These Shrimp Tacos with perfectly seasoned shrimp with cilantro-lime slaw and fresh avocado are all packed in a tortilla — these are the absolute best!
Next try these chicken tacos (a reader favorite!), these Vegetarian Tacos, these Asian Tacos, or these Quinoa Tacos.
Shrimp Tacos
These tacos are the perfect light (yet filling) dish to ring in the new year! They’re packed with flavor, made with oodles of healthy ingredients, and they’re quick to put together. I’ll share my favorite way to make Shrimp Tacos, but honestly, this shrimp is good enough to stand on its own — the seasoning mix is so delicious (and easy to make with just a few ingredients).
What goes in a Shrimp Taco?
You can load up your taco however you’d like; we’re obsessed with the easy slaw, sauce, and some fresh avocado (or guacamole) in these tacos!
- Shrimp: Shrimp, of course, is a given. Marinate it for a bit in a delicious seasoning mix with some olive oil. Once it’s cooked, drizzle over fresh lime and it’s ready to go!
- Slaw: This slaw is simply shredded green cabbage mixed with a simple cilantro sauce.
- Cilantro sauce: The sauce is multi-purpose: you’ll toss the slaw with the sauce and then also add a drizzle over the finished tacos. Not only is it easy to make, but you can also prep this ahead of time (up to a day in advance).
- Fresh avocado/guacamole: You can make your own quick guacamole or pick some up at the store. Otherwise, a few slices of fresh avocado work well, too. The avocado gives these tacos a delicious creamy element while keeping them healthy.
How do you make delicious shrimp?
Making delicious shrimp is all about how you season and cook it. This recipe has a killer seasoning mix and below I’m sharing some tips for cooking it.
A few tips for cooking perfect shrimp:
- When shrimp is raw the flesh is a grayish color. As it cooks, the protein turns to an opaque whitish-pink color. Shrimp cook VERY quickly – about 2-3 minutes per side – so don’t take your eyes off of them while they’re cooking.
- The shrimp should curl up into a loose “C” shape when properly cooked. If they have curled up into a tight “O” shape, then the shrimp is probably overcooked. (An undercooked shrimp will still have some grayish spots on them and form more of a flexible “U” shape)
- Cook the shrimp right before serving, so the shrimp don’t dry out while preparing the other components of this dish.
- I recommend buying shrimp that have already been peeled and deveined for faster and easier prep!
- If you are using frozen shrimp, make sure to thaw it completely before cooking.
While these stand on their own pretty well, here are a couple of quick side dish ideas:
What to serve with these tacos:
- Cucumber Salad
- Caprese Salad
- Roasted Vegetables (or just Roasted Brussel Sprouts)
- Grilled Corn on the Cob
- Italian Salad
Storage
Make Ahead & Storage Tips
- Make Ahead: Make the sauce and put it in the fridge. It can stay there for 3 days. Marinate the shrimp and keep them in the fridge too, but only for 4-6 hours before cooking.
- Storage: Keep the spiced shrimp, chopped cabbage, and sauce in the fridge. Cut the avocado when you’re ready to eat. Tortillas should be kept in a cool spot or in the fridge if you want them to last longer.
More Easy Seafood Dishes:
- Lemon Garlic Shrimp
- Cilantro Lime Shrimp
- One Pan Fish and Chips (Reader Favorite!)
- Sweet Honey Garlic Shrimp
Shrimp Tacos
Seasoned shrimp, zesty cilantro-lime slaw, and fresh avocado all wrapped up in a tortilla—these Shrimp Tacos are ready in 30 minutes and perfect for a quick, flavorful meal!
Equipment
- Large pan
- Small blender or food processor
Ingredients
Shrimp
- 1 pound medium shrimp about 45 shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 cloves garlic minced, 1 teaspoon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 4 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter or use additional olive oil
- 1 to 2 limes optional
- 2 cups shredded green cabbage
- 1 large avocado thinly sliced
- Corn tortillas or flour tortillas
- Cooking spray optional
Instructions
Shrimp
- Pat both sides of the shrimp dry. Toss in a large bowl with garlic, salt, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, and 3 tablespoons olive oil. Cover and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes (up to 8 hours). In a large pan, melt butter and remaining 1 tablespoon oil.
- Cook shrimp in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan. Add shrimp in a single layer and sauté until they just turn pink, flipping halfway, 2–4 minutes total depending on their size. Remove from heat and set on a cutting board. Cut off the tails. If desired, add a squeeze of fresh lime juice to the shrimp.
