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Tacos are a quintessential alfresco dinner choice. Who can say no to a Taco Tuesday on the patio – especially if there are margaritas involved. In the summer, when the garden is overflowing with cilantro, tomatoes, peppers, and other key taco ingredients, I’m constantly dreaming up new taco recipes. We probably have tacos at least once a week. Sometimes we pick them up from our favorite taco truck or District Tacos but more often than not, we make our own. Over the years I’ve experimented with chicken tacos, beef tacos, fish tacos, shrimp tacos, and more. I’ve also had fund experimenting with different sauces and salsas. These spicy shrimp tacos in a roasted pepper sauce are one of my favorite creations. They take a little work to assemble but it’s well worth it in my opinion.
On Making Great Tacos
I think the secret to awesome tacos rests in the sauces, salsas, and garnishes we add to them. A lot of the time I cook my taco meat with very simple seasonings – especially in the summer when we are grilling fish, shrimp, and pork. A little salt, pepper, olive oil, and lime juice is all you really need when you have fresh salsas, sauces, and garnishes bursting with flavor.
Pick 3-4 fresh garnishes:
Fresh garnishes such as cilantro, lime wedges, avocado slices, slaw, or pickled onions add bold flavor and texture to your tacos. Pick a few that work well together and serve them on the side in little dishes so everyone can garnish their taco as they desire. Each garnish adds to your prep time and cost so don’t over do it. I usually include one bigger or “main” garnish (e.g., avocado slices or guacamole, grilled peach slices, grilled peppers or onions, some kind of slaw etc.) and then several little garnishes (e.g., chopped cilantro, lime wedges, diced onion or tomato).
Make a Homemade Sauce or Salsa
A fresh and flavorful sauce or salsa can really elevate your tacos to the next level. For sauces, I usually use a base of Greek yogurt to keep things on the healthy side. Then I add a blend of citrus juice and zest, herbs, and whatever main ingredient I’ve chosen (poblano peppers, chipotle peppers, etc.) along with a few other things. For salsas, I like to add lots of fresh herbs, citrus, onion, tomatoes, and/or some kind of fruit. We love peach and mango salsas in the summer. Again, you don’t need a ton of ingredients – just a few that work well together. I usually make a sauce or a salsa – you don’t need both.
Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Grilled Pepper Sauce
The main ingredient in these tacos is shrimp. We use the bite size (31-40 count) easy peel (or pre-peeled shrimp). Previously frozen works just fine. I pop the shrimp on skewers to make grilling easy and salt and pepper them. Then I brush them with a little olive oil mixed with lime juice. They only take about 6 minutes on the grill. You can warm your tortillas on the grill while the shrimp cooks.
I use 4 garnishes for these tacos: cilantro, pickled red onion, avocado slices, and shredded cabbage. I bring each to the table in small dishes so everyone can build their tacos how they like. The sauce in this recipe is adopted from the Sprouted Kitchen’s saucy fish taco recipe. It’s a great sauce and I’ve been riffing on it all summer with different herbs and pepper mixtures. The sauce is really the only part of this recipe that takes any time. This works out well because you can do all the other prep work while you grill the peppers.
Looking for a drink to pair with your spicy shrimp tacos? Try these limey caipirinhas!
Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Grilled Pepper Sauce
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
This recipe takes a bit of assembly but it’s not difficult at all. You can prepare the garnishes, and shrimp in the time it takes the peppers to grill. Then you just have to blend the sauce on pop the shrimp on the grill for a few minutes. It usually take me around 45 minutes from start to finish.
Ingredients
Tacos and Toppings
- 2 lbs bite size (31– 40 cnt) shrimp, peeled, deviened, and tails removed
- flour tortillas
- ⅛ cup oil oil
- 2 limes
- salt and pepper
- 3 cups green cabbage, shredded
- 1 avocado, sliced
- ½ red onion, diced
Sauce
- 1 large bunch cilantro, set aside a few tablespoons for garnishing tacos
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled
- juice and zest of 2 limes
- ½ cup full fat Greek yogurt
- ½ cup pine nuts
- 1 tbps olive oil
- 2 poblano peppers
- 1 jalepano pepper
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Prepare the peppers and shrimp
- Heat your grill to medium/high.
- Lightly oil the poblanos and jalepano pepper. Place them on grill directly over heat. Grill each side until blackened (approx 8 minutes). When finished, remove peppers from grill and transfer them to gallon ziplock bag. Seal bag and let sit for 10 mintues (this makes them easier to peel).
- While your peppers cook and rest, prepare the shrimp. Pat shrimp dry and skewer them. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper to taste. In a small bowl combine the ⅛ cup olive oil and juice of 1 lime. Stir to combined and then brush over shrimp. Set aside to grill when sauce is done.
Make the Garnishes
- Put your diced onion in a small bowl. Squeeze juice of the first lime over onion and stir. The lime juice will pickle the onions.
- Finely slice or shred your green cabbage. Place in small bowl for serving.
- Cut the avocado into thin slices. Place in a small dish for serving.
- Roughly chop about 3 tablespoons of cilantro to serve as garnish for the tacos. Place in a small dish.
- Chop the second lime into wedges and place on small dish for serving.
Make the Sauce and Shrip
- Combine the bunch of cilantro, lime juice and zest, greek yogurt, pinenuts, and olive oil in base of food processor or blender. Remove your peppers from the ziplock back. Remove their stems and seeds and peel away the blackened skin. It’s ok if you don’t get it all. Add the peppers to the food processor and blend until combined into creamy sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer sauce to small bowl for serving.
- One the sauce is ready, you can toss the shrimp on the grill. They will cook pretty quick (approx 3 minutes a side). Keep an eye on them as cook time will vary with grill temperature. While you are grilling the shrimp, you can also toss a few tortillas on the grill. The goal is just to warm them up a bit and get some light grill marks.
Notes
The sauce in this recipe is adopted from the Sprouted Kitchen’s Saucy Fish Taco recipe.
