Garlic Butter Shrimp Tacos
Large shrimp seared in brown butter with fresh garlic and lime, tucked into warm flour tortillas with a quick coleslaw and chipotle mayo. Twenty minutes. The garlic butter is the sauce — no separate step needed.
Ingredients
Meat & Protein
- 1 lb large shrimp peeled, deveined, tails removed
Produce
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 2 cups coleslaw mix store-bought bag, undressed
- 1 lime cut into wedges
- 2 tbsp fresh cilantro roughly chopped
- 1 avocado sliced — optional but recommended
Dairy
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
Pantry & Canned Goods
- 8 flour tortillas small, or hard taco shells
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise Hellmanns or Dukes recommended
- 1 tbsp chipotle peppers in adobo sauce finely minced — 1 pepper from the can
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar for the slaw
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Seasonings & Spices
- 0.5 tsp smoked paprika
- 0.5 tsp chili powder
- 0.5 tsp ground cumin
- 0.5 tsp kosher salt
- 0.25 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Make the chipotle mayo: stir together the mayonnaise and minced chipotle pepper in a small bowl. Set aside. Make the quick slaw: toss the coleslaw mix with 1 tablespoon of the chipotle mayo, apple cider vinegar, and a pinch of salt. Stir and set aside in the fridge.
- Pat the shrimp completely dry with paper towels — this is the most important step for a proper sear. Season with smoked paprika, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat evenly.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat until shimmering. Add the shrimp in a single layer — do not crowd. Sear for 90 seconds without touching. Flip each shrimp and sear for 60 more seconds. The shrimp should be pink and just opaque through. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Reduce heat to medium. Add the butter to the same pan and let it melt, swirling occasionally, until it turns golden brown and smells nutty — about 90 seconds. Add the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Return the shrimp to the pan and toss to coat in the brown butter garlic sauce. Squeeze half a lime over everything and remove from heat.
- Warm the tortillas directly over a gas burner for 15 seconds per side, or in a dry skillet. Build each taco: a spoonful of slaw, 3 to 4 shrimp, a drizzle of chipotle mayo, cilantro, and avocado if using. Serve with remaining lime wedges.
Notes
Do not skip patting the shrimp dry. Moisture on the surface creates steam instead of sear. Steam gives you gray, rubbery shrimp. Thirty seconds with paper towels fixes this entirely.
Brown the butter before adding the garlic — garlic added to cold or barely melted butter steams and turns bitter before the butter gets any flavor. Let the butter go golden first, then add garlic, then immediately add the shrimp back in.
Shrimp cook fast. One minute per side over high heat is enough. Overcooked shrimp curl into a tight C-shape and turn rubbery. Pull them off the heat when they're just opaque — they'll finish cooking from residual heat as you toss them in the butter.
Frozen shrimp works perfectly here. Thaw overnight in the fridge or under cold running water for 5 minutes. Pat completely dry before seasoning.
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