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.
favorite toppingswe 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.