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.
So delicious! I was craving blackened seafood and this had great ratings, 5 solid stars! I can see why. The seasoning was great, just right, on the shrimp, in the slaw and in the sauce. Thanks very much for sharing this recipe! We will most definitely be having more shrimp tacos in our future!
LOVE! The husband and I just made these for Valentine’s Day dinner, and they were a huge hit. Thanks for another good one!
So so so good! Very satisfying meal. We’ll definitely make this again.
Great recipe! This one is definitely a keeper. Thank you!
This recipe is a keeper, i will definitely make it again. Every part was delicious- the slaw, the shrimp, the sauce. I topped mine with a generous amount of cilantro. Would like to try replacing the shrimp with some fish, like grouper or mahi. Thank you for a great recipe.
My family absolutely loved these tacos. Very delicious and very easy to make. My husband thought it was better than anything you could get at a restaurant. He never really likes coleslaw, but he loved this one and it went really well in the tacos. I will definitely be making these again.
These were amazing. Everyone loved them, even the kids took a bite.
This is an excellent recipe. I made everything exactly as written (only exception is I topped the tacos off with cilantro). Not only were these delicious, but it was sooooooo easy and quick. I will certainly be making these again and again. Huge hit with the hubby!
Love these tacos, but sauteed shrimp aren’t blackened–don’t want to do that in my house, either, because that kind of heat really produces a lot of smoke and the chili fumes are deadly. I blacken shrimp and fish on a cast iron skillet placed upside down directly over the lava stones in my gas grill. Another thing I do to prevent the shrimp from disasters of various physical kinds is to put them on a parallel pair of soaked bamboo skewers, head to tail. They cook evenly, and really fast, so maybe about a minute per side–we are talking really high heat.
Of course you will need to re-season your cast iron skillet after
Really loved this one! Super tasty and not at all complicated. I cooked up like 2lbs of shrimp and they were jumbo size so only 2 really fit on a taco. The sauce paired so well with the shrimp and heating the tacos until they browned was definitely worth the effort.
Absolutely delicious! Coleslaw is outside my box, as I’m usually not a fan, but gave this recipe a go anyway. So glad I did. Husband and I loved them! I made everything by recipe except substituted non fat plain Greek yogurt for the mayo in both the dressing and sauce and both were very good! This recipe will go into rotation. Thanks!
Hi! Do you have an estimate of the Calories in 2 tacos with the
yogurt instead of mayo :) TIA!
No, I’m sorry, I don’t have a reliable source for nutrition information.
Yes – was searching the comment threads to see if anyone had done that! I’m thinking maybe doing half mayo half yogurt for both. Thanks!!
Yum yum yum! These were delicious. Thanks so much for the great recipe!
Absolutely amazing!
These were AMAZING! I never comment online recipes I try, but I had to come here and thank you. My husband went nuts for them. They’ll be a new staple in our house. THANKS!
Excellent recipe. The honey didn’t compliment (in my opinion) the coleslaw, but with the blackened shrimp it was masked and didn’t ruin the meal. I’ll be tweaking that next time I make this. And believe me, I’ll be making it again. Mother in law couldn’t stop raving, and my nine year old ate more than me. If you like authentic Mexican style tacos, I made a second taco filling of diced onions, cilantro, and lime juice. It’s very simple to make, and if those ingredients sound up your alley, definitely give it a try.. Heathy and tasty, especially with some good salsa or Verde sauce. One more note: I substituted the mayonnaise for plain yogurt because the mother in law hates mayo. Still turned out great.