Cilantro-Lime Sauce
- Zest and juice limes to get 1 teaspoon zest and 4 tablespoons juice. In a small blender or mini food processor, combine all the sauce ingredients. Add salt and pepper (or to taste) and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust to preference. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Assemble Tacos
- Remove 1/2 cup of cilantro-lime sauce and toss it with the shredded green cabbage to combine.
- Optional: Spray tortillas (both sides) with cooking spray and grill on the stovetop over an open flame until slightly charred. Alternatively, warm tortillas in the microwave, covered with a damp paper towel.
- Fill tortillas with a generous serving of slaw, shrimp, and fresh avocado. Drizzle more sauce on top and serve with a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Note: Nutritional information includes corn tortillas.
Storage: Store the spiced shrimp, chopped cabbage, and sauce in the fridge. Cut the avocado when you’re ready to assemble.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 253kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 104mg | Sodium: 476mg | Potassium: 218mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 171IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 102mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
HINT; To get the last bit of Shrimp meat from the tail, Pinch the tail from Top to Bottom and pull!!! NOT from side to side…
Home run!!!!! We loved the recipe! It was simple to follow and tastey !! Definitely will do again
I’m so glad you guys loved these Shrimp Tacos! Thanks for your comment Brett! 🙂
These were fantastic! Loved it all, especially the slaw. We didn’t have much cilantro so we used basil instead. It was outstanding and would double as a tasty salad dressing.
I’m so glad you guys enjoyed this! Thanks so much for your comment Jack! 🙂
We had these for dinner last night, and my husband and I both loved them! They are so flavorful, and we are excited to have a new taco recipe in our menu rotation.
Note: I have to admit that neither of us like cilantro (gasp!) so I substituted fresh parsley and it seemed to work very well.
I’m so glad you guys loved these tacos so much! Haha, thanks for the tip on the cilantro! 🙂
This was delicious!! I was looking for a fast dinner recipe for weekdays and this was perfect. Quick, easy, and delicious. This is going into my rotation of meals, without a doubt.
YAYY!! I’m soo happy to hear this!! Thanks so much for your comment! 🙂
Shut the front door, these shrimp tacos are ridiculously fantastic!!! Not only is the seasoning on the shrimp fully flavorful, then comes the sauce and watch out, because the taste of it mixed in with the cabbage and also drizzled over top of the taco will make you say “OMG, this is the best shrimp taco ever!”
I enjoyed reading all the reviews and to be honest, they are what sold me on picking this recipe out of many, to make this dish yesterday and what a delight it was to have my boyfriend give me huge kudos on all the flavors he tasted within the taco.
Haha! You made my day Tracy!! Thanks so much for your kind comment and review 🙂 SO thrilled these were a hit!
I love these tacos! So does my husband, he even likes it with extra cilantro. That sauce is amazing!!!
So happy to hear that!! Thanks Amy 🙂
Thanks for awesome information. These tacos are the perfect light (yet filling) dish to ring in the new year with! They’re packed with flavor, made with tons of healthy ingredients, and they’re FAST to whip together. I’ll share my favorite way to make shrimp tacos, but honestly, this shrimp is good enough to stand on its own — the seasoning mix is so delicious (while also remaining easy with few ingredients!)
So glad you enjoyed these! Thanks Alis!
I love these, but after starting to track macros and calories, the nutrition is super-super-off.
If this makes 12 tacos and serves four, each person is eating three tortillas. Just the tortillas alone are 420 calories and 72 grams of carbs, but this says the entire serving is 408 calories and less than 18 g carbs.
So glad you’ve enjoyed these, thanks Alan! That’s the really tricky thing about nutrition facts, they vary a ton based on ingredients used and quantity. You tortillas sound like a lot higher calorie than the ones I used in this recipe. I used street sized corn tortillas which are 33 calories a tortilla (https://www.calorieking.com/us/en/foods/f/calories-in-tortillas-flatbreads-wraps-street-tacos-mini-corn-tortillas/KrZw_AfhRr6Duw3w77mxwQ) As you’re tracking calories/macros, I’d definitely recommend inserting your exact ingredients into a counter like My Fitness Pal.
Thanks! I was using soft taco sized tortillas, so definitely a huge difference.
The one thing that still confuses me a little is the fat, especially full-fat mayo and avocado, but I’ve found a way to fit this into my macros today anyway, so I’m happy 🙂
Oh good!! I think portion sizing on the avocado and sauce makes all the difference in the calories, but so glad to hear that, thanks Alan 🙂
Very good recipe, thank you. Only thing I did differently was added crumbled Queso Fresco to top them off and additional cilantro to the top.
Thanks Ryan!