These Crispy Shrimp Tacos are an easy Mexican-inspired dinner recipe your whole family will love! Easy to make and so perfect for Cinco de Mayo, and all summer long.
Did you know I love all things oven fried? Well, if you didn’t then you must have been sleeping under a rock, ha! Or you simply missed my all-time favorite Crispy Oven Fried Chicken recipe – and the Oven Fried Fish, too.
Anyways, with Cinco de Mayo right around the corner, I knew you just needed another taco recipe. One can never have too many taco recipes 😉
Ingredients you’ll need
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the recipe at the bottom for quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Shrimp: I use raw frozen shrimp, peeled, de-veined and tail off. Please make sure to buy raw shrimp, not pre-cooked. Pre-cooked would turn out way too dry.
- Taco seasoning: I use my homemade taco seasoning, but feel free to use your favorite store-bought seasoning.
- Taco shells: My favorite soft taco shells here are small (5 to 6 inches) white corn shells. They can be a little harder to find and I will use flour taco shells if I can’t find them – but the white corn are definitely my preferred pick.
- Cilantro Lime Sauce: Feel free to buy bottled cilantro lime dressing if you’re looking for an easy option. Or make my homemade cilantro lime dressing – it’s what I used when I took the photos for this recipe, and it’s definitely a favorite in my house!
- Cabbage/slaw: I mostly make these tacos with just some shredded cabbage and fresh cilantro, and don’t make a full-on coleslaw. We just load our tacos with that cilantro lime sauce for the creaminess.
How to make Crispy Shrimp Tacos
Before you start with the shrimp, you’ll want to set your oven to 400°F and place a dark, rimmed sheet pan in the oven to heat it up. This will make the shrimp extra-crispy.
1. Start by preparing your ingredients for breading – pat dry the shrimp, and prepare the breading bowls:
- One with flour and two seasoning (I use a 9×13 inch casserole dish for this)
- One with beaten eggs (I use a 4 cup measuring jug)
- One for breadcrumbs; and salt, if you want more seasoning (I use a medium serving bowl for this)
dry shrimp
2. Toss the shrimp in the flour mixture – you can do all of the shrimp at once. Make sure to fully coat the shrimp with flour, so it feels completely dry and not sticky.
add shrimp to flour mix toss to coat
3. For the breading, you have two options:
Thorough: For the more thorough, perfectly-coated version, dredge each shrimp individually through the egg, then coat with breadcrumbs.
dredge through egg coat with breadcrumbs
Quick: For the quick version, use about ¼ of the shrimp at a time. Stir it into the egg wash, then remove (allow any excess egg to drip off!!) and then stir in the breadcrumbs until coated.
stir in egg wash stir to coat with breadcrumbs
For the quick method, I highly recommend placing only one egg in the bowl at a time, and only ½ cup of breadcrumbs at a time. Re-fill the bowls after doing two batches – that way, things don’t get too messy.
4. Carefully remove the sheet pan from the oven (use oven gloves – it’s hot!) and brush with oil. Arrange half of the breaded shrimp on the sheet pan and bake for 8-10 minutes (or until shrimp is cooked through), flipping once.
Be careful when flipping – if you didn’t use enough oil, the shrimp may stick to the pan. You need to use an offset spatula to slide underneath any shrimp that sticks, else the breading will fall off.
place on hot, oiled sheet pan flip halfway through
5. Serve the hot shrimp with taco shells and your favorite toppings!
Recipe tips
- Follow the breading method exactly, or the breading will not stick to the shrimp.
- I recommend using a dark sheet pan to oven-fry the shrimp. It reflects the heat best and yields the crispiest shrimp.
- Do not skip pre-heating the pan! This is key to getting the crispiest coating on your shrimp.
- Be careful when flipping the shrimp, if you do it in a hurry and without being gentle, you could rip off the entire breading. If the shrimp doesn’t release easily from the pan, use more oil next time. Slide an offset spatula under the shrimp to release it before flipping.
- The shrimp tastes best eaten hot, right out of the oven. We usually eat the first batch while the second batch is still in the oven – that way, we get to eat all of the shrimp hot.
