Name: Shrimp Taco Salad
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1/2 cup olive oil; 2 small limes (juice of); 1 Tbsp hot sauce ((I used chipotle Cholula)); 1 Tbsp red or white wine vinegar; 1.5 Tbsp minced garlic (about 3 cloves); 2 tsp honey; 1/2 tsp cumin; 1/2 tsp chili powder; Sea salt (to taste); Black pepper (to taste); 12 oz raw shrimp (peeled & deveined); 1 Tbsp olive oil; 12 oz garden salad; 1 pint grape tomatoes (halved); 1 can black beans (rinsed & drained); 1 avocado (chopped); 1/4 medium yellow onion (chopped); 4 green onions (chopped); Tri-colored tortilla strips (to taste); Shredded cheese (to taste)

Today’s 30 minute Shrimp Taco Salad recipe is a hearty & colorful dinner salad that fills you up — without being too heavy on a hot summer’s day!

Who’s up for an easy 30 minute Shrimp Taco Salad recipe today? Your homemade dressing here does double duty as a marinade for the shrimp, bringing a lovely taco lime flavor to everything. This recipe is also so easy to customize to everyone in the family’s taste — just put out the shrimp, lettuce, and all of the toppings and let each person customize his or her own bowl.

I decided to update my super old shrimp taco salad marinade/dressing recipe after running across bags of peeled & deveined wild caught Gulf shrimp on special buy at ALDI this week. I’ve been looking for more U.S. caught & processed seafood there, so pretty much felt compelled to support them by buying it. (At least, that’s my excuse — Plus, don’t they look just so good?!)

It’s hot outside this week, and a big, cool, and colorful dinner salad that combines veggies, black beans, cheese, avocado, and more let me stretch a 12 oz bag of decently sized shrimp to feed a whole family, in quite the fitting summertime way.

There were 26 good-sized shrimp in my bag here, giving each person 6-7 to top their taco salad, while the black beans add an extra pop of filling protein. Such a simple & delicious weeknight dinner idea!

Shrimp Taco Salad

Ingredients

– for the marinade/dressing

1/2 cup olive oil
Juice of 2 small limes
1 Tbsp hot sauce (I used chipotle Cholula)
1 Tbsp red or white wine vinegar
2 tsp honey
1.5 tsp minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
Black pepper, to taste
Sea salt, to taste

– for the taco salad

12 oz raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 Tbsp olive oil
12 oz garden salad
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 can black beans, rinsed and rained
1 avocado, chopped
1/4 medium yellow onion, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
Tri-colored tortilla strips, to taste
Shredded cheese, to taste

Directions

Thaw and drain the shrimp. (Refrigerate them earlier in the morning to thaw gradually, or place in a colander and run under cold water until thawed.) Peel and de-vein, if needed.

Make your marinade by adding all of the marinade/dressing ingredients to a small food chopper. Pulse until just combined. (I used my favorite mini food chopper for this — it’ll chop up the garlic for you if you’re using whole cloves, and also has a handy lid so that you can just remove the blade and pop the whole container into the fridge to save any leftovers or to chill while you make the rest of your meal.)

Toss the thawed shrimp in two Tbsp of the marinade and let it marinate for about 5 minutes, reserving the rest of the marinade to use as salad dressing. While the shrimp is marinating, start chopping vegetables for the salad.

Once shrimp is marinated, heat one Tbsp olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for one minute. Cook the marinated shrimp in olive oil over medium high heat until pink & opaque, about two minutes per side (being careful not to overcook).

Divide the garden salad equally between four plates, then top each with cooked shrimp and all other salad toppings. Serve the shrimp taco salads with the reserved dressing (stir to recombine, because it will separate), plus additional lime wedges.

Note: This marinade/dressing is fairly mild, so if you’d like your shrimp to have a little more kick you can season it with a little extra chili powder or cayenne before cooking. You can play with the toppings to suit your own tastes, too: Throw in some corn or bell pepper or pico de gallo, for instance, or substitute blue corn tortilla chips for the strips.

A perfect combination of tastes and textures

The best taco salads sport a lot of stuff, and a lot of colors. Check, and check! Some fresh corn would also be lovely in here, but my ALDI didn’t have any in stock the other day — it’s apparently been a bad year for corn, what with all the crazy weather. The tangy, lime-y marinade + dressing pulls the whole salad together, and it’s so easy to make this shrimp taco salad recipe your own by swapping in your own favorite toppings. Hope you enjoy it as much as my family did. 🙂

Shrimp Taco Salad, printable recipe

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Shrimp Taco Salad

Today’s Shrimp Taco Salad recipe is a hearty & colorful dinner salad that fills you up — without being too heavy on a hot summer’s day!

Course dinner

Cuisine salad

Keyword 30 minute meals, dinner salad, salad, shrimp, shrimp taco salad, taco salad

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 5

Total Time 30

Servings

Author Rachel Singer

Ingredients

for the marinade/dressing

1/2 cup olive oil
2 small limes juice of
1 Tbsp hot sauce (I used chipotle Cholula)
1 Tbsp red or white wine vinegar
1.5 Tbsp minced garlic about 3 cloves
2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
Sea salt to taste
Black pepper to taste

for the taco salad

12 oz raw shrimp peeled & deveined
1 Tbsp olive oil
12 oz garden salad
1 pint grape tomatoes halved
1 can black beans rinsed & drained
1 avocado chopped
1/4 medium yellow onion chopped
4 green onions chopped
Tri-colored tortilla strips to taste
Shredded cheese to taste

Instructions

Thaw and drain the shrimp. (Refrigerate them earlier in the morning to thaw gradually, or place in a colander and run under cold water until thawed.) Peel and de-vein, if needed.
Make your marinade by adding all of the marinade/dressing ingredients to a small food chopper. Pulse until just combined. (I used my favorite mini food chopper for this — it’ll chop up the garlic for you if you’re using whole cloves, and also has a handy lid so that you can just remove the blade and pop the whole container into the fridge to save any leftovers or to chill while you make the rest of your meal.)
Toss the thawed shrimp in two Tbsp of the marinade and let it marinate for about 5 minutes, reserving the rest of the marinade to use as salad dressing. While the shrimp is marinating, start chopping vegetables for the salad.
Once shrimp is marinated, heat one Tbsp olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for one minute. Cook the marinated shrimp in olive oil over medium high heat until pink & opaque, about two minutes per side (being careful not to overcook).
Divide the garden salad equally between four plates, then top each with cooked shrimp and all other salad toppings. Serve the shrimp taco salads with the reserved dressing (stir to recombine, because it will separate), plus additional lime wedges.

Notes

This marinade/dressing is fairly mild, so if you’d like your shrimp to have a little more kick you can season it with a little extra chili powder or cayenne before cooking. You can play with the toppings to suit your own tastes, too: Throw in some corn or bell pepper or pico de gallo, for instance, or substitute blue corn tortilla chips for the strips.

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