Who knew it was this easy to make unforgettable shrimp tacos topped with colorful, refreshing and tasty toppings! Not only are these tacos healthy, they are addictive!
Shrimp Tacos With Tomatillo Sauce
I hesitated for the longest time in making tacos for the blog thinking it would be too time consuming. In keeping with the ‘easy and simple’ theme of my blog, I wasn’t sure that a taco recipe would fit the criteria. I mean, look at all the various toppings to chop, sauces to make – as well as having to marinate the protein… Sounds as complicated as making a bibimbap from scratch! But then I started browsing the net to see if there was such a thing as an easy Shrimp taco recipe and lo and behold I found – this is embarrassing to admit – a LOT. So here I present to you, Pickled Plum readers (after much experimentation), my first taco recipe. The first of many I hope since I’ve fallen hard for these Mexican delights!
Why shrimp and not beef? Because, to me, summer screams seafood – and a lighter menu for our bikini bodies. For these Shrimp Tacos to be quick and easy to make, I’ve skipped the marinating process (trust me, they are so tasty they don’t need it!) and whipped up two sauces ready in less than 15 minutes. As for taco toppings, I’ve chosen ingredients with bright colors – shredded red cabbage with lime juice, classic avocado slices and vibrant green cilantro leaves. Think cleansing, citrusy, summery and lip smacking delicious!
How to cook your shrimp
That’s up to you. My first choice would be to grill them on the barbie to get that nice charred flavor coming through. However, since I don’t have one, I opted to pan fry them. The shrimp came out beautifully moist and I was able to get some caramelization. I also sliced them in half to make the eating process easier – sexy looking tacos deserve a sexy bite without 80% of the filling spilling out
You will have quite a bit of Tomatillo Sauce left over but the good thing is you can use with just about anything! So far I’ve used it on tuna steaks, as a spread for sandwiches, on top of nachos and as a replacement for chutney for my cheese and crackers plate. Nummy nums.
Taco Toppings
As I mentioned, I used shredded red cabbage, avocado and cilantro to top my shrimp tacos. But as all taco lovers know, these ingredients can easily be swapped for others. Here’s a list of taco toppings to consider if you cannot find certain ingredients or would like to use something that’s already in your fridge or pantry:
- Sour cream
- Salsa
- Guacamole
- Shredded cheese
- Queso fresco
- Shredded lettuce
- Shredded kale
- Endives
- Radishes
- Tomatoes
- Hot sauce
- Poached egg
- Grilled pineapples
- Black beans
- Kimchi
- Scallions
- Corn
- Mango
You can leave me a message in the comment section if you’d like to add your own topping to the list. The more the merrier!
Some of the prep for these shrimp tacos can be done ahead of time. Both sauces can be stored in the fridge until ready to use. The cilantro can be rinsed, leaves picked and wrapped in a damp paper towel inside a Ziploc bag. The texture of the red cabbage is better when crunchy so I would advise saving that step for the day-of. The same goes for the avocado and shrimp (rubbery shrimp is never a nice surprise).
I hope you enjoy these shrimp tacos with tomatillo sauce as much as we did. We are totally planning to abuse this recipe all summer long!
Other healthy, quick and delicious summer recipes:
- Vegetarian stuffed peppers
- Strawberry and rhubarb crisp
- Watermelon, strawberry and tomatillo salad
- California veggie Sandwich
- Chopped endive and avocado salad
Did you like this Shrimp Tacos With Tomatillo Sauce Recipe? Are there changes you made that you would like to share?
- 20large shrimpthawed, peeled and deveined
- 6-8 corn tortillas
- 1/4pound tomatilloshusked, rinsed and patted dry
- 1/4cup onionpeeled and roughly chopped
- 1small jalapenochopped (remove seeds if you don't like spicy)
- 1/8teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4cup light mayonnaise
- 1tablespoon sriracha sauce
- 1teaspoon honey
- 1/2cup shredded purple cabbage
- juice of 1 lime
- a few cilantro sprigs to use as garnish
- 1 avocadopeeled, pitted and sliced
- Season the shrimp with salt and pepper and set aside.
- In a small sauce pan over medium heat, add tomatillos, onion, jalapeno and garlic for 5-7 minutes, until the tomatoes have soften. Turn the heat off and transfer the mixture in a blender.
- Blend until smooth (add 1-2 tablespoon water if the sauce is too thick) and transfer tomatillo sauce to a jar or tupperware container. Refrigerate for 15-30 minutes or until it’s time to use.
- Put ingredients for spicy mayo sauce in a bowl and mix until blended.
- In a mixing bowl, add shredded cabbage and lime juice and toss well. Set aside.
- Cook the shrimp over a grill or add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a pan over high heat. Cook on each side for 3-4 minutes, until cooked through.
- Heat up two corn tacos (I warm them up in a pan for 10 seconds on each side) and layer them on top each other.
- Spread spicy mayo and add a few slices of avocado. Layer with shrimp, tomatillo sauce, shredded cabbage and cilantro. Serve immediately.
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