Spicy pan grilled shrimp tacos loaded with a zest honey cilantro lime slaw and topped with a creamy sriracha sauce. These tacos are spicy, sweet, zesty and bursting with flavor! 
Shrimp tacos have become a weeknight favorite. They’re super quick and easy to make, present very well and will make you look like a pro!
This recipe is inspired by my popular spicy shrimp and avocado salsa tacos. Instead of an avocado salad, we’re switching things up by using a honey cilantro lime slaw and topping the tacos off with a creamy sriracha sauce. The spice from the shrimp paired with the crunch and sweet hint of honey from the slaw and the creamy sriracha sauce will make your mouth sing. The combo is a perfect combo of sweet, zesty, crunchy, spicy and creamy!! I had 3 tacos shooting this recipe and had to hold myself back from eating more! 
It all starts with fresh OR frozen shrimp. Lately, we’ve been using frozen shrimp a lot because it’s so handy and makes a great quick meal. If you are using frozen shrimp, run it through cold water for a few seconds to defrost it. You will need to devein the shrimp and remove the shell and tails if they have not been removed.
Next, place the shrimp in a large bowl or ziplock bag and combine with the spices below and oil of choice. There is no marinating needed for this recipe but you can place the shrimp in the fridge for up to 2 days if you’d like. The longer the shrimp sit in the spices the better. When you are ready to cook, simply place add the shrimp to a super hot grill pan and cook for just 1-2 minutes per side. If the shrimp begin to stick to the pan or if you’re not using a non-stick pan, add a teaspoon of oil to the pan.
Now all that’s left is to combine all the ingredients for the slaw and make the creamy sriracha sauce. The slaw can be made ahead of time and is good for up to 24 hours in the fridge.
For the sriracha sauce, you can use ranch, sour-cream or greek yogurt. We honestly like the ranch flavor best but a combo of ranch and sour-cream or yogurt is also delicious. 
Watch Video How to Make the Tacos Now!
Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Cilantro Slaw and Sriracha Sauce
Ingredients
- 20 medium shrimp peeled and deveined
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon onion or garlic powder , optional
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, optional
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Cilantro Lime Slaw
- 2 cups cabbage shredded
- 1/4 cup red onion , thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup cilantro, minced
- 1/2 jalapeno, seeded , optional
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- salt and pepper, to taste
Creamy Sriracha sauce
- 1/4 cup ranch dressing, or sour-cream or greek Yogurt
- 1 tablespoon Sriracha
- 6 small corn or flour tortillas
Instructions
To cook the Shrimp:
- Combine shrimp, oil, and spices in a medium bowl or ziplock bag. Use right away OR cover and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes or up to 48 hours. Heat a large heavy-duty or cast iron skillet on high heat for 2 minutes. Add a teaspoon of oil to the pan and shrimp. Cook shrimp until pink and cooked through, about 4-5 minutes.
To make the Slaw
- Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl until mixed through. Use right away or cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
To make creamy Sriracha Sauce
- Whisk sriracha and ranch or sour-cream or mayo in a small bowl. Taste and add more sriracha if desired.
To assemble:
- Grill tortillas on the stovetop over the flame until lightly charred (this step is optional). Top each tortilla with 4-5 pieces of shrimp and some slaw. Drizzle with sriracha sauce. Serve with lime wedges on the side. Enjoy!!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was so fabulous! Marinated the shrimp the night before and the flavors were so yummy! Used a whole bag of colossal shrimp and after cooking them, cut them up into smaller pieces for the tacos. Next time will definitely make twice the amount of the slaw. Will make this a standard meal — it was easy to prepare, cook and reminded us of our favorite taco dive bar in Cozumel. Wouldn’t change a thing on the recipe….
Made last night the marinade for shrimp or fish was good but the cilantro was NOT good, I don’t advice for it too be wet we preferred it dry and with white onions not purple. Corn tortillas should be fried not plain makes big difference.
Fantastic go to! Super quick and easy!
This recipe and the instructions are confusing – the recipe calls for 20 shrimp, bu then says to put 4-5 shrimp per tortilla, and there are 6 tortillas called for – so that’s 24 – 30 shrimp, not 20. And, it says it serves 4, but with 6 tortillas. The math is super inconsistent. I wish I had read through the recipe more before I pulled 20 shrimp out the the freezer. . .
I made this tonight, and it was amazing! My hubby gives it a five star rating and asked me to make it again. That’s the highest praise!
Soooo good! It’s a keeper. Thank you for sharing!
I’d like to know the nutritional values, Carbs, calories, fat and sugars please
I asked for the same thing. Hopefully they will get back to us.
Lisa, I wanted to know the same thing. I found a similar recipe with these nutritional values.
Calories 320; Total Fat 20g; Cholesterol 50mg; Carbs 29g; Fiber 4g; Sugar 7g; Sodium 600mg; Protein 9g.
