I had half a pound of frozen shrimp (30/40 count) in my freezer leftover from making Blackened Shrimp Pasta, so I decided to try Blackened Shrimp a new way—Blacked Shrimp Tacos! Because tacos are always good, right??
The blackened shrimp is so simple and so extremely flavorful that they can pretty much carry the tacos themselves. I added a super simple slaw to bulk up the dish and to balance the spicy blackening seasoning. The slight sweetness of the slaw and its tangy Dijon mustard are absolutely perfect with the smoky heat of the blackened shrimp. And then I wanted the Blackened Shrimp Tacos to have just a little more pizzaz, so I whipped up a small batch of smoky garlic lime sauce to drizzle on top.
The flavor play between the blackened shrimp, slaw, and smoky garlic lime sauce is AMAZING.
Toast Your Tortillas For More Flavor
One tip that I always give for tacos is to always toast the corn tortillas first. It really magnifies their flavor and helps strengthen the tacos so that you can stuff ’em full without them ripping apart. I’ve included a photo of my favorite brand, which have proven to be quite sturdy, in the step-by-steps below.
How Many Does This Recipe Serve?
The batch below is fairly small because I only had a half pound of shrimp on hand. With 30/40 count shrimp that meant I had 18 individual shrimp. I put three shrimp in each taco, so that gave me six tacos. Whether you eat 2 or 3 tacos per “serving” is really subjective, so I just listed the price as per taco rather than a suggested servings size.
What to Serve with Blackened Shrimp Tacos
These tasty little tacos go great with: Cumin Lime Sweet Potatoes, Warm Corn and Avocado Salad, Chili Roasted Sweet Potatoes, or Cilantro Lime Rice.
Are These Shrimp Tacos Spicy?
I would call these tacos “medium” spicy, but that will depend on your sensitivity to spicy foods. Because I used a homemade Cajun seasoning blend for the blackened shrimp, you can adjust the heat to your liking. To make the shrimp tacos less spicy, reduce the cayenne pepper by half. To make them more spicy, increase the amount of cayenne pepper.
Blackened Shrimp Tacos
Servings 6 tacosIngredients
COLESLAW
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise ($0.40)
- 1/2 Tbsp honey ($0.06)
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard ($0.06)
- 1 tsp red wine vinegar ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.03)
- 1/2 bag coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots) ($.75)
- 3 green onions, sliced ($0.28)
SMOKY GARLIC LIME SAUCE
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise ($0.40)
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp salt ($0.01)
- 1 lime (1 Tbsp juice) ($0.39)
BLACKENING SEASONING
- 1 Tbsp smoked paprika ($0.30)
- 1 tsp dried thyme ($0.10)
- 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp cumin ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne ($0.03)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.03)
- 1/4 tsp onion powder ($0.03)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.02)
TACOS
- 1/2 lb peeled and deveined shrimp (30/40 count) ($4.00)
- 1 Tbsp butter ($0.13)
- 1 clove garlic, minced ($0.08)
- 6 small corn tortillas ($0.30)
- 3 green onions, sliced ($0.28)
Instructions
- To prepare the coleslaw dressing, mix together the mayonnaise, honey, Dijon, red wine vinegar, salt, and some freshly cracked pepper in a bowl. Place the coleslaw mix and sliced green onions in a bowl and add about 3/4 of the dressing. Stir until everything is coated in dressing, then add more dressing if desired. Refrigerate the slaw until ready to serve.
- To prepare the smoky garlic lime sauce, stir together the mayonnaise, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and the juice from half a lime (about 1 Tbsp) in a small bowl. Save the other half of the lime to serve as wedges with the finished tacos.
- Heat a dry skillet over medium heat. Once the skillet is hot, toast the tortillas on each side until browned on the edges. Place the toasted tortillas on stacked on a plate and covered with a towel until ready to serve.
- Prepare the blackening seasoning by stirring together the smoked paprika, thyme, oregano, cumin, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and freshly cracked pepper in a bowl. Pour the seasoning over the shrimp and stir until the shrimp are coated.
- Add the butter and minced garlic to a large skillet. Cook over medium heat for about one minute, or until the garlic is fragrant and slightly softened. Add the seasoned shrimp and sauté just until the shrimp is firm (about 3-5 minutes). Remove the skillet from the heat to prevent over cooking the shrimp.
- To serve the tacos, place about 1/4 cup coleslaw in each tortilla, top with 3 shrimp, a drizzle of the smoky garlic lime sauce, and a few sliced green onions. Squeeze a wedge of fresh lime over top.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Blackened Shrimp Tacos – Step by Step Photos
Mix up the coleslaw dressing first by combining 1/3 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 Tbsp honey, 1 tsp Dijon, 1 tsp red wine vinegar, 1/4 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper in a bowl.
