Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa

Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa are a fun, easy dinner perfect for a weeknight or even a social gathering. Featuring fresh grilled blackened shrimp, topped with cabbage, mango, cilantro, fresh lime, and avocado crema on flame-grilled flour tortillas.

There’s a reason why tacos are considered comfort food. And that reason is simply that they’re delicious food you eat with your hands. Whether it’s weekend late nights, taco Tuesday, or gathering with friends, tacos in general, are pretty good at finding a place in your life and onto your table.

Tacos are fantastic really with anything you throw together, but sometimes they can be a little lacking if you ignore some key things about assembling them. That doesn’t mean simple tacos can’t be delicious, they absolutely can. However, what you’re using usually matters even more than how many things you’re using.

Fresh toppings and fun toppings help, but what I think matters even more than that are three things.

I’ll go into more detail in a sec, but what I’ve found is the secret to making tacos stand out are these points: 1. Take care of the tortilla 2. Make sure you have some kind of sauce (whether creamy or more liquid) on top of your protein and filling. 3. Something crunchy for texture

Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa is the type of dish that you take a bite of and audibly say “oooh”. After testing this recipe, my husband and I both commented after taking our first bites. When everyone at the table feels the need to say something, that’s how you know it’s good.

Shrimp tacos are really easy, but without a few key components, these tacos wouldn’t taste so complete.  The main star of this recipe is, of course, the grilled shrimp with blackening spices. They then get topped with diced mango, shredded cabbage, a creamy and fresh avocado crema, fresh minced cilantro, a squeeze of lime, and the sauce created in the pan from grilling the shrimp drizzled all over. All of these delicious and fresh toppings go on top of flame-grilled flour tortillas.

Other toppings that would go great: diced red onion, pineapple in place of the mango, crumbled feta, or cotija.

But what about these key steps to making tacos taste really great? I’ve found through cooking that it comes down to this:

1. Paying attention to your tortilla. Whether that’s flame grilling some flour ones, toasting up corn tortillas on a skillet, wrapping them and warming them, or using crunchy shells. Taking care of the vehicle that all these delicious toppings are going into can make a difference.
2. Make sure you have some kind of sauce. Whether it’s the pan juices from sauteing, queso, crema, or even just a squeeze of lime juice sometimes. This makes sure the tacos are not dry (the worst) and adds an additional contrasting layer of flavor that can be kind of unexpected.
3. Something crunchy. This isn’t ALWAYS necessary, but it does come back to having contrasting flavors and textures. It just makes things interesting. Think: red onion, shredded cabbage, crunchy shells, etc.

MAKING THESE SHRIMP TACOS WITH MANGO SALSA

These tacos are on the verge of being slightly tropical in flavor because of the mango and shrimp. I feel like they could be something you get at a food truck at the beach and I’m in love with this notion that you can get a sense of escape from your skillet and cutting board!

Really though, what’s not to like about warm handheld food that gets filled with protein and topped with fresh ingredients that comes together quickly and easily too?

While these are actually great for a weeknight meal because of how simple they are, they can be really fun for a social gathering too. Make it a taco bar, have people assemble their own tacos, set everything up as a bar, etc. I have a feeling that kids would love it too.

COOKING TIPS

Flame grilling tortillas – if you have a gas burner and you want to flame grill your tortillas, there are some things you might want to know if you’ve never done it before. First and foremost – you’re going to be placing food very close to the flame, so do not do this if you think you’ll get distracted, they will definitely catch fire. And make sure you have your air exhaust vent on. Now that we got the safety issues out of the way, I only like to work on two burners at a time because that is about the most I can juggle without burning any tortillas. Use metal tongs to place and flip your tortillas. Keep the heat on as low as the temp goes and heat each side of the tortilla for 1-3 minutes. That’s it!

NUTRITION

These shrimp tacos contain 488 calories per serving, 59 grams carbs, 21 grams fat, 46 grams protein.

STORING & REHEATING

You can store this dinner easily by keeping all the ingredients separated in their own sealed containers. Reheat as needed in the microwave.

AS ALWAYS, IF YOU MAKE THIS – PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW!

Print

Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Keyword avocado, Cabbage, Mango, Shimp, Tacos

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb peeled and deveined gulf shrimp
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp blackening spice
• ½ tsp cayenne
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 2 tbsp minced cilantro
• 1 avocado
• 3 tbsp light sour cream
• 2 limes
• 12 taco tortillas (Mission Carb Balance)
• 2 cups shredded red cabbage
• 1 mango diced

Instructions

1. Marinate the shrimp: Add the shrimp to a medium sized bowl and season with the lemon juice, paprika, garlic powder, blackening spice, cayenne, sea salt, and 1 tbsp of the minced cilantro. Stir all together and leave to the side to marinate while you prep the other ingredients.
2. Avocado crema: In a small bowl, mash the avocado and mix together with the 3 tbsp sour cream, juice of 1 lime, ½ tbsp of cilantro, and sea salt to taste.
3. Grill Tortillas: On a gas stove, turn the front two burners to the lowest setting. Place the tortillas right on the burner and supervise very closely. (You’ll probably need the exhaust fan on). Use tongs to flip the tortillas when the begin to char and brown, about 2 minutes.
4. On an electric stove, heat a small skillet and spray with nonstick spray. Add the tortillas and grill for 2 minutes per side until they begin to brown.
5. To grill the shrimp, heat a medium skillet on medium heat. Drizzle with olive oil or spray with nonstick spray. Add the shrimp and cook until they are pink and no longer translucent, about 5-8 minutes, stirring when necessary to cook evenly.

6. Assemble the tacos by spreading the crema onto the tacos, distributing the shrimp, and topping with the shredded cabbage, diced mango, squeeze of lime juice, and the remaining cilantro. Finally, spoon over the juices from the pan created from sautéing the shrimp.

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