Serving suggestions
If you want to have an actual slaw with the tacos, I have this delicious coleslaw recipe – or this cilantro lime coleslaw. If you’re making my homemade cilantro lime sauce, you can also just use some of it to dress a bagged coleslaw mix with – super simple.
Homemade guacamole, chipotle mayo, pineapple salsa or mango salsa are also great toppings!
If you want something on the side, I recommend making a Mexican bean salad, or a tomato cucumber avocado salad.
Watch the recipe video
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Crispy Oven Fried Shrimp Tacos
Recipe details
Ingredients
For the shrimp
- ¾ cup flour
- 3 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 ½ pound raw shrimp de-veined, peeled and tail off recommended
- oil for the pan
To serve
- 12 small taco shells OR 6 medium flour tortillas for large tacos
- Cilantro Lime Sauce optional
- favorite toppings we like shredded cabbage, fresh cilantro and lime wedges
Instructions
- Set oven to 400°F. Place a dark rimmed sheet pan in oven to heat up.
- Combine flour and taco seasoning in large, shallow dish.Beat eggs in separate bowl or mesauring jug.Add breadcrumbs to separate shallow dish (feel free to season breadcrumbs with ½ teaspoon salt, if taco seasoning you are using isn't particularly salty).
- Pat shrimp dry, then toss shrimp in dish with flour until evenly coated.
- Shake off any excess flour, then dredge each shrimp through beaten eggs.
- Shake off any excess egg, then coat each shrimp with breadcrumbs (see notes for quicker but less neat method).
- Remove baking sheet from oven (careful, hot! use oven gloves!). Brush with 2-3 tablespoons oil, then add ½ of breaded shrimp in single layer and bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven, flip shrimp carefully (use offset spatula to release shrimp from pan!), then bake for another 5 minutes or until done. Repeat with second batch of shrimp.
- Serve hot shrimp with taco shells, cilantro lime sauce and favorite toppings.
Notes
Ingredient notes
- Shrimp: I use raw frozen shrimp, peeled, de-veined and tail off. Please make sure to buy raw shrimp, not pre-cooked. Pre-cooked would turn out way too dry.
- Taco seasoning: I use my homemade taco seasoning, but feel free to use your favorite store-bought seasoning.
- Taco shells: My favorite soft taco shells here are small (5 to 6 inches) white corn shells. They can be a little harder to find and I will use flour taco shells if I can’t find them – but the white corn are definitely my preferred pick.
- Cilantro Lime Sauce: Feel free to buy bottled cilantro lime dressing if you’re looking for an easy option. Or make my homemade cilantro lime dressing – it’s what I used when I took the photos for this recipe, and it’s definitely a favorite in my house!
- Cabbage/slaw: I mostly make these tacos with just some shredded cabbage and fresh cilantro, and don’t make a full-on coleslaw. We just load our tacos with that cilantro lime sauce for the creaminess.
Recipe tips
- Follow the breading method exactly, or the breading will not stick to the shrimp.
- I recommend using a dark sheet pan to oven-fry the shrimp. It reflects the heat best and yields the crispiest shrimp.
- Do not skip pre-heating the pan! This is key to getting the crispiest coating on your shrimp.
- Be careful when flipping the shrimp, if you do it in a hurry and without being gentle, you could rip off the entire breading. If the shrimp doesn’t release easily from the pan, use more oil next time. Slide an offset spatula under the shrimp to release it before flipping.
- The shrimp tastes best eaten hot, right out of the oven. We usually eat the first batch while the second batch is still in the oven – that way, we get to eat all of the shrimp hot.
Quick breading method
For the quick breading method, use about ¼ of the flour-coated shrimp at a time. Stir all of it into the egg wash, then remove (allow any excess egg to drip off!!) and then stir all of it in the breadcrumbs until coated (see post for step photos to illustrate this method). For this quicker way of breading, I highly recommend placing only one egg in the bowl at a time, and only ½ cup of breadcrumbs at a time. Re-fill the bowls after doing two batches – that way, things don’t get too messy.Nutrition
More recipe information
Recipe first published on 05/01/2017. Updated with simpler recipe, new photos and better text on 04/25/2021.
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