These chili lime shrimp tacos take 25 minutes: jumbo shrimp seasoned with chili, garlic and lime zest, seared for 3 minutes and piled into crisp taco shells. Red cabbage dressed in a pink sriracha sauce gives the crunch, avocado and cherry tomatoes cool it down, and fresh lime juice goes over at the end.
Why this works
The lime zest goes in with the shrimp and the juice goes on at the end. Zest carries the flavor without the acid, so the shrimp can sit in their seasoning while you prep without turning soft, as they would in a juice marinade.
Shrimp cook in about 3 minutes, so everything else is ready before they hit the pan. A hot pan and a single layer let them color fast; crowded, they stew in their own liquid and toughen.
Key ingredients
- Raw jumbo shrimp. Peeled and patted dry. Frozen ones are fine, thawed in the fridge overnight or in a bowl of cold water.
- Hard taco shells. The crisp, curved kind that stand up. They keep their crunch against the creamy slaw.
- Limes. Two: one for zest and the sauce, one for misting over the shrimp and the finished tacos.
- Sour cream and sriracha. Stirred together they make the pink sauce, which dresses the slaw and goes over the top.
Amounts for 1 to 6 people are in the recipe card below, in grams or cups.
Method
- 01
Open up the shrimp
Heat the oven to 350°F. Snip down the back of each shrimp with the seafood scissors, about halfway through, and rinse out any dark vein. Pat them dry with paper towels.
Curved Seafood Scissors - 02
Season the shrimp
Finely grate the zest of one lime into a bowl. Add the oil, chili powder, paprika, garlic and a pinch of salt, toss the shrimp through and leave them while you make the rest.
- 03
Make the sauce and slaw
Stir the sriracha into the sour cream with a squeeze of juice from the zested lime. Toss the cabbage with a couple of spoonfuls of the sauce and a pinch of salt.
- 04
Prepare the avocado
Split the avocado with the slicer, lift out the stone and slice each half in its skin, then cut the slices into chunks. Quarter the cherry tomatoes and chop the cilantro.
Avocado Slicer and Pit Remover, Pair - 05
Cook the shrimp
Stand the taco shells on a baking sheet and put them in the oven for 2 to 3 minutes. Meanwhile heat a large skillet over a high heat and cook the shrimp in one layer for 1 to 2 minutes a side, until pink all the way through. Take the pan off the heat and mist the shrimp with juice from the second lime.
Citrus Sprayer - 06
Fill the tacos
Set a taco holder on each plate and stand three shells in it. Fill them with slaw, shrimp, avocado and tomatoes, drizzle over the rest of the sauce and scatter with cilantro. Finish with another mist of lime.
Taco Holder Stand
What to serve it with
Three tacos each make a dinner. For a bigger spread, add tortilla chips and salsa, or cook one tray chicken fajitas alongside.
Storing and reheating
- Fridge
- Keep the shrimp, slaw and sauce in separate covered containers and eat within 2 days.
- Freezer
- Best skipped. Cooked shrimp turn rubbery once thawed.
- Reheat
- Eat the shrimp cold in a salad, or toss them in a hot pan for about 2 minutes until piping hot.
Questions
Yes. Toss them in the seasoning and warm them in the hot pan for about a minute, until heated through. Any longer and they turn rubbery.
They turn from gray to pink all the way through and curl into a loose C shape. Jumbo shrimp take 1 to 2 minutes on each side.
Make the sauce up to a day ahead and keep it in the fridge. Dress the cabbage when you cook, so it stays crisp.
Gently warm. For more heat, add red pepper flakes to the seasoning or more sriracha to the sauce; for less, halve the chili powder.
Recipe
Chili lime shrimp tacos in 25 minutes
Shrimp seared hot with chili and lime, piled into crisp shells with red cabbage slaw, avocado and a pink sriracha sauce. By Hannah Ellis.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 5 min
- Total
- 25 min
- Serves
- 2
Ingredients
Method
- 01Heat the oven to 350°F. Snip down the back of each shrimp with the seafood scissors, about halfway through, and rinse out any dark vein. Pat them dry with paper towels.
- 02Finely grate the zest of one lime into a bowl. Add the oil, chili powder, paprika, garlic and a pinch of salt, toss the shrimp through and leave them while you make the rest.
- 03Stir the sriracha into the sour cream with a squeeze of juice from the zested lime. Toss the cabbage with a couple of spoonfuls of the sauce and a pinch of salt.
- 04Split the avocado with the slicer, lift out the stone and slice each half in its skin, then cut the slices into chunks. Quarter the cherry tomatoes and chop the cilantro.
- 05Stand the taco shells on a baking sheet and put them in the oven for 2 to 3 minutes. Meanwhile heat a large skillet over a high heat and cook the shrimp in one layer for 1 to 2 minutes a side, until pink all the way through. Take the pan off the heat and mist the shrimp with juice from the second lime.
- 06Set a taco holder on each plate and stand three shells in it. Fill them with slaw, shrimp, avocado and tomatoes, drizzle over the rest of the sauce and scatter with cilantro. Finish with another mist of lime.
