These easy (and delicious!) shrimp tacos feature pan-seared shrimp tossed with lots of chili, cumin, and garlic powder, a simple winter slaw made with watermelon radishes and jicama, and a quick cilantro-yogurt blender sauce.
The secret to excellent tacos is a bunch of great toppings. I prefer my toppings be a mix of crunchy, sweet, creamy, and sour flavors. I want plenty of contrast with the richness of whatever protein is at the center.
The internet, this writer included, likes to promise readers quick and easy meals. Stuff that cooks in 20 minutes and is pretty enough to break your Instagram feed. And look, I know that you’d love to spend all day cooking the perfect tacos. But you’re busy. I feel you.
The good news here is that you can cook these shrimp tacos in under 20 minutes. But if you want them to be truly delicious (and pretty), you’ll need to spend a little more time prepping the toppings ahead. The yogurt-cilantro sauce is dead simple and can be made in the moment, but the slaw and pickled onions take a bit more time. These should be thrown together at least a few hours ahead of time since both are best after chilling in the fridge. Once that’s taken care of, all you’ll need to do is chop herbs and chilis, sear up some shrimp, and warm the tortillas.
Though shrimp tacos might seem like an unlikely winter indulgence, it all results in a lovely meal. Seasonal produce like cabbage, watermelon radishes, and jicama are beautifully punchy, while the creamy cilantro-yogurt sauce and chili-dusted seared shrimp hit all the right savory notes.
These easy (and delicious!) shrimp tacos feature pan-seared shrimp tossed with lots of chili, cumin, and garlic powder, a simple winter slaw made with watermelon radishes and jicama, and a quick cilantro-yogurt blender sauce.
See note below for tips on buying the best shrimp.
- 1/4 head green cabbage, cored and cut into thin ribbons
- 3 - 4 watermelon radishes (or any largish-radish), scrubbed and julienned
- 1 large jicama, peeled and shredded or julienned
- 3 green onions julienned
- 3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice (from about 1 lime), plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
- 2 pounds shrimp, deveined, peeled, and tail-off (*see note)
- 4 teaspoons high-quality chili powder
- 1 tablespoon fresh ground cumin seed
- 1 tablespoon garlic granules, or powdered garlic
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- Grapeseed or other neutral oil for searing
- 1/2 bunch cilantro, stems and all
- 3 green onions, roots trimmed and cut into 3-inch lengths
- 1 cup Greek yogurt (I used non-fat yogurt)
- 2 tablespoon lime juice (from about 1 lime)
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt plus more to taste
- 12 corn tortillas
- Quick-pickled onions
- 1 jalapeño
- Cilantro leaves chopped
- Lime wedges
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The night before or at least 3 hours ahead of time, make the quick-pickled onions (pickled onion recipe here) and slaw. In a large bowl, toss to combine cabbage, radishes, jicama, and green onions. Sprinkle with sea salt and lime juice; use your hands to smush and toss the slaw until the ingredients start to release their juices. Taste, and add additional salt or lime juice as needed. Cover and set in the fridge until needed. Just before serving, toss slaw, taste, and add more sea salt to taste.
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To make the tacos, toss shrimp with chili powder, cumin, garlic, and sea salt in a large bowl.
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To make the sauce, in a blender or food processor, pulse to combine all sauce ingredients. Add more sea salt or lime to taste. Scrape into a jar and set in fridge while you cook the shrimp.
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Set a deep oven-proof dish in the oven and turn heat to 200 degrees F.
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Heat a large cast iron or other skillet over medium/medium-high heat (you want the skillet as hot as it can go without the oil smoking; note that as you cook, the skillet will get hotter so edge heat lower if needed.) Add 2 tablespoons oil to hot skillet, and then about 1/4 or 1/5 of the shrimp. When shrimp are nicely seared, after 1 - 2 minutes, carefully flip each shrimp and cook 1 - 2 minutes more, or until shrimp have curled, turned pink, and are cooked through. Keep cooked shrimp in the warm dish in the oven. Continue for remaining batches of shrimp.
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While you cook shrimp, set up another skillet over medium/medium-high heat. Add just a few drops of oil to the skillet, and then warm tortillas, 2 - 3 at time. Wrap cooked tortillas in a towel in a shallow dish.
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To assemble tacos, layer slaw, warm shrimp, pickled onions, sliced jalapeños, and cilantro in a warm tortilla and drizzle generously with cilantro-yogurt sauce, and enjoy!
*Because of questionable labor and farming practices abroad, I prefer to buy wild shrimp from the US. It can be hard to find US shrimp that are peeled with tail removed, so I often end up peeling them myself. For this recipe, I was able to source popcorn-sized peeled shrimp and went with that. Use whatever shrimp best suits your needs. I also recommend buying frozen shrimp, since it's often fresher than "fresh" shrimp. To thaw, set frozen shrimp in a large bowl and immerse in cold water. After 10 minutes, strain and refill with cold water, and wait another 10 minutes. When shrimp are thawed, drain shrimp completely.
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