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Tacos come in all shapes, sizes, and fillings and I’m here to bring you a new shrimp taco recipe to add to your Taco Tuesday arsenal. These Crispy Shrimp Tacos are filled with beautifully, golden brown, panko-breadcrumbed shrimp on a bed of fresh slaw and topped with a creamy sweet chili sauce. Yup, I know it sounds pretty good and guess what? It tastes even better than it sounds! So, let’s get started with the recipe, shall we?

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Ingredients:

For Shrimp:

  • 12 oz. shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup corn starch
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 teaspoon hot sauce
  • sprinkle of salt
  • 2 cups Panko Bread Crumbs
  • vegetable oil, for frying
  • 20 small corn or flour tortillas
  • cilantro, to garnish

For Sauce:

For Slaw:

  • 8 oz. coleslaw
  • 1/4 cup white vinegar
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • ground black pepper

Directions:

I like to start this recipe off with making my slaw and sauce so they can be set aside to really marinate and come together in all their flavors. The slaw, especially, really needs to be set aside to properly soften down while still retaining its crunch. Plus, it’s nice to have these already ready when you’re done making your shrimp and ready to assemble. To make the sauce and slaw just mix together thoroughly all their ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Yeah…it really can’t get more simple than that. *Note* if you’re not a huge fan of vinegar you can cut the required amount in half but I would stay away from omitting because it really needs that acidity.

Now, go get started on that shrimp! I love frying shrimp like this because the batter and breadcrumbs are so delicious! It takes some time but it’s totally worth the outcome. Simple mix the batter ingredients in a mixing bowl which include the flour, cornstarch, egg, water, hot sauce, and salt. Make sure there are no lumps in the batter. The consistency will almost be like a thin pancake batter. Once you are done with the batter take out the panko breadcrumbs in another bowl. And now you are ready to start frying!

Heat up your oil on medium heat in a pan and fill enough oil to fully submerge your shrimp when cooking. Heat up to about 350F. While it heats up start preparing shrimp. Grab shrimp from tail, dip in batter completely, lift up and let excess drip off, then place in breadcrumbs. Coat shrimp on both sides. Make sure to press breadcrumbs with your hand so they stay on shrimp properly.

You can coat a few pieces of shrimp at once then you can start placing them in oil. They will cook very quickly, it’ll take only in about 1-2 minutes. Take them out of oil with a slotted metal spoon to make sure most of the oil is drained then place on paper towel lined plate to completely remove excess oil.

Once all your shrimp is golden brown and looking absolutely delicious you are almost ready to assemble! But first, let’s warm up those tortillas! In a clean, non-stick pan heat up the tortillas on medium heat for about 30 seconds to 1 minutes per side. Wrap up the tortillas in a clean kitchen towel to keep warm while serving. Now, to assemble! So exciting! So delicious! Let’s do this! I hope you are highly motivated at this point. Start with tortilla, then slaw, then shrimp (as many as you choose, but the tortillas can also only hold so many lol), and top with sauce and now….you are done! Do enjoy 😊

Crispy Shrimp Tacos

Sana Gilani
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Course Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine American, Mexican
Servings 6 people

Ingredients
  

For Shrimp:

  • 12 oz. shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • ½ cup all purpose flour
  • ½ cup corn starch
  • 1 egg
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 teaspoon hot sauce
  • sprinkle of salt
  • 2 cups Panko Bread Crumbs
  • vegetable oil, for frying
  • 20 small corn or flour tortillas
  • cilantro, to garnish

For Sauce

For Slaw:

  • 8 oz. coleslaw
  • ¼ cup white vinegar
  • ¼ cup mayonnaise
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • sprinkle of ground black pepper

Instructions
 

  • In two separate bowls mix together thoroughly sauce ingredients in one and slaw ingredients in the other bowl. Set aside until ready to assemble tacos.
  • In a mixing bowl, mix together batter ingredients which include flour, cornstarch, water, egg, hot sauce, and salt. Make sure there are no lumps in the batter. It will be about the consistency of a thin pancake batter.
  • Put the panko breadcrumbs in another bowl and put next to batter to set up breading station.
  • Heat up on medium enough oil in pot to fully submerge shrimp while frying. Bring to about 350°F to fry. While oil heats up start battering shrimp. Pick up from the tail and dip in batter completely, lift out and hold for a moment to let excess batter drip off then place in panko breadcrumbs. Coat in breadcrumbs on both sides, press with hands to make sure it is sticking properly. Coat a few pieces at a time then place in preheated oil.
  • Fry for about 1-2 minutes until lightly golden brown.
  • Take out of oil with metal slotted spoon to help drain excess oil. Place fried shrimp on paper towel lined plate.
  • Once shrimp is done warm up tortillas on a clean, non-stick pan. Just heat on medium for 30 seconds to 1 minute per side and then place each tortilla in a clean kitchen towel to keep warm while serving.
  • Now, you can assemble! Place tortilla, then slaw, then a few shrimp pieces, and top with sauce. You can garnish with cilantro if you want.
  • Enjoy!

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