Meet your next taco night fav – the Baja Shrimp Tacos. Perfectly seasoned fresh shrimp that cooks up quickly, paired with a simple 3 ingredient baja sauce, plus sweet and delicious diced tomatoes, slaw, crunchy tortilla strips, and toasted tortillas. This easy weeknight meal is ready in under 20 minutes, and everything you need for a flavor bomb meal for the whole family!
Thank you to Pure Flavor for sponsoring this post.
Baja shrimp taco recipe
Flavor forward. That’s exactly what this recipe is!
The quick-cooking shrimp is read in minutes, making this the perfect weeknight, or any night meal.
Paired with fresh veggies, crunchy tortilla strips, toasted tortillas, and a bomb-roasted red chili lime sauce, you will want to make this meal over and over again.
What is baja sauce?
Baja sauce is a mayo-based sauce, making it creamy, that’s paired with some heat and acid from lime juice.
We’re using roasted red chili paste to add heat and flavor, which goes perfectly with the creamy avocado oil mayonnaise.
You’ll want to spread this sauce on everything, have it at your next taco bar, or serve it with any fish tacos!
The perfect tomato for tacos
Sweet Pure Flavor® Cloud 9® Bite-Sized Fruity Tomatoes bring the best balance to the heat from the baja sauce and the paprika-seasoned shrimp.
Cloud 9 tomatoes taste fruity, and sweet, and are one of my favorite tomatoes from Pure Flavor!
If you’re looking for another knock-out recipe that uses these same tomatoes, check out my tomato chili jam tart with goat cheese!
What you need for this baja shrimp tacos recipe
Scroll down to view the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, nutritional information, and step-by-step instructions.
How to make the best baja shrimp tacos
- In a small bowl make the sauce by whisking the mayo, roasted red chili paste, and lime juice together.
- To prep the shrimp seasoning, in a medium bowl, combine the shrimp, ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil, lime juice, paprika, sea salt, pepper, and chili powder in a bowl, and toss to combine. Let the shrimp marinate for up to 15 minutes.
- While the shrimp marinades heat a large pan over medium heat and warm tortillas on each side for 1-2 minutes
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil to the pan. Add the shrimp and cook for 2-3 minutes, flip, and cook another 2 minutes. The shrimp is done when opaque and white/pink. Set aside.
- Build your tacos by adding a base of cabbage mixture, diced tomatoes, shrimp, green onion, cilantro, tortilla strips, and the baja sauce into the center of each tortilla. Serve with lime wedges.
Substitutions
Below you’ll find a list of substitutions that will work well in this seafood tacos recipe.
If you try something different out, please leave a comment below letting us all know how it turned out!
Avocado oil mayonnaise – Regular mayonnaise works here too, as would plain yogurt or sour cream. Plain yogurt and sour cream would give you a bit more tang, so reduce the lime juice by half.
Roasted red chili paste – Try using ½ tsp of ancho chili pepper if you don’t have roasted red pepper paste. Can’t find ancho chili pepper? Use ¼ tsp chili pepper and ¼ tsp paprika with a small pinch of cayenne pepper, a dash of chipotle sauce, or hot sauce.
Lime juice – Don’t have lime juice? Use lemon juice instead.
Shrimp – Not a fan of shrimp? Try the marinade with salmon or your favorite white fish like cod or halibut!
Veggies – The combination of slaw and tomatoes works super well, but use whatever vegetables you have on hand! Shredded brussels sprouts, a coleslaw mix, red cabbage, matchstick carrots, red onion, fresh jalapeño, romaine lettuce, and avocado all make great additions. You could even add black beans into the mix or any other favorite taco toppings.
Corn tortillas – You can use small flour tortillas as an alternative.
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Print Recipe
Baja Shrimp Tacos
Meet your next taco night fav – the Baja Shrimp Tacos. Perfectly seasoned shrimp that cooks up quickly, paired with a simple 3 ingredient baja sauce, plus sweet and delicious diced tomatoes, slaw, crunchy tortilla strips, and toasted tortillas. This meal is ready in under 20 minutes, and everything you need for a flavor bomb meal!
Servings: 4
Calories: 371kcal
Instructions
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In a small bowl make the sauce by whisking the mayo, roasted red chili paste, and lime juice together.
-
To prep the shrimp seasoning, in a medium bowl, combine the shrimp, ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil, lime juice, paprika, sea salt, pepper, and chili powder in a bowl, and toss to combine. Let the shrimp marinate for up to 15 minutes.
-
While the shrimp marinades heat a large pan over medium heat and warm tortillas on each side for 1-2 minutes.
-
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil to the pan. Add the shrimp and cook for 2-3 minutes, flip, and cook another 2 minutes. The shrimp is done when opaque and white/pink. Set aside.
-
Build your tacos by adding a base of cabbage mixture, diced tomatoes, shrimp, green onion, cilantro, tortilla strips, and the baja sauce into the center of each tortilla. Serve with lime wedges.
Nutrition
Calories: 371kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 183mg | Sodium: 462mg | Potassium: 467mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 211IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 130mg | Iron: 1mg
If you try this delicious meal of Baja shrimp tacos, I’d love it if you left a star rating and comment below letting me know how it turned out!
XO
Heather
*Originally published January 2022. Updated January 2023.*
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