Blackened Shrimp Tacos

Blackened Shrimp Tacos with Chipotle Mayo, Guacamole, and Fresh Coleslaw is one of those recipes for dinner that turns a basic evening dinner into a street-side taco night🌮

You can serve Blackened Shrimp Tacos with Grilled Corn Mango Salsa or Summer-Favorite Pineapple Salsa. Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa tastes amazing. So as this Air Fryer Shrimp Tacos with Pineapple Salsa.

Shrimp Tacos are my favorite when it comes to a street-side taco night. Have you ever been out at night just to eat tacos?

Last week I was watching "Modern Family" and it was that episode where Jay had made reservations in a top-notch restaurant. But, everyone had their own problems. No one seems to enjoy the dinner. And, then Jay heads out of the restaurant for a Mexican dinner and sings "Midnight Train to Georgia".

It reminded me of that time when my kids were small and I and my husband used to head out to the beach at night. At that time, I used to be so frustrated at times. Having twin kids is not easy. I and my husband used to head out to the beach and enjoy a blissful taco night.

Since then tacos have become one of my favorite dinner ideas. In my home, I don't wait for the evening to set in to serve taco. I am sinfully in love with tacos. I even secretly make a taco just for myself at times. Have you done that?😜

See some of my favorite taco recipes: Instant Pot Shredded Hawaiian Chicken Tacos, Grilled Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Lime Marinade, Honey Chipotle Chicken Tacos, Black Bean and Corn Tacos, Turmeric Roasted Cauliflower and Black Bean Tacos, Mexican Shredded Chicken Taco, Crispy Roasted Cauliflower Tacos with Chipotle Romesco, Crispy Cauliflower Tinga Tacos, Chicken Tinga Tacos and many more.

Jump to:

• 🍤 What are Blackened Shrimps?
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🔪 Instructions
• 🥗 Serving Suggestions for Blackened Shrimps
• 📖 Variations
• 🍳More Shrimp Recipes
• 🧊Storage
• 💡Top Tips
• 🌮More Taco Recipes
• Blackened Shrimp Tacos

🍤 What are Blackened Shrimps?

Blackening is a cooking style where the meat is coated in spices and herbs and then seared in a skillet with some hot oil. The recipe uses bold spices like Oregano, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Ground Cumin, Chili Powder, and Smoked Paprika. But, the main ingredient which blackens the shrimp is brown sugar. As soon as the sugar hits the skillet it begins to caramelize as a result the spices cling onto the shrimps and becomes crispy. Isn't that amazing🤤

🥘 Ingredients

Here are the ingredients that I've used to make this Blackened Shrimp Taco.

• Jumbo Shrimps - peeled and deveined.
• Spices - Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Ground Cumin, Chili Powder, Smoked paprika
• Herbs - Dried Oregano.
• Brown Sugar
• Salt and Freshly Cracked Black Pepper
• Olive Oil
• minced garlic
• Coleslaw - Fresh Shredded Cabbage, Mayonnaise, Lime Juice, Red Onions, Freshly chopped cilantro
• Chipotle Mayo - Mayonnaise, Chipotle Chilies in Adobo Sauce, and Lime Juice

See the recipe card for quantities. Also, check out the video for visual 🎥

🔪 Instructions

Step 1: Coat Shrimps in Spices

In a ziplock bag combine the spices along with brown sugar. Add shrimp and shake the bag so that each shrimp is evenly coated. You can do the same thing on a shallow plate as well.

Step 2: Blacken Shrimps in a skillet

Preheat your skillet over high heat. Pour some olive oil. As the oil shimmers add shrimps in a single layer and allow them to cook on medium-high heat until they get crispy. Flip over and cook the other side as well. This usually takes 2-3 minutes. Finally, add minced cloves of garlic. Allow garlic to get fragrant for 20-seconds.

if using pre-cooked shrimps - then cook for 30-seconds per side. Do not overcook shrimps.

After this stage, you can either serve it in the form of taco or over pasta or rice or with steamed veggies.