Place one bag of coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots) in a large bowl, add 3 sliced green onions, and the dressing. I suggest starting with about half of the slaw dressing first and add more as desired.
Stir until everything is mixed and coated in dressing. Refrigerate until the tacos are ready to serve. The coleslaw will soften a bit with time in the fridge, so if you like a super crisp slaw, wait to add the dressing until just before you serve the tacos.
Next, mix up the small batch of smoky garlic lime sauce. In a small bowl combine 1/3 cup mayo, 1/8 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp smoked paprika, 1/8 tsp salt, and about 1 Tbsp of fresh lime juice (from half of a lime, save the other half to serve as wedges to squeeze over the finished tacos).
Pre-heat a dry skillet over medium heat. Once hot, toast the corn tortillas on each side until they are browned on the edges. Stack the toasted tortillas on a plate and cover with a towel until ready to serve.
Prepare the blackening seasoning by combining 1 Tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp dried thyme, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp salt, and some freshly cracked pepper in a small bowl.
Pour the seasoning mix over 1/2 lb. 30/40 count peeled and deveined shrimp and stir until they are coated.
Add 1 Tbsp butter and 1 clove garlic to a large skillet and sauté over medium heat for about one minute or until the garlic is fragrant and softened.
Add the seasoned shrimp and continue to sauté until the shrimp are firm and opaque (this is really fast, maybe 3-5 minutes). Remove the skillet from the heat.
To build the Blackened Shrimp Tacos, place about 1/4 cup coleslaw on each tortilla, top with 3 shrimp, a drizzle of the smoky garlic lime sauce, and a few sliced green onions.
Yaaaassssssssss.
This recipe is so good! Unfortunately, I’m the only one in my family that likes shrimp 😭😭😭 so I do everything the same for them but use chicken.
Big hit!
Immediate hit! My first bite, I said OMG. Budget Bytes never fails.
This is great recipe. I’ve made it at least 6 times. As a New Orleans resident who has used Paul Prudhomme’s recipe for blackening seasoning in the past, this is definitely comparable. The only thing I do different is use an organic apple cider vinegar instead of the red wine for the coleslaw.
So yummy! I will always always always appreciate you for including photos with each recipe. It’s so helpful to know what the shrimp should look like before, during, and after seasoning and cooking.
Absolutely delicious! Fabulous recipe!!! Better than any restaurant!
Thank you for sharing!
Made this as-written and loved it! Great with a little hot sauce.
My husband wanted to make his own version of shrimp tacos, but he asked me to find a seasoning. This was exactly what we were looking for!
Wonderful recipe. I really enjoyed making this dish and used what I already had available.
The changes to the slaw: fresh red cabbage sliced thin with grated carrots, Greek plain yogurt in place of the mayonnaise.
The sauce: I added 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder to give it a kick. That really hit the spot for spice. I used real mayonnaise for this part of the recipe.
I also added more garlic to the melted butter.
What’s great is that it can be adapted to your personal preferences. Thanks!
Love the idea of using Greek yogurt! I really enjoyed this recipe the mayo quantity felt like a lot. I’ll have to try that next time
Just retired and learning how to cook outside of the grill and smoker. Saw your site covered on local Fox channel. I just love these ideas. Already planned the rest of the week with the main corse items in the freezer. These tacos will be Friday. Will let you know what the family says about them. Thanks for the ideas.
The shrimp were excellent with the rub! Loved the cole slaw recipe. I did make the lime sauce. We decided it was not necessary with the shrimp. Too much Mayo, cole slaw & sauce.
I will make this again, better than going to a high priced restaurant!!!!
Made this tonight and it was delicious! Only thing was I left off the smoky lime sauce. It felt like too much mayonnaise.
Loved the blackened shrimp. I didn’t have coleslaw ingredients so I did a Korean inspired taco with kimchi, spicy mayo, green onion, and sesame seeds
Hey Beth – this is one of my favorites. Do you think it would work/have any suggestions for doing this but in a pita pocket? Trying to be crafty with what’s on hand!
Hmmmm, blackened shrimp in a pita sounds a bit strange to me, but maybe it’s better in reality than it is in my head! Haha. I would probably pair it with something creamy, so like maybe stuff some coleslaw in that pita with the shrimp.
I haven’t made it yet, but I plan to. Please note, everything is good in a pita. Everything. LOL