Hope this helps.
This shrimp taco recipe is everything! I lost the recipe after making it two years ago and have been looking for it ever since! I used other recipes and added in things that i remember from this recipe. After finding the recipe again i have made this dish, with different meats, over ten times in last year. Yeah, that is almost once a month. I love this recipe! the only advice i have is to print it out before you make it so you don’t lose the recipe!
This recipe is amazing! I used smoked paprika and it was delicious. I am extremely confused though because my boyfriend and I are small people and I had 3 tacos, he had 4. so total we had about 33 shrimp. 20 shrimp for 4 people (servings)?! thats like one taco per person lol. Anyways, we paired it with cilantro lime rice and it went perfectly with the tacos. thanks so much for the recipe!!
Excellent recipe. I used red cabbage instead and paired with some easy Spanish rice. My family and I made yummy noises the entire meal. Definitely saving.
Was super easy, and delicious
Delicious!!
This is one of my favorite things I have made from Pinterest in a long time.
My family and I love this recipe. I double it, because it’s such a hit. The crunch of the slaw, the slight spiciness of the siracha-ranch and then of course the shrimp. So fresh and satisfying.
Thanks so much for this recipe. Have made this several times and every time it tastes good, good and good. Carol
Is the serving size per 1 taco or 2? Love this recipe a lot. One of my favorites. I even made it with salmon and just as good!
This was so good .. I used green onion instead of red in the slaw
Loved this recipe. Very simple for a busy weeknight when you still want something that tastes like you put in more work than you did.
Only things I adjusted:
1. Used both garlic and onion powder (couldn’t decide so chose both)
2. Used smoked paprika
3. Added white wine vinegar in the slaw – I just like soggy sour taste in the slaw
Those were only personal tastes. Overall exceptional
I have been making these just under a year now and there is no better. I live on the coast and shrip is plentiful here. I make these at least every month and if we go see our son and family, it is a must have. Thank you for sharing this recipe and I share it with anyone who talks shrimp taco’s.
This is one of our go-to recipes as well! Happy you enjoyed it <3
By far one of our favorites!!! I use Hungarian Paprika, for a little more kick! I think I know the recipe by heart now! Thanks for this great taco recipe! 🙂
You’re most welcome 🙂
excellent recipe — my husband loved them! The creamy sriacha sauce is the best. Only comment I can make that might be helpful re the cilantro lime slaw – is if you want the crunch from the slaw on your tacos, don’t make the slaw ahead of time with the dressing on it and let it sit in the fridge.. I made it in advance and when I took it out of the fridge, it was soggy and wilted. The taste was good though. Next time I will put the cabbage, onion, cilantro, jalapeno together and not add the dressing until just before serving.
Delicious! Multiple layers of sweet and hot. A definite do again!
Absolutely delicious!! I rarely ever cook and leave it all to my husband, but he had to work out of town so I took the plunge and this was the first recipe I made! My daughter loved it as well. The question I have is that this is a serving for 4 but there are 6 taco shells?? How many tacos is in a serving? (On a diet and counting calories)
It’s 1 taco per serving. You can easily stretch this recipe out onto 6 tacos which is why 4-6 tacos are listed <3
How many net carbs in this recipe? I used
Low carb tortilla (4net). But the shrimp and everything else could be so low or 0. Total I’m thinking is about 5 tops
Yes, most of the carbs are from the tortillas so it should not be much if you are using low-carb tortillas. As you mentioned 5-6 max.
So so delicious!!!! Just a perfect blend of flavors….used Mahi mahi since that’s what we had.
I did this with my 8 year old son last night! He made the sauce and added a few different hot sauces from our hot sauce challenge pack. OMG it was amazing! It was so easy and I do NOT like to cook I do it because I have too lol. . My son however, is always watching cooking shows and LOVES to be in the kitchen. This was a good experience for both of us! Thank you! It tasted Amazing! I subscribed! And you guys inspired me to get in this kitchen!
I love this shrimp taco recipe. It’s my go to. Love the creamy sauce and slaw!! Very very yummy!!
We loved these, I followed the recipe almost exactly, I thinned the siricha sauce with a couple of teaspoons of water- so it drizzled a little easier. We will make this again.
( and make the slaw with pork tacos too)
Oh my gosh – I never have to go back to my local taco shop when I can make these at home. The slaw and sauce are amazing. I might adjust the spice level on the shrimp for my own tastes, and add some cayenne.
I love this recipe. All the flavors melt together in your mouth. A huge hit❤️❤️
WOW! We’ve made this twice and it’s our absolute favorite shrimp taco recipe! I used pre cooked shrimp, marinated them and put them in the pan on medium for 30 seconds just to warm them. Sooooo easy and so good! Love it!