Who doesn’t love a good taco recipe? There are a hundred delicious ways to spend your Taco Tuesday, but these bang bang shrimp tacos are sure to be your new favorite. Bang bang shrimp are lightly fried to give a crisp exterior, then tossed in a creamy and spicy sauce. The shrimp have so much flavor that the rest of the tacos are simple: served in tortillas with romaine lettuce and topped with sliced green onion. They’re fairly simple to make, extra tasty, and the best shrimp tacos you’ll ever eat.
How to Make Bang Bang Shrimp
- First, you’re going to marinate your shrimp in buttermilk. This helps the shrimp become tender and gives them something extra for the cornstarch to stick to. I like to marinate the shrimp for about 30 minutes, and during that time you can make the bang bang sauce and heat the oil in your skillet.
- Second, prepare your simple breading. Cornstarch, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder are mixed together to coat the shrimp. Since the shrimp have been soaked in buttermilk, they’ll pick up the cornstarch coating nicely!
- Heat your oil in a large skillet and fry the shrimp until golden brown on both sides. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels and then toss in the bang bang sauce.
- Put some romaine lettuce into tortillas and top with the shrimp. Add sliced green onions to the top and serve!
These shrimp are honestly delicious all by themselves, so feel free to fry them and dip them into the bang bang sauce as is! Bang bang sauce is a simple mix of mayonnaise, chili garlic sauce, and sriracha. A little salt to taste and you’ve got the perfect sauce for the shrimp! I have had a hard time finding chili garlic sauce, or sambal oelek, at the grocery store lately but I was able to find it at Walmart and stock up! It actually has ended up being an ingredient that I use more often than I’d think and it adds the perfect spicy garlic taste to so many recipes. Even if you have to buy it for this recipe, I’m sure you will use it in many others, like my sweet and spicy sesame noodles that are frequently in my lunch rotation.
- 1 lb. raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails removed
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- ½ tsp. black pepper
- 1-2 cups vegetable oil
- ½ cup mayo
- ¼ cup sweet chili sauce
- ½ tsp. - 1 tsp. sriracha sauce
- Flour tortillas
- Chopped romaine lettuce
- Sliced green onion
- Place the shrimp in a bowl and cover with buttermilk. Marinate for 30 minutes.
- While the shrimp are marinating, make the coating. In a shallow bowl mix together cornstarch, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper. Set aside.
- Make the bang bang sauce. In a bowl, mix together mayo, sweet chili sauce, and sriracha.
- After the shrimp have marinated, heat the oil in a skillet. Work in batches, coating the shrimp on both sides with the cornstarch mixture and cooking in the skillet. Do not crowd the shrimp in the skillet! Cook the shrimp for 3-4 minutes per side until golden brown, then transfer to a plate lined with paper towels.
- Once the shrimp are all done cooking, carefully toss them with the bang bang sauce.
- To each tortilla place some lettuce before topping with the shrimp and adding green onions.
- Enjoy!
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