Step 3: Make Coleslaw

In a bowl combine the ingredients for coleslaw - (Mayonnaise, Red Onions, Lime Juice, and Freshly chopped black Pepper). Keep it in an air-tight container and stick it in the refrigerator until you are ready to assemble your tacos. If you have leftovers you can store them in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

Step 4: Make Chipotle Mayo

In a medium-sized mixing bowl combine the ingredients for chipotle mayo. Alternatively, you can make Pineapple Salsa or Mango Salsa at this step.

Step 5: Assemble Blackened Shrimps Tacos

Finally, tuck in blackened shrimps in crispy corn or flour tortillas. Serve with coleslaw and chipotle mayo. Garnish with cotija cheese and lime wedges.

🥗 Serving Suggestions for Blackened Shrimps

Wondering what to serve with blackened shrimps? I love to serve blackened shrimps in the form of tacos. But, there are a variety of options.

• Pasta - Serve blackned shrimps over cooked tomato basil penne pasta or fettuccine noodles or baked Spaghetti or Rigatoni or Ziti.
• Rice - You can serve these blackened shrimps with Shrimp fried rice or Cajun Shrimp and Rice or Jasmine rice or coconut rice or Pineapple fried rice or Thai Lemongrass Zucchini Fried rice or Mediterranean Saffron rice or Indian cumin rice.
• Roasted Veggies - Crispy green beans or Crispy Broccoli would make an excellent side dish for blackened shrimps.

📖 Variations

• Spicy - To make your blackened shrimps spicy add some red pepper flakes while coating your shrimps.
• Cayenne Pepper - If you want your shrimps to be a bit more spicier add some cayenne pepper.
• Dried Thyme - To add more depth of flavor you can add dried thyme to the recipe as well.
• Dried Basil - To add more herbs you can go with dried basil as well.
• Butter - To make your shrimps more buttery you can use a combination of olive oil and butter while searing your shrimps.

🍳More Shrimp Recipes

Green Curry Shrimp

Creamy Thai Coconut Shrimp Curry Recipe

Peanut Shrimp Pad Thai Recipe

Sweet Chili Garlic Shrimp

Crispy Honey Sesame Shrimp in Air Fryer

🧊Storage

If you have leftover taco meat then you can store it in an air-tight container for 2-3 days. When ready to serve you can reheat it in the microwave and then tuck it into crispy corn or flour tortillas.

Similarly, you can store coleslaw in an air-tight container. If properly stored this will stay fresh for up to 2-3 days.

💡Top Tips

• Pat dry shrimps - Make sure you pat dry your shrimps before coating them in spices.
• Heat Pan before searing shrimps - To make crispy shrimp heat pan over high heat and then add olive oil. Once the oil gets hot, add shrimps directly. In this case you can add minced garlic towards the end.
• Cooking Shrimps - Wondering how long to cook shrimps? Remember this: They should be opaque white with few light pink spots around the edges.
• Do not overcook shrimps - One of the major mistakes we make while cooking shrimps is overcooking shrimps. Overcooked shrimps taste rubbery and chewy. And, let's not forget that shrimps takes just 2-3 minutes to get cooked. So, you've got to be extra agile while cooking shrimps.
• Marinate Shrimps and refrigerate: If you have got time, then coat shrimps in spices and then refrigerate shrimps for 24 hours before cooking. Refrigerating shrimps with spices will help the spices get stuck to shrimps making them taste extra good🤤
• Non-stick pan - I always prefer a heavy duty non-stick pan to blacken my shrimps. Its easy to clean.
• Do not overcrowd the pan - Make sure that you do not overcrowd the pan while cooking shrimps. Cook them in batches.

🌮More Taco Recipes

• 10-minute Vegan Chickpea Walnut Taco Meat
• Buffalo Cauliflower Tacos in Air Fryer
• Chicken Pepper Tacos
• Chipotle Grilled Chicken Pineapple Tacos

See More Mexican Recipes for dinner.

I hope you liked this recipe. If you happen to make this recipe, then comment below and rate this recipe. Also, tag me with #recipemagik on Instagram.