Turn frozen crispy fried shrimp into tasty tacos using your air fryer. Serve them with homemade slaw, sweet chili sauce, and freshly chopped cilantro.
Easy Summer Tacos
During the heat of summer, I’m definitely not a fan of slaving over a hot oven. So if I can throw together an easy meal without turning it on, that’s a win in my book.
One of my favorite go-to recipes on hot days is fried shrimp tacos. They’re easier to make than cooking up ground beef tacos and I love them more. Just grab some frozen fried shrimp from the store, pop them in the air fryer, then add homemade slaw, cilantro, and a drizzle of sweet chili sauce. That’s it — a quick, delicious dinner perfect for a summer night.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients that you will need to make these tacos:
- Frozen fried shrimp - Look for popcorn shrimp that doesn't have any tails on it, otherwise you will have to cut off the tails before putting them in the tacos.
- Flour tortillas - You want to get small soft taco size tortillas, or you can go with street taco size.
- Green and/or red cabbage - Shred the cabbage as thin as you can get. You can use either green or red cabbage or a combination of the too.
- Carrots - You won't need to peel the carrots just grate them like you would cheese.
- Cilantro - Chop up fresh cilantro or if you can find it use cilantro micro greens. They give you the same flavor and you can just top of your taco with them. No reason to chop.
- Mayonnaise - Pick your favorite brand. We like Sir Kensington's and Primal Kitchen.
- Vinegar - You can use white, rice, or apple cider vinegar.
Here is what you will need in addition for the sweet chili dipping sauce I make. It uses mayonnaise as well. This sauce is in the spirit of a yum yum sauce.
- Ketchup - Use whatever ketchup you want.
- Sweet Chili sauce - Unless you use sweet chili sauce alot, just buy a small bottle. You won't need much for this recipe.
- Black pepper - Freshly cracked black pepper please!
- Garlic powder - Use garlic powder or granulated garlic, not garlic salt.
Here are some options ingredients you could add to your tacos as well:
- Sour cream or Mexican crema
- Diced fresh mango
- Guacamole
- Salsa
- Pico de Gallo
- Corn or corn salsa
- Rice
- Refried or pureed beans
- Taco sauce
- Cocktail sauce
Air Fryer Fried Shrimp Tacos with Slaw
Ingredients
- 16 oz frozen popcorn shrimp
- cilantro for serving chopped
- lime for serving
For the slaw
- ½ head green and/or red cabbage shredded
- 2-3 carrots grated
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp vinegar
- salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
Sauce
- 6 tbsp ketchup
- 2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- salt to taste
Instructions
How to make the slaw
- Cut a head of cabbage in half, then shred it and place it into a mixing bowl.
- Grate 2 or 3 carrots, then mix them in with the cabbage.
- Combine ½ cup of mayonnaise with 2 tablespoons of vinegar. Add salt and black pepper to taste. Set aside. It's best to make the slaw at least an hour in advance, but if you're short on time, it can be served right away.
Cook the shrimp & make the sauce
- Place the shrimp in your air fryer in a single layer. Work in batches if there's not enough space. You don't need to thaw the shrimp—just put it straight into the air fryer.
- Air fry the shrimp at 400 degrees for 8–10 minutes, or until crispy. You can make the sauce while the shrimp cooks.
- To make the sauce, combine ketchup, mayonnaise, garlic powder, and salt to taste. Mix well until the sauce is smooth and evenly blended.
- When the shrimp is done, serve the tacos immediately. Place the slaw on the bottom of the tortillas, add the shrimp, and top with cilantro and sauce.
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