Tacos are perhaps the most fun way to make easy and delicious dinner for warm weather months! Every time I make them I just love the various fresh and colorful ingredients. Food that is pretty always tastes better, right?
Shrimp tacos are amazing. Summery, light, healthy, and packed with flavor. Best part is you can get this on you dinner table in less than 30 minutes. Simply grill the shrimps, put it on corn tortillas with your choice of toppings and some creamy sauce and you’re done. Yes! It is as simple as that.
I just made Shrimp tacos on Canada day I thought I’d update my old recipe, include new photos, and re-post it. We enjoyed shrimp tacos with slightly spicy crema, pineapple salsa, and store bought vegetable salad. Occasionally, I might add some shredded cheddar cheese while heating corn tortillas, but they taste delicious even without it. You just need something creamy to marry all of the flavors together.
This image was taken for a different dinner
SOME TIPS FOR THIS RECIPE
Begin by making the spicy crema which is basically sour cream and taquera sauce. Taquera sauce is a tomato based salsa made with with dried cascabel chiles, tomatillos, tomato, garlic, cumin and salt.If you can not find this, you can add regular salsa and add some spicy sauce.
Then chop ingredients for pineapple salsa. If you like less heat, remove some of the seeds and rib of jalapeno.
Grilling shrimps
I like using jumbo sized shrimps (16-20 per lb) for easier grilling but you can use whatever kind of shrimp you like or can easily get your hands on. I bought peeled, de-veined, skewered shrimps from Costco which saved me some time but they are not hard to thread. If you’re using wooden skewers, be sure to soak them for at least 20 minutes (or up to 4 hours) so they don’t char when they hit the hot grill. Shrimp cooks very quickly so watch it closely. Jumbo shrimp will take approximately 2 to 3 minutes to cook per side. When shrimps are cooked they curl into a nice “C” shape.
I marinated the shrimps with cilantro, lime, garlic, cumin, salt and jalapeno. It was absolutely delicious if I can say so myself.
Oh, and these shrimps are perfect on a bed of salad or on top of fried rice.
Warming corn tortillas
Gluten free Corn tortillas come in white and yellow variety. I love the texture of white corn tortillas, they are thin and super soft but hard to find sometimes. My previous post was done with white corn tortillas which I got from an Indian store but now they have stopped carrying. Yellow corn tortillas are significantly thicker than the white ones. They aren’t as pliable however works fine in tacos. There are a number of ways to warm corn tortillas.
- The quickest way is to wrap corn tortillas (about 4-5) in damp paper towels and microwave for 30 sec to 1 minute. This method produces moist corn tortillas but does not work as well with gluten containing tortillas.
- Heat a cast iron or a thick bottom pan over a medium heat. Brush corn tortilla with oil and place in the pan. As soon as it gets light brown spots on one side, give it a quick flip to get some color on the other side too. This is my preferred method but you can also heat them in skillet without any oil.
- Wrap up a few (about 5) corn tortillas in a damp paper towel and then overwrap the stack with aluminum foil. Bake at 325F until warmed through, or about 10 minutes. This method work out best when you are heating tortillas for a crowd, heat all of them in the oven at the same time wrapping two or three small stacks in one foil.
- Corn tortillas can be heated very quickly over an open flame. Wet corn tortilla with water and roast over open flame. This gives them a slightly crisp exterior and a hint of char. But you have to pay attention or you will have burnt and stiff tortilla. Repeat this process for each additional tortilla that you need to heat.
Corn tortillas dry out and stiffen quickly so whichever above method you use wrap the heated tortillas in a kitchen towel and then in foil and keep covered in a chapati box or a tortilla warmer. This will keep them warm for a good long time. If you don’t have a chapati box or a tortilla warmer, you can place the towel-wrapped stack into a slightly larger bowl, then cover it with a plate.
Give these easy shrimp tacos a try and I guarantee your family will love them!
Simple yet flavorful shrimp tacos for weeknight meals
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 lb. jumbo shrimps (16–20 size), peeled and deveined
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- Zest of 1 lime
- 6 medium cloves garlic, chopped
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 jalapeno chili, chopped
- 1 1/4 tsp Himalayan pink salt
- 2 tsp honey
- 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 6 metal or soaked flat bamboo skewers
- 3/4 cup Sour cream
- 3/4 cup taquera sauce
- 3/4 cup pineapple, chopped
- 1/2 tomato, seeds removed and chopped
- 1 Jalapeno, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
- 1 tsp lime juice
- 1/3 cup red onion, chopped
- 1/3 cup orange pepper, chopped
- Pack of 12 corn tortillas
- Vegetable salad mix (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, lettuce, cabbage)
- Avocado, diced, optional
- Jalapeno, chopped Optional
- Black olives, optional
Instructions
- Mix sour cream and taquera sauce in a bowl. Set aside.
