cheesy chipotle shrimp tacos

aka the best thing we ate in Mexico

We took the boys to Mexico for fall break a couple of weeks ago and had a freaking blast, mostly thanks to three things: 1) the free kids club, 2) margaritas, and 3) making no plans and setting absolutely zero expectations for how our days would go with three boys under the age of 5.

We’re pretty adventurous travelers, but at this point in our lives, our kids are, uh, not excelling at adventurous travel, to put it lightly. Taking Mattis and Calum to the Museum of Natural History in New York City last spring was legitimately one of the most harrowing experiences of our lives.

So we’ve decided that for now, we’re just not gonna do it! We are plop vacation (aka pack a bag, bring it to a beach/lake/pool, plop for the entire day) people for the foreseeable future. The museums will be waiting for us when we’re all ready. If you need us, we’ll be by the pool.

Which brings me to this week’s recipe. In addition to being adventurous travelers, we are also typically adventurous eaters whilst traveling, never eating the same thing twice, always scouring Instagram and travel blogs and forums for the coolest places to eat.

But in Mexico, not only did we eat at the same restaurant (the one by the pool) every single day for lunch, we also ate THE SAME THING every day for lunch. We started the week ordering fish tacos, which were excellent. But on day two George threw a shrimp taco into his fish taco order and he absolutely lost his mind over it. He gave me a bite (chivalry is not dead), and the rest was history: we both ordered two to three shrimp tacos every single day for the rest of the trip. They’re that good. And now we can make them at home! Although, I’d really like to go back to Cabo…

posing with shrimp tacos because they are that good

It’s rare that I ask you to bust out two sheet pans, let alone multiple bowls to make multiple sauces, but it’s happening. I’m going to go easy on you for the rest of November to let you to gear up for THE BIG COOKING EVENT later this month (PS, a massive post to calm your Thanksgiving anxiety is coming next week!). But this week, I’m asking you to use two sheet pans, do some chopping, and dirty a few bowls. It’s fine, we’re gonna be fine!

We’re making cheesy chipotle shrimp tacos, which consist of cheesy tortillas loaded up with chipotle lime shrimp, pico de gallo, and chipotle crema. Ahhhh, they’re so good!

Pls don’t make me do all of that

Ok, ok, I am actually 1000% fine with these shortcuts and the tacos will still be excellent:

If you hate chopping and need this recipe to be extra easy, skip making homemade pico de gallo and buy it at the store. If you want to skip making the chipotle crema, several brands (Sir Kensingtons, Primal Kitchen, Target’s Good & Gather) sell chipotle mayo these days, and that’ll work perfectly. Now all you need to do is cook shrimp and cheesy tortillas, which takes NO TIME!

If it’s freezing where you live and you want to follow this culinary trip to Cabo with something cozy, might I direct you to the “what to cook when you need comfort food” section of the WTC recipe index? There you’ll find favorites like one-pot chicken tikka masala stew, turkey cheddar meatloaf, pasta alla vodka with the best caesar, and roasted pork tenderloin with couscous, pears, and shallots, along with many, many more. If you have some other WTC meals in mind for the week, let us know!!

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I forgot to garnish with cilantro. Otherwise, they’re a perfect dupe for the “Tijuana Taco” at the Auberge Chileno Bay!

cheesy chipotle shrimp tacos

Serves 4

Cook time: 30 minutes

Tools:

• A large bowl or Ziploc

• Another medium to large bowl

• Chef’s knife

• Cutting board

• 2 rimmed sheet pans, 1 lined with foil

• A small tupperware container or jar

Ingredients:

• 1 pound (20-30 count) peeled and deveined shrimp, thawed if using frozen (I usually buy mine frozen, they often have tails that I have to remove)

• 3 tablespoons chipotle hot sauce or the liquid from a can of chipotles en adobo

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 tablespoon honey

• Kosher salt

• 1 organic lime

• 1 pound tomatoes (any kind), diced

• 1 small white onion, diced

• 1 jalapeño, seeds discarded, minced

• 1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped

• 1 bag of the smallest flour tortillas you can find (I love these)

• 8 ounces shredded sharp white (or yellow) Cheddar cheese

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise

Marinate the shrimp: In a large bowl or Ziploc, combine 1 pound shrimp, 2 tablespoons chipotle hot sauce, 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon honey, and 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Use a microplane to grate the zest from 1 lime into the bowl/bag. Mix and set aside to marinate at room temperature.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place one oven rack in the middle of the oven, and one right above the middle.

Make the pico de gallo: Dice 1 pound tomatoes and 1 small white onion. Cut the stem off of 1 jalapeño, cut it in half, and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds (and discard them) then mince. Finely chop enough cilantro to get 1/4 cup. Throw all of that in a bowl and stir in the juice of 1/2 lime (the one you zested earlier) and 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Taste and if it isn’t delicious, add more salt. Tomatoes love salt.

Bake the shrimp and cheesy tortillas: Now grab two rimmed sheet pans! Line one with foil. Place the shrimp in an even layer on the foil-lined sheet pan, and place as many tortillas as you need on the naked sheet pan, overlapping them slightly if needed. Sprinkle about 3 tablespoons of Cheddar cheese (but you absolutely do not need to measure) onto each tortilla.

Place the tortillas on the middle rack in the oven, and the shrimp on the rack right above it. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until the shrimp are firm and the cheese is melty.

