How to Make Shrimp Tacos with Frozen Cooked Shrimp

How to make shrimp tacos with frozen cooked shrimp and homemade taco shells are here! Make as air fryer tacos, on the grill, in the oven or your pressure cooker to fill with shrimp, beef or ground beef.

How to Make Shrimp Taco Sauce

Many times I will just whip together our fresh cilantro lime sauce for fish tacos. It packs a punch and doesn’t require a lot of ingredients. Of course you can buy already made bottles at the store but fresh is always best right?? Anything creamy will work really.

You just need a cool creaminess to fold inside with the meat and veggies to make it authentic. If you wanted to save calories I suppose you could omit it entirely but for me it is a real must for sure. My kids shared how to make fry sauce here because that is their favorite choice on these.

Then you’re going to need a holder of sorts. You can buy a package or make your own taco shells in air fryer with small corn tortillas too!

Easy Shrimp Tacos Recipe with Coleslaw

Now let’s move on to the crisp which is usually made of cabbage. I have had one at a restaurant that just had shredded green and purple cabbage in it and I was so disappointed. It gave it the crunch it needed but man it is SO much better when you make some kind of easy cabbage slaw first. Here are others;

1. If you want a bit of sweetness I would go for our Hawaii coleslaw with pineapple in it.
2. We made a blue cheese coleslaw recently that was pretty awesome too.

Once again if you are looking for low calorie you can just read up on how to cut cabbage and leave the sauce off entirely.

How to Make Shrimp Tacos with Frozen Cooked Shrimp

If you want to just want to know to make shrimp tacos with frozen cooked shrimp it is quite easy. Buy a bag of cooked shrimp (says on the bag), defrost by sitting it in cool water for about 30 minutes and follow the air fryer shrimp no breading recipe. It works the same way basically if they are still hard.

For that you would cook frozen shrimp in air fryer perfectly following these directions. You’d want to choose shell off without tails too so you don’t have to try and remove those when they are hot and you just want to eat.

If you have your own favorite way of cooking these babies go right ahead with that. I’ll say that a little crisp on the meat is sure good. If you add a little breading with seasonings mixed in they turn out even better. Below I will share all the different ways I have cooked this protein;

How to Cook Shrimp for Shrimp Tacos

For healthier versions you can try plain Instant Pot shrimp here. This is a great option for a low carb keto friendly version that is still packed with lots of flavor.

• Personally my favorite is making air fryer fried shrimp with Old Bay!
• If you wanted something with no prep you could even cook popcorn shrimp in air fryer right out of the box too.
• Grilled shrimp in foil packets would work well if you wanted to be outside the whole time, and not cook inside.

Shrimp Taco Toppings

Favorite toppings is somewhat subjective for sure! If you’re going to go Mexican shrimp tacos authentic then yours would look similar to the picture below. Like avocado is a must, or made into guacamole.

You can even make a quick and easy taco Tuesday bar when friends come over too. You just set everything out so everyone can make their own. Cook the meat to order so it is always warm or if everyone is eating all at once you can just make a larger batch.

What should be included in a taco bar?

1. Our copycat Qdoba salsa verde is amazing
2. A creamy sauce
3. Diced onions or pico de gallo mix
4. Chopped cilantro
5. Hot sauce if you wanted them spicy
6. A lime wedge to squeeze fresh lime juice on at the end
7. Shredded cabbage or your favorite coleslaw mix
8. A dollop of sour cream
9. And warm tortillas

Below is an easy step by step to make quite a bit that is naked but with a ton of flavor. Perfect for a taco bar with kiddos.

You can certainly do this same thing over medium high heat in a skillet on your stovetop, or this is How to Cook Frozen Raw Shrimp in the oven. I don’t think it turns out as well as the meat will sweat and create a liquid to accumulate which means the outsides won’t be as crispy. To cook the main ingredients easily you just;

How to Cook Shrimp Tacos in Air Fryer

• Rinse frozen, defrosted or fresh raw shrimp. Pat dry well with paper towels so there’s no moisture on the outside. Put in a bowl, add salt and black pepper (and seasonings of your choice) with the olive oil.
  • Toss to combine and leave for a few minutes.
• Place the tortillas on the taco racks and place in the air fryer basket (if you want to make your own). Bake in a preheated air fryer at 320 F for 5-6 minutes until crunchy.
• Wipe basket clean and transfer the marinated shrimp to an air fryer basket and bake at 320F for 5-6 minutes.
  • Brush the inside of your shells with white sauce and stuff chopped red cabbage or coleslaw in there too.
• Add slices of avocado and top with air fried shrimp. Add rest of your desired toppings and enjoy!

If you have leftover meat just let it cool and store in freezer bags in the fridge. Reheat shrimp in air fryer at 360 for a few minutes to warm again and enjoy again for lunch. Sprinkle on some taco seasoning and enjoy again.