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.
I had to triple the spices in the smoky sauce to make it taste like anything besides mayo, and I agree that a mayo based sauce on top of coleslaw was too much creaminess, but I like to follow the recipe exactly the first time I try it. Also, I ended up with a lot less shrimp since I’m in the middle of the country with access to wimpy frozen ones only. I would recommend just eyeballing what you think looks right for the amount of tacos you want. I have half the slaw and smoky sauce leftover for a second batch tomorrow. Overall very tasty though.
Great recipe! My wife enjoyed this dinner very much. I added pickled red onions (from another Budget Bytes recipe) and avocado slices.
I think next time I will substitute the mayo with Greek yogurt in the garlic like sauce, and a smidge less mayo in the slaw mix. (I am personally not a big mayo fan)
I found the spice mix quantity for the shrimp to be more than enough to coat the shrimp…next time I’ll coat just to cover instead of dumping it all in at once. (Oops!)
I used a half pound of shrimp, but this was around 22 pieces…more than enough for two people. I was left with too much slaw and garlic line sauce though…wish I had bought more shrimp. Not that I needed to eat more than three tacos…but I would have :)
I’m just now making this for the 4th time in 3 weeks. Once was for a housewarming party where I made about 4 pounds of shrimp and everything else to scale. They were a hit, and since I made so much, we ended up having them for lunch over the next couple days. The shrimp is just as good, maybe even better cold! These tacos are unbelievably good and easy enough that a novice shrimp cooker like me can do them.
This was fast, easy and flavorful.
I did not have the ingredients to make the slaw
so I skipped that part of the recipe. I served the shrimp tacos with chopped onion and cilantro,
Queso fresco cheese and the smoky garlic lime sauce. Delicious!!
Better than a restaurant (Seriously! I’ve bought the same thing there and not been as bowled over!!)! My only advice would be to go easy on the sauce in the coleslaw because you’re going to have another sauce (the smoky one) to use too … which I didn’t realize as I proceeded step by step through the instructions (my fault!). The flavour was out of this world, but it was a little “saucier” than I would have liked, not knowing the first go round!! My other non-pro tip: Don’t forget to remove your “shell-tails” in your excitement to sautee and eat the delicious smelling shrimp!! Removing them in your mouth is not quite as delectable ;)
Love them! I did however use a whole 1 lb of shrimp but kept the spice measurements the same and it was perfect!
Can’t go wrong with more shrimp!
I modified this recipe quite a bit based on what I had in my pantry and what was expensive at the store, but I’m posting a comment anyway because I saw a few people mention using fish instead of shrimp and I did just that. (Hoping this might help someone looking to do the same.) My grocery store sells packages of strips of fresh salmon (“for stir fry”, almost like thick offcuts) for cheaper than frozen shrimp, so I used the salmon. Made the spice mix almost as written, coated the raw salmon, and sautéed until it was cooked through. Worked beautifully – full of flavour. I would absolutely make this again with fish (or shrimp, obvs). Super easy to make!
SO DELICIOUS. I doubled the amount of shrimp, but kept the seasoning, slaw and sauce about the same. This was fine for the seasoning and sauce, but the slaw probably needed to be doubled too. I followed this one to the letter, save for using fresh shrimp, which are cheap down here. My boyfriend literally kept using his finger to get the last of the sauce from his plate!
Amazing! My husband loved them!
You should learn how to spell. A real turn off.
If you’re going to overreact to typos, the internet may not be the ideal place for you.
Ok, freak. Not a single soul is looking to turn you on.
I’ve made this twice it’s so good! I used 1.5 lbs of shrimp and it was plenty seasoning for all of it. My mom says these are her favorite tacos! Another great recipe.
Beth, this recipe is amazing!! Do you think it would be not good to reheat the shrimp if I want to make multiple meals out of this? How would you recommend reheating it? Stovetop?
Shrimp doesn’t do so well with reheating because the more heat you add the more the proteins contract and get tough. If needed you can lightly sauté in a skillet to quickly reheat, but it’s definitely best when fresh.
Made these last night but made them vegan! Used vegan mayo and butter and used Gardein Fishless Filets in place of the shrimp. Turned out great!
These tacos were so good! My granddaughter and I love shrimp and wished I had made more than 1/2 pound. Better than any shrimp tacos I’ve had in restaurants. Can’t wait to make them again. Thanks for the recipe.
Yummy! I used greek yogurt instead of the mayo. Thanks for sharing