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.
WOW! I am not sure I have words for how good this was! You’re so right that the flavours balance each other out really nicely! I am not a fan of mayonnaise on its own, so mayonnaise-based sauces can be hit or miss with me, but the smoky garlic lime sauce was super tasty! Unfortunately I couldn’t find soft corn tortillas (living in the prairie provinces of Canada, I sometimes have to go to actual Mexican stores to buy them) so I used whole-grain flour tortillas, but they still came out great! I’ll DEFINITELY be making this again!
Just made this recipe for my boyfriend and roommate. Was totally awesome even though I was missing a couple ingredients. Only took about an hour to make and we loved it. We will definitely be making this again. 10/10 Beth.
I normally skip recipes with long ingredient lists (strictly b/c I’m lazy) but the pictures made this one too good to pass up. This dish was restaurant quality/company worthy and I’m SO glad I made this. Thanks for another fabulous dish Beth! ! So for others that are hesitant about the long list – make this! You will not regret it!
Loved this. We did in a “bowl” format and not tacos – just the coleslaw, shrimp and sauce. It was delicious. Will definitely make again, and think this would even translate well to do with chicken or fish instead of the shrimp. My husband was a huge fan of the smoky garlic lime sauce, he ate the leftovers with a spoon. Just discovered your website and am quickly becoming a huge fan of your recipes. Thank you!
These look so great. I think I’m going to use the smoky garlic lime sauce to dress the cabbage instead of adding two components with mayo in them to the tacos. Less mayo, kickier cabbage!
Tacos? No need to say more. These look mouthwatering!
i loved this dish those tacos were tasty my whole family liked it thanks a lot for sharing the recipe of this wonderful dish
Cool recipe, thanks for the weeknight dinner idea!
An excellent flavor combination, and surprisingly quick to put together even with three (delicious and essential) components.. Sometimes I get lazy and don’t toast or grill my corn tortillas (and then hate them and wonder why I ever buy them); I appreciate you emphasizing that step here. The corn tortillas worked great for these tacos.
Thanks for another wonderful recipe!
We loved this recipe! The blackening seasoning and the smoky garlic lime sauce make these tacos so very good! We added a crumble of queso fresco to the top of each taco. Can’t wait to try the seasoning on fish and chicken and make those taco variations, too! Enjoy your blog and tasty recipes!
I’ve seen a lot of places split the shrimp long wise (down their axis) so when presented in the dish, looks like you get twice as many shrimp. Does make for more bites and bits of shrimp!
That’s a great idea!
It seems to me that inside of a taco, the volume you get in a bite is more significant than how many it looks like you are getting–I wouldn’t even object to rough chopping the cooked shrimp during assembly. My big issue with this recipe is that blackening takes a bit of time and very high temps–splitting the shrimp prior to cooking would speed up cooking time, possibly affecting the blackened effect. Overcooked shrimp get rubbery, so I think larger shrimps adapt best to blackening. My fave piece of this recipe is the super simple and marvelous lime sauce–I substituted chipotle powder for half of the paprika, and garnished with some chopped cilantro! Folks who like food less aggressively spiced could just use sauteed shrimp and still have a wonderful dinner–but I LOVE blackened seafood! Thanks, Beth, for another winner
I am on a strict diet and this recipe looks ridiculously good! However, could I substitute Greek yogurt for the mayonnaise in both components? I know the mayo would probably taste better but i need to avoid it and the taco shells for the time being.
I’ve personally never really been a fan of subbing Greek yogurt for mayo, but if you do it with other dishes and enjoy it, it might work out for you here as well. :)
Amy, I don’t care for the taste of mayo so for each 1/3 cup I used 1 tbsp mayo + the rest plain Greek yogurt. Can’t compare to how it would have been with all mayo of course, but it was EXCELLENT even with the Greek yogurt!
Great recipe! Going to make it LOW CARB with low carb tortillas! KETO Friendly..
Hi. Love your recipes! My husband and I have made several of them and they are always a hit. I am looking forward to making these shrimp tacos. It’s right up our alley. Thanks again and we look forward to more recipes in the future. :)
This was wonderful ! Having seconds…we skipped the tortilla and enjoyed all the favors mixed as a salad. Wow. Love your recipies !