Team Alpha’s Savory Shrimp Tacos

May 29, 2019

Our final dish of the course is a well-know classic: shrimp tacos! However, ours have tons of unique ingredients that make our dish a little bit healthier but equally as tasty as your traditional fried shrimp taco! Instead of frying our shrimp, we decided to saute ours in a pan and load our tacos with a variety of yummy and colorful toppings, like our homemade mango coleslaw, guacamole, and cilantro lime sour cream dressing! Our shrimp tacos are quick and easy to whip up any day of the week! There’s also a lot of room for creativity in this one– choose your own favorite toppings and make it your own!

Savory Shrimp Tacos (serves 5-6)

Ingredients:

  • Shrimp Taco Base:
    • 6 slices of hickory smoked bacon
    • 2 pounds of raw peeled and deveined shrimp
    • 2 tablespoon of paprika
    • 1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes
    • 1 tablespoon of cumin
    • 1/2 tablespoon of garlic powder
    • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
    • Juice from 1 lime
    • Juice from 1/2 of a lemon
    • 3 tablespoons of fresh cilantro, chopped
    • 1- 10 count package of taco shells
  • Guacamole:
    • 2 avocados, sliced
    • 2 teaspoons of garlic powder
    • 3 tablespoons of lime juice
    • 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
    • 2 tablespoons of fresh cilantro
  • Mango Coleslaw:
    • 1 mango, diced
    • Juice from 1/2 lemon
    • Juice from 1 1/2 lime
    • 1/2 head of red cabbage, thinly sliced
  • Cilantro and Lime Sour Cream Sauce:
    • 16 ounces of sour cream
    • Juice from 1 1/2 limes
    • 1/4 cup of cilantro, chopped
  • Garnish:
    • Mexican blend cheese, shredded
    • Avocado, sliced

Instructions:

  1. Heat large skillet on medium-high heat.
  2. Cut bacon slices in half. Lay pieces flat in the hot skillet. Cook the bacon until browned on one side. Flip each piece over and continue to cook until both sides are crispy. Remove from the pan and place on a paper towel covered plate, leaving the left over grease in the pan. Once cool, chop the bacon into small pieces. Set aside.
  3. Cut the tails off of the shrimp. Discard the tails and rinse the shrimp thoroughly. Pat dry with a paper towel and place the shrimp in a large bowl. Add the paprika, red pepper flakes, garlic, cumin, garlic powder, juice from 1 lime and half of a lemon, and roughly 3 tablespoons of the fresh cilantro. Toss the shrimp in the spices until evenly coated.
  4.  Add the shrimp to the skillet that contains the left over bacon grease. Cook, stirring and flipping frequently, until the shrimp turn pink on both sides– roughly 7 minutes. Once cooked, spoon the shrimp into a medium-sized bowl and set aside. Discard the left over bacon grease.
  5. In a small bowl, add diced mango, lemon and lime juice, and red cabbage. Stir together and set aside.
  6. Open the tub of sour cream. Add the juice from 1 1/2 limes and 1/4 cup of fresh cilantro to the sour cream. Stir together.
  7. In a small bowl, stir together the avocado, garlic powder, lime juice, lemon juice, and cilantro until combined and relatively smooth. Set aside.
  8. In a clean skillet, heat up one taco shell. Remove once hot and place on plate. Add as much shrimp, bacon, coleslaw, guacamole, sour cream, cheese, and additional avocado as you see fit and enjoy!
  9. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator in air-tight containers. Our tacos are delicious reheated!

Ratings:

  • Taste: 9
    • Our tacos were jam packed with tons of flavor– full of umami with some added sweetness from the mangoes!
  • Consistency: 10
    • Our tacos had tons of different textures all loaded into one shell! The sour cream and guacamole provided a smooth and creamy addition to the crispness of the coleslaw and bacon, as well as the meaty texture of the shrimp.
  • Smell: 9
    • Even though there was a whole lot going on with our dish and its toppings, the kitchen smelled super good as we were cooking! The only downfall was maybe it was a little bit overwhelming with the different smells from the separate toppings we were working on at one time.
  • Visual Appeal: 10
    • Our tacos were super bright and colorful!
  • Creativity: 8
    • Though tacos are a pretty common dish, we put a lot of our creations into our recipe! Instead of using ground beef, we chose shrimp and loaded our tacos with many colorful and healthy ingredients, along with a unique array of spices that was unique to each topping!