Make the chipotle crema: I know, another step! Trust me, it’s worth it. In a small tupperware container or jar (because you’ll have leftovers and I’m saving you a dirty dish!), combine 1/2 cup mayo, 1 tablespoon chipotle hot sauce, the juice from the remaining 1/2 lime, and a pinch of salt. Taste and adjust seasonings as you like.

Assemble: Pile 3 to 4 shrimp onto each tortilla and top with tons of pico de gallo and chipotle crema. Sprinkle any remaining cilantro on top.

Pretend you're poolside and enjoy :)

cheesy chipotle shrimp tacos

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• Love your leftovers: Serving just 2 people? Go ahead and make the entire portion of shrimp, pico, and crema. You only need to make as many cheesy tortillas as you’ll eat tonight. Tomorrow, you can either reheat the shrimp (in a skillet with a little oil over medium-high heat) and make more tacos, OR, make shrimp enchiladas! Chop the shrimp up really finely, then stir together with equal parts cheese plus some more chipotle hot sauce. You can also add some sautéed veggies in there — bell peppers, onions, zucchini, etc. Roll this mixture into leftover tortillas. Pour green enchilada sauce or salsa verde over top, then sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes. Serve with pico!

• What to do with leftover chipotle crema: Do not let any extra go to waste! Roast some chicken and veggies and serve it alongside them for dipping. Smear it on some bread and make a turkey sandwich. Make nachos and drizzle it over everything. Make the salmon tempura and use it as your sauce.

• Prep ahead: You can prep the pico de gallo and chipotle crema up to a day in advance! Store them in the fridge in airtight containers. Shrimp shouldn’t marinate for more than a few hours because they’ll start to get mushy — they’ll be fine if you want to throw them in the marinade (and fridge) before you leave for work in the morning, but I wouldn’t let them marinate all night and day if you were considering starting that process the night before. You could go ahead and cook them the day before though (see the “love your leftovers” note above for how to reheat!). Don’t cook the cheesy tortillas until you’re about to eat.

• Save time: Read the “Pls don’t make me do all of that” section in the intro for time-saving hacks!

• Vegetarian: Mushrooms would be a great sub for this. Thickly slice a pound of your favorite mushrooms and let them marinate as written. You’ll need to bake them for about 30 minutes, so add the tortillas to the oven after the mushrooms have cooked for about 25 minutes. You could also swap in black or pinto beans for the shrimp. Pour a can of drained (but not rinsed) beans into a saucepan and add the marinade ingredients. Stir and cook over medium until the beans are heated through, stirring often.

• Dairy free: Use a melty dairy-free cheese that you love, or simply omit the cheese (they’ll still be amazing!).

• Gluten-free: Use corn tortillas instead, but you can’t use the same cooking method because they kinda dry out in the oven. So you need to grab your best nonstick skillet, warm it over medium heat, then sprinkle 1/4 cup cheese onto it in a circle and let it melt. Once it’s melted, add a tortilla over top and press it into the cheese. Once it’s crisped up, you should be able to easily slide a spatula between the cheese and the skillet to release the tortilla from the pan. This is definitely best to do on a griddle if you own one so that you can cook multiple tortillas at the same time.

• Shrimp: Make fish tacos! Marinate a pound of your favorite white fish (halibut, cod, tilapia, snapper, etc.) then bake it at 400°F for 10 minutes per inch of thickness of your fillets. Chop up the baked fish to fill your tacos with. You could also sub in chicken breasts or tenders, prepared the same way as the fish. They’ll need to bake until 165°F internally (breasts will take around 22-26 minutes; tenders, much less). See “vegetarian” note above for more ideas.

• Chipotle hot sauce: If you’re a long-time WTCer check your freezer because you might have leftovers of a can of chipotles en adobe from when we made chipotle black bean flautas that you can thaw and use the sauce from. If you don’t have enough sauce, you can use the chipotles themselves to marinate the shrimp or make the crema. Just cut them open and scrape out the seeds first, or it’ll be way too spicy. Smash the peppers up into a paste then use one to marinate the shrimp and one in the crema. Or you can sub in storebought chipotle mayo, if you can find that instead. If you can’t find chipotle anything, a different hot sauce would be fine. You may want to cut back though, depending how spicy it is.

• EVOO: Olive oil or another neutral-flavored cooking oil

• Honey: Omit

• Organic lime: Whenever we zest citrus, you want to try to use organic to avoid pesticides, which can get into the rind. It’s ok if conventional is all you can find!

• Tomatoes: Store-bought pico de gallo. Or, if you hate tomatoes, you could make a tomato-free pico de gallo using diced peaches, radishes, or bell peppers.

• Small white onion: A small red or yellow onion or a large shallot

• Jalapeño: A fresh serrano pepper, pickled jalapeños, or omit

• Cilantro: I know, I know, you hate cilantro. Just leave it out.

• Flour tortillas: See the “gluten free” note above for how to prepare your tacos with corn tortillas. You could also make a chipotle shrimp bowl with a base of rice and/or romaine lettuce. Top your bowls with shredded Cheddar (or crumbled cotija), pico de gallo, crema, and cilantro.

• Cheddar cheese: Another shredded melty cheese like Monterey Jack, Gruyère, or even mozzarella. Alternatively, you could skip the cheesy tortilla and top your tacos with cotija or feta.

• Mayonnaise: Plain yogurt or sour cream

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Click here for the full index of What to Cook recipes categorized by protein, cook time, and *mood.*

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Editor: Molly Ramsey
Illustrations: Nhung Lê