Shrimp Tacos with Mango Jalapeño Slaw

Garlicky marinated shrimp are paired with a crunchy mango jalapeño slaw and creamy avocado crema in these delicious and easy shrimp tacos.

Shrimp is one of my favorite foods. Honestly, I would choose it over a steak any day of the week.

Creamy pesto pasta with shrimp is one of my favorite date-night-in meals and it’s pretty hard to beat grilled garlic basil shrimp. And lately, all I can think about are these easy shrimp tacos.

Easy marinated shrimp tacos with slaw

These tacos are the perfect summer dinner. I mean, just look at how bright and colorful they are! 

The shrimp themselves are marinated in a garlicky chipotle-lime mixture. It’s smoky and tangy without being too spicy – although you can definitely up the heat if you like spicy foods!

Once the shrimp are cooked, they get paired with a slightly sweet, slightly spicy mango jalapeño slaw and avocado crema.

Every single bite is balanced between the savory shrimp, the crunchy, bright slaw, and the creamy avocado crema. These are what shrimp taco dreams are made of! 

They’re impressive enough to serve to guests but easy enough to make on a weeknight, which is one of my favorite kind of wins.

How to make these shrimp tacos

If you usually throw together simple ground beef tacos for dinner, change things up and give these shrimp tacos a try instead. I’ll show you how easy they are to make.

Ingredients you’ll need

You’ll start this recipe by marinating your shrimp. For the shrimp, you will need:

• 2 pounds raw medium or large shrimp (peeled and deveined)
• 10 cloves minced garlic
• 2-3 tablespoons chipotle sauce
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Zest of 1 lime
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice (from about 2 limes)
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter

When you are buying your shrimp, look for medium or large shrimp. Save the teeny-tiny guys for shrimp dip and the jumbo shrimp for surf and turf. 

Frozen shrimp are a great option if you don’t have a good seafood market near you; just make sure the shrimp are raw as well as peeled and deveined. Thaw frozen shrimp before marinating them.

You can find cans of chipotle sauce in the international section of your grocery store or at a Mexican grocery store. You can also use the adobo sauce that chipotle peppers come packed in.

For the slaw, you will need:

• 1 jalapeño, seeded and julienned
• ½ head of cabbage, thinly sliced
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and julienned
• Zest of 1 lime
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (from about 1 lime)
• 2-3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 4 teaspoons honey
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
• 1 large mango, peeled and small diced

The cabbage and carrot make this slaw crunchy, the jalapeño gives it some heat, and the mango and honey make it slightly sweet. It’s a great balance to the smoky, garlicky shrimp. 

If you want more heat in your slaw, feel free to leave the seeds and ribs in the jalapeño. Taking out the seeds and ribs will tame the spiciness while still giving the slaw the bright flavor of the pepper.

If you don’t care for cilantro, feel free to leave it out of the slaw.

Making this recipe

To make these shrimp tacos, start by draining the shrimp and patting them dry with paper towels. 

Add the shrimp to a large bowl along with the garlic, chipotle sauce, oil, lime zest, lime juice, paprika, and salt. Toss to combine and set aside to marinate while you make the slaw.

Unlike flank steak tacos, the shrimp don’t need to marinate for very long to pick up the flavors in the marinade, which helps this meal have a short prep time. 

While the shrimp are marinating, prep the ingredients for the slaw. Add all of the slaw ingredients except the mango to a large bowl and toss to combine. Set aside.

In a large, nonstick skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the marinated shrimp in a single layer. You don’t want to overcrowd the pan, so you may need to work in batches.

Cook the shrimp over medium heat for about 1 minute, then flip and cook for another minute, until pink, opaque, and cooked through. Spoon the butter over the shrimp as they cook.

Remove the cooked shrimp to a plate or bowl and continue cooking the rest of the shrimp, using the same butter.

Once all of the shrimp are cooked, add the cooked shrimp back to the pan and toss with the sauce to warm them through. Move to a bowl for serving.

Before serving, add the mango to the slaw. Warm some taco-sized tortillas, grate some cheese (we love quesadilla or chihuahua cheese), and cut limes into wedges.

Build your tacos with a warmed tortilla, some of the marinated shrimp, mango jalapeño slaw, and avocado crema. Top them as you like with cheese, fresh cilantro, and a squeeze of lime.

Pour yourself a sparkling peach margarita or a ranch water cocktail and enjoy! 

Prep-ahead tips

If you do want to prep any of the shrimp taco components ahead of time, you can make the slaw up to a day ahead and keep it in the fridge. If you add the mango it will release a lot of its juices, so keep the mango separate until just before serving if you prefer.

For the shrimp, whisk together the marinade ingredients up to the night before. I don’t recommend adding the shrimp that soon, as the acid in the marinade will “cook” the shrimp.

Just keep the marinade in the fridge and then toss it with the raw shrimp for about 15 minutes before cooking the shrimp.