These Boom Boom Shrimp Tacos will whisk you away to a tropical paradise - with crunchy shrimp, a fruity salsa, and a sauce with a touch of heat, these tacos have it all!
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Do you ever get halfway through the snowy cold months and think "gosh, it really would be nice to escape the cold for a few days?" I'm with ya. And this year, we made it happen.
My sister and her husband along with Zach and I traveled to a little piece of paradise last week....Ft. Myers Beach. Our time was wonderful - we had beautiful weather, spent time in the Gulf, played hours of cards on the patio and had some phenomenal seafood.
Top 5 food highlights of the trip:
5. Street Tacos at Felipes - The tacos here were to-die-for!! Paired up with their chips & guac....it made for a great dinner!
4. Pina colada - Not much beats a pina colada in the sunshine, by the water! Amiright?! (Fun fact - this area isn't allowed to use plastic straws, so most places we went, we were given paper straws. However, this place used a long tube of pasta instead. We actually preferred it to the paper straws because they didn't get soggy as fast.....who would've thought!)
3. Breakfast Stomboli - Who would've thought something we purchased at the airport could be so delicious?! Seriously good. Des Moines Airport, please take note 😉
2. Seafood-Stuffed Flounder - The first night of our trip, we ate at a restaurant that had a patio right on the beach. Zach and I shared this seafood-stuffed flounder (so we could save room for tasty beverages later on ha!) and it was perfectly cooked and had such good flavor.
1. Boom Boom Shrimp Tacos at Nervous Nellies - Once again, Zach and I shared this meal....and I'm not gonna lie, I didn't want to share after I sunk my teeth into the first taco. Crunchy shrimp, sweet mango salsa, and a tangy boom boom sauce. It was like a beach dance party in my mouth.....sooooo I decided I had no choice but to recreate it when I returned home.....
Now unfortunately, we don't have a plethora of fresh seafood here in Iowa. But luckily, I found that frozen popcorn shrimp does the trick just fine (and makes for a super care-free, easy prep!). And as much as we enjoyed the shrimp, we also tried it with some good fish sticks and thought it was delicious that way too.
So whether or not you'll be able to escape these blustery winter days, I hope these tacos will bring a little bit of sunshine to your household!
Other Yummy Seafood Dishes
Boom Boom Shrimp Tacos
paradise - with crunchy shrimp, a fruity salsa, and a sauce with a touch of
heat, these tacos have it all!
Ingredients
- 8 corn tortillas
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 3 c frozen popcorn shrimp
- 1 ½ c shredded purple cabbage
Boom Boom Sauce
- ½ c mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoon sweet chili sauce
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon sriracha
Mango Salsa
- 1 c fresh diced mango
- ¼ c minced red onion
- 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- ½ tsp salt
- Extra cilantro and lime if desired for garnish
Instructions
Make the Boom Boom Sauce
- Combine the mayonnaise, sweet chili sauce, cayenne, garlic and sriracha. Stir well and
refrigerate until the tacos are ready to serve.
Make the Mango Salsa
- Combine the mango, onion, cilantro, lime, and salt. Stir well and refrigerate until the tacos are ready to serve.
Make the Boom Boom Shrimp Tacos!
- Prepare the shrimp according to the package’s instructions.
- While the shrimp is baking, heat up the corn tortillas*, if desired. To do this, I use a kitchen brush to spread a little vegetable oil on both sides of each tortilla. Then, I heat a skillet on the stove on medium heat and let each tortilla cook for a minute or two, flipping the tortilla once it's turned a nice golden brown.
- Build your taco: Grab a tortilla, add the shrimp (or fish), and top with cabbage, mango salsa, boom boom sauce, and extra cilantro and lime juice, if desired.
Notes
*This salsa could also be made with pineapple or peaches in place of the mango – experiment and see what you like!
*Not a huge fan of shrimp? Try fish sticks or baked fish instead.
Recipe added to the Weekend Potluck and Meal Plan Monday
Gretchen says
We loved this recipe! I don't get much fresh seafood out my way, so I typically have to order from a website far in advance (if any other landlocked chefs are reading this, this website has been useful: https://qualityseafooddelivery.com/). The Boom Boom Shrimp Tacos took a little more planning than a normal weekend dinner, but they were delicious! Thank you for sharing.