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Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa will wake up your taste buds in a bright, fresh flavor explosion.
Lightly spiced, quick-sauteed shrimp pairs perfectly with a vibrant, mango salsa with hints of lime, garlic, jalepeno, and cilantro and then topped with a cool, creamy avocado lime sour cream. This 30 minute meal is perfect for a weeknight and the decadent, tropical flavors are a welcome change from winter comfort food.
Taco Tuesday is alive and well at my house, although it doesn’t always happen on a Tuesday. I love Tacos because the flavor combinations are endless. They are usually quick and easy, and quite frankly, my youngest son the picky redhead, likes them. Double bonus. Despite the ‘spicy’ in the title, these are kid friendly, sweet and incredibly fresh tasting, and such a welcome change at the end of all the winter produce.
How to make Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa
Stir your raw, peeled, and deveined shrimp together with a little olive oil, chipotle chili powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, and black pepper. Let it sit on the counter while you prepare the salsa.
The salsa is primarily a ripe mango with smaller amounts of finely chopped jalapeno without the ribs and seeds, green onion, red bell pepper, garlic clove, cilantro, a little honey, and a sprinkle of salt. Stir this together in a small mixing bowl.
If you prefer more heat in your salsa, feel free to include the ribs and/or jalapeno seeds.
The avocado lime sour cream is sour cream, half of an avocado, lime juice, salt, and pepper and blended by using a immersion blender, traditional blender, or even just a fine chop and fork on the avocado and stirring. This is the same sauce I love on my Pork Belly Tacos.
How to cut up a Mango
If you haven’t worked with mangoes before, they can look rather intimidating, but they are really very easy to eat, and absolutely delicious. They start to come into season in February/March, depending on where they originate.
Begin by using a vegetable peeler or paring knife to remove the outer skin.
Mangos have a seed inside of them shaped like a pumpkin seed. It is oval, but flat on both sides. Run your knife down both flat sides of the seed to remove that largest pieces of the mango first.
Then, use your knife to cut away any of the smaller bits around the remainder of the seed. After that, simply finely chop the pieces for the salsa.
How to choose a mango
Mangos come in a variety of multihued colors froma vibrant green, yellow, to red. The color of the mango does not determine the ripeness. Ripeness can be judged by feel. Just like a peach, a hard mango will be crunchy and not quite ripe. The degree of softness will determine how ripe and juicy your mango will be. When in doubt, pretend you are picking a peach by the feel.
If only hard mangoes are available at your grocery store, let them sit on the counter for a few days in a brown paper bad until they ripens.
After your salsa is stirred together, preheat a non-stick, large frying pan and then add a little olive oil. Add the shrimp, trying to cook them in a single layer. Salt the shrimp, and do not stir until the bottoms of the shrimp are no longer translucent, only one to two minutes.
Stir/flip the shrimp over and cook just one to two minutes more, just until they are opaque.
If you are serving your shrimp from the fry pan, keep in mind that they will continue to cook up as they sit, even if it’s only for a few minutes and adjust your cook time accordingly. The only way this taco will be less then perfect, is to overcook your shrimp until they are rubbery.
Toast tortillas on a griddle if desired. Garnish with the Avocado Lime Sour Cream and cilantro leaves. Enjoy!
If you liked my Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa, make sure to try Shrimp Cakes with Mango Chutney and Roasted Red Pepper Pasta with Cajun Shrimp.
Let’s talk tacos! Leave me a comment below. I’d love to hear from you!
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Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa
Ingredients
Shrimp
- 2.25 raw shrimp, peeled and deveined use shrimp size of choice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Mango Salsa
- 1 1/2 cup mango, diced
- 3 green onions, sliced thin
- 2 tablespoons lime juice juice of 1 lime
- 1 jalapeno, minced with ribs and seeds removed
- 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 1/4 cup red sweet bell pepper, diced
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Avocado Lime Sour Cream
- 1/2 avocado, removed from skin
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup cilantro, fresh
- 1 tablespoon lime juice, fresh squeezed
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, fresh ground
Other
- tortillas of choice
- 1 lime cut into wedges for squeezing
- cilantro and/or jalapeno rings for garnish
Instructions
Stir the raw, peeled, and deveined shrimp together with 1 tablespoon olive oil, chipotle chili powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, and black pepper. Let it sit on the counter while you prepare the salsa. The salt for the shrimp is not added until it is being cooked in the skillet.
After dicing mango salsa ingredients, stir together into a medium mixing bowl and set aside. See photo above for how to cut a mango.
Prepare the avocado lime sour cream using either an immersion blender, traditional blender, or finely mincing ingredients and stirring together until smooth.
Preheat a large non-stick skillet or fry pan over a high heat.
Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to hot pan.
Add the shrimp in a single layer. Salt the shrimp, and do not stir until the bottoms of the shrimp are no longer translucent, only one to two minutes. See photo above.
Stir/flip the shrimp and continue cooking just until the shrimp are no longer translucent, only 1-2 additional minutes. Immediately remove from heat and preferably from the hot pan.
Assemble tacos with shrimp, mango salsa, and avocado lime sour cream.
Garnish with cilantro leaves, jalapeno slices, and/or avocado slices if desired.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition facts do not include tortillas
Kitchen Tools I used for this recipe:
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Wife, Mother, and Food Obsessor. I love being inspired with fresh, seasonal ingredients and relish every opportunity to elevate my home cooking. Join me!
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