- Toss everything together in a medium bowl. If not using the salsa and crema right away refrigerate it.
- Preheat grill on medium heat. Thread shrimp onto skewers, putting 5 on each skewer, piercing once near the tail and once near the head.
- Once all the shrimp have been skewered, arrange the skewers evenly on a large platter or in a baking pan.
- Pulse shrimp marinade ingredients in a food processor or blender. Brush the marinade on shrimps and leave it for 5 -10 minutes.
- Preheat a countertop contact grill or outside BBQ. Lightly oil grill grate. Arrange as many shrimp skewers as will fit comfortably on the grill. Cook until the shrimps are cooked through, but still plump and juicy, about 2 -3 minutes per side (if using one sided contact grill like me). You can also cook these in a panini maker or on the stove in the skillet if you don't have a grill. Place the shrimp on a serving platter and cover to keep warm.
- Warm the corn tortillas quickly in a cast iron pan or tawa with a little bit of oil brushed on both sides (check notes above for warming corn tortillas).
- Fill each tortilla with a spoonful of vegetable salad, salsa, 3 shrimp and top it with spicy crema.
- Alternatively, set the warm tortillas, grilled shrimp, pineapple salsa, and fixings on the table for everyone to assemble their own tacos.
healthyfoodietravels
These look amazing! 🙂 I find tacos the perfect company food, everyone can tailor them to exactly what they like 🙂
Rujuta
Very hearty!
Tina
Love the buffet of all the goodies that you can fill these tacos with. Customizing is always fun and sure ticket to deliciousness. Thanks for sharing this-yum!
Balvinder ( Neetu)
I had no plans to write this post but when I found my friend’s family really enjoyed I thought why not? Although the pictures didn’t come out as i shot them quickly. Serving tacos in buffet style allowed everyone to fill as per their taste.
Nava.K
Nice as a light meal for summer.. lovely pictures, I love how you displayed in buffet style.
angiesrecipes
mmmm…those giant plump juicy shrimp and refreshing tropical pineapple salsa…absolutely heavenly!
evi erlinda
A great treat for summer. Spicy crema and pineapple salsa on shrimps tacos are so delectable!
Pauline
Come Summer, when prawns are really back in season I’ll try these. The look delicious. Thaks for sharing this recipe.
John / Kitchen Riffs
Great looking dish. Who doesn’t like tacos? So good, and so easy to make. Thanks!
Jeff the Chef
These tacos sound delicious! I love the marinade. I never make shrimp at home, even though I love it. If I could buy them peeled and deveined, then maybe I would make them at home. I’ll have to consider that.
Natalia
Thank you for the recipe, I love shrimp tacos so bad! I’m so hungry right now
All That I'm Eating
These look great and I love the sound of that pineapple salsa!
Pattie
This looks MAGNIFICENT! I have all of the ingredients except the cilantro, because I used it in making cilantro pesto, but I’ll bet I could substitute some of the pesto for the leaves.
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
I loved your combination of pineapple salsa and spicy crema. This is such a tasty fun summer dinner idea!
Katerina
Mmm, these look and sound absolutely delicious! I love this combination of flavours – and I would have prawns any time of day. Thank you for sharing.
sherry
oh yum! i love prawns and i love a fish(y) taco. winter here now so i might have to wait a bit to try them. cheers
sherry
Renu
I will try this for my daughter, she likes shrimp and I do try to find quick and healthy ways for her. This looks good.
indrani sen
shrimp tacos with that fruity pineapple flavored sauce is mouthwatering.will like to try one day
Rahul
This sounds delicious Balvinder, it’s a good summer recipe.
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
Is there anything better than grilled shrimp? Your grilled shrimp marinade is so delicious and adding the shrimp to tacos creates a taco Tuesday no one is going to want to miss!!
Judee
Although I don’t eat shrimp, I do have to say that your cooking and presentation look wonderful. The pineapple salsa recipe is something I could make for another dish.