These Spicy Shrimp Tacos are an easy and flavorful weeknight meal made from quick-marinated shrimp served on top of a Mexican elote-inspired slaw. They’re super simple to make, packed with tons of bold flavors, and ready in only 30 minutes from start to finish!
This post is sponsored by Mazola® Corn Oil. All opinions expressed here are my own. Corn oil is a cholesterol-free food that contains 14g of total fat per serving. See nutrition information on product label or at Mazola.com for fat and saturated fat content.
These Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Elote Slaw are the answer to all your busy weeknight dinner problems!
Ever since having a baby about 4 months ago, I’ve come to truly understand the struggle of feeling like there’s not enough time to make a meal that’s really delicious AND good-for-you at the same time.
I totally get it now. The struggle is real!
But I’m here to say that it’s 100% possible. I’m super excited to be partnering with Mazola® Corn Oil to show you how to get some tasty food on the dinner table quickly, and feel really good about feeding it to your family all at the same time.
I’m all about incorporating more heart-healthy* ingredients into my meals, and using Mazola® Corn Oil is one of them! Low in saturated fat, it’s a great all-purpose oil to use in recipes that are stir-fried or sauteed. It’s also great in marinades, which makes it perfect for these tacos!
The shrimp in this recipe is seasoned in a mixture made from lime juice, Mazola® Corn Oil, chipotle chili powder, red pepper flakes, Mexican oregano, garlic, and more.
The entire meal is packed with lean protein, veggies and other ingredients that are easy to find and make!
How to make Spicy Shrimp Tacos
The beauty about shrimp tacos is that the shrimp doesn’t need to marinate for very long in order to gather and soak in a lot of flavor. Plus, it’s a protein that cooks incredibly quickly which makes it perfect for weeknight dinners.
First, you’ll get the shrimp marinating in a mixture of chipotle chili powder, Mexican oregano, red pepper flakes, garlic, Mazola® Corn Oil, lime juice, and a few other ingredients. While that’s doing its thing, put together the slaw.
Once you have the slaw made and ready to eat, come back to the shrimp and cook it in a hot skillet for 4-6 minutes and that’s it!
The elote-inspired slaw in this recipe is the perfect complement to the spicy shrimp. The mayo and sour cream help offset some of the spiciness from the chipotle chili powder and the cilantro, cabbage, and cotija cheese adds a bit of brightness and freshness to each and every bite.
I made the slaw using a can of drained and rinsed yellow corn, but you can also use fresh corn if it’s in season!
Once the slaw and shrimp are ready to go, I like layering them on top of warm corn tortillas and garnishing everything with a little more chopped cilantro and cotija cheese.
If you prefer flour tortillas, you can use those instead. I’m a huge fan of homemade flour tortillas because the store-bought ones are just not the same to me, but if you do buy them, make sure they’re small and not the huge burrito-sized ones!
Tips and substitutions
- Make the slaw. It’s totally worth it! When you taste the shrimp on their own, you may think they’re a little too spicy, but when you pair it with the elote slaw, I think it’s a match made in heaven! The creaminess really cuts down some of the heat and it’s just perfect.
- Don’t have chipotle chili powder? You could use 1 or 2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce instead. If you don’t have that either, you can use regular chili powder.
- Don’t have Mexican oregano? The Mexican oregano adds a very distinct flavor to the shrimp (learn more about Mexican oregano), so I recommend using it if you can. However, if you don’t have any, you can use regular oregano instead.
More taco recipes
Ingredients
For the shrimp
- 2 tablespoons Mazola® Corn Oil
- 1 lime, zested and juiced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano,
- 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
For the slaw
- 1 teaspoon Mazola® Corn Oil
- 1 (15-ounce )can yellow corn, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup shredded red cabbage, packed
- 1 large jalapeño diced
- 1/4 cup crumbled cotija cheese
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon sour cream
- 1/2 lime, juiced
- 1/8 teaspoon chili powder
- kosher salt, to taste
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add oil, lime zest, lime juice, garlic, chipotle chili powder, red pepper flakes, black pepper, salt, and Mexican oregano. Whisk together to combine.
- Add shrimp and toss together to coat. Set aside to marinate while you make the slaw.
- Heat oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add corn and cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until corn begins to brown. Remove from heat and transfer to a medium bowl.
- To the same bowl, add the red cabbage, jalapeno, cotija cheese, mayonnaise, cilantro, sour cream, lime juice, and chili powder. Toss together to combine, taste, and season with salt to taste. Set aside until ready to serve.
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and sauté for 4-6 minutes, flipping halfway through, until the shrimp are cooked through.
- Assemble the tacos by placing a bit of the slaw in warm tortillas, top with a few shrimp, and garnish with a bit of chopped cilantro and cotija cheese.
Isabel’s Tips:
- Don’t have chipotle chili powder? You could use 1 or 2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce instead. If you don’t have that either, you can use regular chili powder.
- Don’t have Mexican oregano? The Mexican oregano adds a very distinct flavor to the shrimp (learn more about Mexican oregano), so I recommend using it if you can. However, if you don’t have any, you can use regular oregano instead.
Nutrition Information
*Very limited and preliminary scientific evidence suggests that eating about 1 tablespoon (16 grams) of Corn Oil daily may reduce the risk of heart disease due to the unsaturated fat content in Corn Oil. FDA concludes that there is little scientific evidence supporting this claim. To achieve this possible benefit, Corn Oil is to replace a similar amount of saturated fat and not increase the total number of calories you eat in a day. One serving of this product contains 14 grams of Corn Oil.
Terrific tacos! Straight-forward and easy to follow recipe. I used diced Chipotle chiles for the marinade (I didn’t have powder) and most of them made it into the frying pan and then the tacos with the shrimp. I think this is the way I’ll make this dish from now on. We also made a lot of slaw and had enough left to serve as a side dish tonight – it’s that good. Thanks Isabel.
My husband loved these shrimp tacos saying “we don’t ever have to buy shrimp tacos again”. Truly an amazing recipe
Followed the recipe as written – no substitutions other than frozen corn for canned. Delicious tacos. We’ll make these again.
I made this for dinner and my husband and daughter loved it! It goes without saying that I did, too! I made your recipe for canned beans as a side. My daughter told me the meal was as good as a restaurant meal. We especially loved the tacos! I’ll definitely be making it again.
Thank you LaVonne!
This recipe was delicious and came together so easily! Once you get all the ingredients prepped it is such a quick and easy dinner. We did taco Monday this week because we just couldn’t want until Tuesday. Highly recommend!