Cilantro Cream Shrimp Tacos in Chipotle Sauce. A Delicious Mexican Recipe!

With a bag of frozen shrimp in the freezer, a great dinner is always but 10 minutes or so away.

Here’s a great, very quick Mexican shrimp dish that’s easy enough for weeknight dining but tastes far from ‘fast food’ and which is refined enough for even a special occasion meal.

Chipotle and Cilantro Cream Shrimp Tacos

• 600 grams of shrimp of peeled, about 1 and 1/3 lbs
• 1 cup of fresh cilantro, chopped, stems and all
• 1 medium white onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup of heavy cream (whipping cream)
• 4 Thai bird chilies, minced, or use about 1 or 2 Serrano chilies (this amount of chili won’t make the dish spicy, just slightly ‘warm’
• Salt to taste
• A little vegetable oil for frying
• 12 premade taco shells, or, preferably, 12 store bought corn tortillas fried until crisped in oil!
• 1 cup of tomato-chipotle sauce
• 1 or 2 key limes
• Freshly ground pepper
• salt
• About ½ cup of slivered onion slices and a little more cilantro for garnish

1. Fry your corn tortillas in hot vegetable oil until crisped. Bend them slightly with kitchen tongs as they fry, to get them into the right shape…although there is really no wrong shape here! If using store bought taco shells, skip this first step
2. Prepare some chipotle sauce…if using store bought chipotle sauce, skip this step as well.
3. Heat a large skillet over high heat, and once hot, add in a splash of vegetable oil and the cilantro, the onions and the chili. Stir this around quickly, for about 1 minute or so, and then add in the cream and the shrimp.
4. Bring the cream to a boil and then let bubble away for about 3 or 4 minutes – until the cream has thickened to a sauce that won’t run out of a taco shell and the tacos are cooked through.
5. Squeeze the juice from a 1 lime into the sauce and then add in freshly cracked pepper and salt to taste (salt and then taste and then salt again!) If it needs a little more lime or if it tastes too rich, then add in some more lime juice.
6. Spread chipotle sauce over the inside of each of the 12 taco shells and then top with the cream/shrimp mixture, dividing it evenly between the tacos.
7. Add on a little slivered onion and some pretty cilantro leaves as garnish and serve at once with any Mexican sides and salsas that you enjoy.