A quick and easy 15-minute dinner recipe, these Caribbean spiced shrimp tacos are topped with a sweet and spicy mango jalapeño salsa.
My oldest son is a shrimp taco fanatic. I’m not kidding – he could eat three shrimp tacos plus a side of rice and beans, chips and guacamole and still ask for more. Boys, right?
Since my whole family loves shrimp so much, I always have a bag or two of frozen shrimp stashed in my freezer for busy weeknight dinners. The night before or in the morning I’ll throw in the refrigerator and they are usually thawed in time for dinner.
These shrimp tacos in particular were inspired by my favorite local Jamaican restaurant who makes their own incredible homemade spice blends. The owner, Vince, let me take some of their all-purpose spice blend home to play around with which is how these shrimp tacos came to be.
Made with ingredients like garlic powder, celery salt and a kick of heat from cayenne, the shrimp turn out tender, juicy and packed with flavor. The best part? Shrimp only take about 6 total minutes to cook.
To add a little sweet and spicy kick to the tacos, I decided to make a 5 minute mango salsa made with fresh lime juice, red onion, cilantro and jalapeños. Sweet, spicy, salt and sour: this salsa is ADDICTIVE!
As always, make sure you serve these tacos with warmed tortillas. I love to lightly pan-fry them in a skillet or griddle but you could also heat in a towel in the microwave. As you can imagine, they taste better sautéed in a little oil.
For a pop of freshness I squeeze a little lime juice on all of the tacos right before serving.
No forks required.
Caribbean Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons canola oil divided
- 1 pound shrimp raw, peeled and deveined
- 8 corn tortillas
Caribbean All-Purpose Spice Blend
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon celery salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Mango Salsa
- 1 mango peeled and cubed
- 1/2 cup red onion minced
- 1 jalapeno minced
- 1 lime juiced
- 1/3 cup cilantro minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Pat shrimp dry with a paper towel and place inside a medium sized bowl.
- In a small bowl, mix together spice blend then sprinkle on top of the raw shrimp. Toss well to coat.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the canola oil. Add shrimp in a single layer (work in batches) and heat until they turn pink, about 3 minutes. Flip then heat additional 3 minutes. Remove from pan and repeat with remaining shrimp.
- While shrimp is cooking, mix together mango salsa; set aside.
- When you're ready to serve, heat remaining oil in a medium skillet and lightly pan-fry tortillas, about 90 seconds per side, to soften. Serve shrimp tacos with warm tortillas and top with mango salsa.
Recipe by The Lemon Bowl // Photography by Alejandro Photography
Check out some of my other taco recipes on my Pinterest board!
Shams
May 4, 2019 at 9:08 amwow, i never have seen anything like this!! Definitely going to try this weekend for my kiddos. What happens if i leave out canola oil?
Liz DellaCroce
May 5, 2019 at 11:45 amIt will stick to the pan but you can use spray! or another oil!