutes, until the slaw is warmed and the flavors have combined.
- Remove from heat.
- Fill taco shells with the shrimp mixture.
- Serve shrimp tacos with salsa, guacamole and shredded cheese (or whatever your favorite toppings are).
Notes
- These are also really easy to serve for a crowd. Make up a big batch of the shrimp mixture and put out on the buffet table with the shells and toppings. Then let your guests put their own tacos together.
- Quick Guacamole: If you don’t have guacamole on hand, try this quick substitute: Mash an avocado. Mix with an equal amount of plain yogurt or sour cream until smooth.
Nutrition
Nutrition values are estimates only, using online calculators. Please verify using your own data.
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This post was originally published on May 5, 2016 but was updated with new content on July 13, 2022.