These delicious Prawn Tacos (AKA Shrimp Tacos) are so quick and easy to make. All you need to do is marinate raw prawns in chilli, spices, garlic and lime juice, then pan fry for a few minutes – that’s it. Serve in mini corn tortillas with shredded lettuce, guacamole and pink taco sauce for the quickest easiest tacos ever!
This blog post contains affiliate links. This means if you click on a link and go on to buy the product I recommend, I will get a small commission, but you will not be charged a penny more – thanks in advance!
The quickest easiest tacos ever!
I really love prawn tacos – for two reasons…
Firstly, they are delicious. I mean, just imagine prawns marinated in Mexican spices, garlic and lime juice, then quickly fried and piled into warm corn tortillas with shredded lettuce, guacamole and pink taco sauce. So good!
But secondly, prawn tacos are hands down the quickest easiest tacos ever! From start to finish the taco filling takes less than 15 minutes to make, and is basically just a bit of stirring and frying!
For an even better flavour, you can pop your prawns in the fridge to marinate for 30 minutes, which easily gives you time to get your toppings and tortillas ready.
How to make prawn tacos
Prawn tacos are so quick and easy to make!
All you need to do is make a simple marinade of cumin, chilli powder, smoked paprika, oregano, salt, pepper, lime juice and olive oil. Add the prawns to the marinade and pop in the fridge for up to 30 minutes to marinate. (You can totally skip the marination step if you don’t have the time.)
Next, pan fry the prawns in 2 batches. Serve in a bowl or on a platter, scatted with fresh coriander, together with warm corn tortillas and all your favourite taco toppings.
(Full recipe given in the recipe card below.)
What to serve with prawn tacos
My favourite way to serve prawn tacos is with:
- Warm corn tortillas (either homemade or shop bought)
- Homemade Guacamole
- Homemade Pink Taco Sauce
- Shredded romaine lettuce
However, there are loads of other options. You could serve them with:
- Homemade Salsa
- Refried beans
- Hot sauce (I love Cholula Original)
- Diced onions
- Fresh coriander
- Limes
- Crumbled feta cheese (this is as close as you can get to Mexican cotija cheese in UK supermarkets)
- Grated mozzarella cheese (this is as close as you can get to Mexican Oaxaca cheese in UK supermarkets)
- Grated cheddar cheese – not even vaguely authentic, but delicious nonetheless!
- Sour cream / Mexica crema
Or whatever sides and toppings you love with tacos!
What are the best tortillas for prawn tacos?
Personally I prefer to serve prawn tacos in Homemade Corn Tortillas – this will give you the very best flavour and a more “authentic” experience.
But if time is tight, then you can of course use shop bought corn tortillas!
If you want something really authentic, I recommend The Cool Chile Company’s Fresh Corn Tortillas. Alternatively, you can sometimes get taco-sized corn tortillas from the supermarket, for example these: Tesco Mini Corn Soft Shell Tacos 12 Pack
You can use taco-sized flour tortillas – either shop-bought or Homemade Flour Tortillas.
And if you prefer the hard taco shells, then you can of course use those!
What to drink with prawn tacos
Prawn tacos go especially well with New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.
Other good options include: Australian Riesling, Italian Pinot Grigio or a Sauvignon Blanc from elsewhere. (Chile, South African and the USA are all good bets – French Sauvignon Blanc tends to be a little too delicate to stand up to the chilli and spices in prawn tacos.)
And, if you can find it, Mexican Sauvignon Blanc would also be a great choice!
A dry fruity rosé would also work well – especially a Grenache rosé from the South of France or a Garnacha-based rosé from Spain.
Alternatively, the flavours in prawn tacos go brilliantly with a classic margarita!
What to do with leftover Prawn Tacos
Tacos, once made up, do not keep very well as the tortillas start to disintegrate.
Instead, I would always recommend you serve all the individual elements of the tacos separately, then if you end up with leftovers, you can store the individual elements separately, as they keep much better separately.
For example, if you have leftover tortillas, simply wrap them in foil and store in the fridge, and if you have any leftover pink taco sauce or guacamole, you can simply cover them with some clingfilm or foil and store them in the fridge too.
The prawns too can be kept in the fridge, though you do need to be extra careful storing and reheating prawns as, done incorrectly, this can result in food poisoning!
Store cooked prawns in an airtight container in the fridge, where they will keep for up to 2 days. And be sure to get the prawns into the fridge within 2 hours of cooking (ideally 1 hour – especially in hot weather).
Reheat by frying them in a hot pan until piping hot all the way through. Never reheat prawns more than once.
Can you freeze Prawn Tacos?
Again, I do not recommend freezing already ‘made up’ prawn tacos, but you can freeze the prawn filling, if you are careful to follow food safety guidelines.
Store the cooked prawns in an airtight container in the freezer, where they will keep for up to 1 month. And be sure to get the prawns into the freezer within 1 hour of cooking (ideally 30 minutes – especially in hot weather).
Defrost in the fridge overnight and reheat as above.
Never freeze cooked prawns more than once.
If you like this recipe…
…you might also like:
- Easy Beef Mince Tacos (Soft Tacos)
- Easy Beef Birria Tacos
- Chicken Tinga Tacos
- Easy One Pan Salmon Fajitas
- Easy Refried Bean Quesadillas
Easy One Pan Salmon Fajitas
Easy Prawn Tacos
Ingredients
Prawn Tacos
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons mild chilli powder See Note 1
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoons oregano
- 2 cloves garlic grated or crushed
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 600 g raw peeled king prawns
To serve
- 16 soft corn tortillas served warm (12cm / 5inch diameter - See Note 1)
- Shredded romaine lettuce
- Guacamole
- Pink Taco Sauce
- Or whatever accompaniments you prefer!
Instructions
- Place all the prawn taco ingredients, except the prawns, in a large bowl and mix together thoroughly.
- Add the prawns and mix thoroughly until all the prawns are evenly coated in the marinade.
- If you have time, cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge for 30 minutes, to marinate.
- If you don’t have time, just continue on with the recipe – they will still taste good!
- Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a high heat for 2 minutes.
- Add half the prawns and stir-fry until the prawns are fully cooked (roughly 3-4 minutes). Tip into a serving bowl or platter.
- Repeat with the other half of the prawns. (Or use 2 frying pans at the same time if you prefer.)
- When all the prawns are in the serving bowl/platter, scatter over fresh, chopped coriander.
- Serve at the table with mini corn tortillas, shredded lettuce, guacamole and pink taco sauce – or whatever accompaniments you prefer!
Notes
- If you possibly can, I recommend you use chipotle chilli powder. But this recipe will still taste good with regular ordinary chilli powder from the supermarket! I recommend you use mild chilli powder in this recipe. But if you like things hot, by all means use hot chilli powder!
- If you possibly can, I recommend you make homemade corn tortillas – they are infinitely better than shop bought! But you can of course use shop bought if you prefer, or if time is tight. I suggest using taco-size tortillas (typically 12-15cm diameter), but you can use fewer, larger tortillas if you prefer.
- Not suitable for freezing.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
Pin Easy Prawn Tacos for later
FREE 4 Week Easy Dinners Meal Plan
Have you got your hands on a copy of my meal plan yet? If not CLICK HERE to download a copy of my FREE 4 Week Easy Dinners Meal Plan today!
Don’t want to miss a thing?
Follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Or why not subscribe to my blog and get delicious, stress free recipes straight to your inbox every week?
Disclosure
This blog post contains affiliate links, this means if you click on a link and go on to buy the product I recommend, I will get a small commission, but you will not be charged a penny more – thanks in advance!
Leave a Reply