Street-Style Shrimp Tacos with Corn, Bacon and Lime Crema
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These street-style shrimp tacos with corn, bacon, and lime crema make a fast, fun, family-pleasing feast.
The inspiration for these crazy-good shrimp tacos comes from a fabulous cookbook called Taqueria: New-Style Fun and Friendly Mexican Cooking by Australian chef Paul Wilson (Hardie Grant Books, 2017). Wilson writes, “This is one of the most popular summer dishes in my kitchens. It’s fast, simple to prepare, and the three main ingredients work very well together in a warm tortilla.” My family literally devours these.
What You’ll Need To Make Shrimp Tacos with Corn and Bacon
I use large shrimp for this recipe, which you may find labeled 31 to 35 shrimp per pound. When cooked, they are a perfect size to pile into a tortilla.
For the best results, use good quality thick-cut bacon; Wright or Smithfield are both good brands that are easy to find.
Step-by-Step Instructions
To begin, cut the kernels off of the corn cobs. The best way to do this is to this (without having the kernels fly all over the kitchen) is to invert a small bowl inside a larger bowl. Hold the cob upright on top of the inverted small bowl, with the flatter end of the cob down, and use a sharp knife to slice downward as close to the cob as possible.
Next, place the bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
Fry, stirring frequently, until crispy and golden, 7 to 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving the bacon fat in the skillet.
Add the corn to the fat in the skillet.
Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until crisp, about 2 minutes.
Spoon the corn into a bowl and set aside. Add the shrimp, scallions, garlic, cumin, chili powder, and 1/8 teaspoon salt to the skillet.
Cook, stirring frequently, until the shrimp are opaque and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the corn, bacon, cilantro, and lime juice to the shrimp.
Stir to combine, then remove from the heat and cover to keep warm while you heat the tortillas and make the lime crema.
How to Make Lime Crema
Simply stir together the sour cream, fresh lime juice, and salt.
How to Serve Shrimp Tacos with Corn, Bacon, and Lime Crema
Warm the tortillas according to the package instructions. Place the tortillas on serving plates and top with the shrimp mixture and generous spoonfuls of the lime crema. Serve immediately with the rest of the crema on the side.
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Street-Style Shrimp Tacos with Corn, Bacon and Lime Crema
These street-style shrimp tacos with corn, bacon, and lime crema make a fast, fun, family-pleasing feast.
Ingredients
For the Lime Crema
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, from 1 lime
- Pinch salt
For the Shrimp Tacos with Corn and Bacon
- 4 slices (6 oz) thick-cut bacon, diced
- 4 corn cobs, uncooked kernels removed
- 1 bunch scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 lbs large (31/35) shrimp, peeled, de-veined, and tail removed, thawed if frozen
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
- Salt
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, from 1 lime
- 12 small corn tortillas
Instructions
For the Lime Crema
- In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream, fresh lime juice and salt.
For the Shrimp Tacos with Corn and Bacon
- In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, fry the bacon, stirring frequently, until crispy and golden, 7 to 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving the bacon fat in the skillet.
- Add the corn to the fat in the skillet and season with ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook the corn, stirring frequently, until crisp, about 2 minutes. Spoon the corn into a bowl and set aside.
- Add the shrimp, scallions, garlic, cumin, chili powder, and ⅛ teaspoon salt to the skillet. Cook, stirring frequently, until the shrimp are opaque and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the corn, bacon, cilantro, and 1 tablespoon lime juice to the shrimp. Stir to combine, then taste and adjust the seasoning with more lime juice or salt, if necessary. Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm while you heat the tortillas.
- Warm the tortillas in the microwave or in a skillet according to the package instructions. Place the tortillas on serving plates and top with the shrimp mixture and generous spoonfuls of the lime crema. Serve the rest of the crema on the side.
- Make-Ahead Instructions: The lime crema can be made up to four days ahead of time and stored in a covered container in the refrigerator. The shrimp mixture can be made one day ahead of time and refrigerated; just keep the cooked bacon and cilantro separate until you reheat the dish. Reheat the shrimp mixture in a skillet over medium heat until just heated through.
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: 1 taco
- Calories: 245
- Fat: 11 g
- Saturated fat: 5 g
- Carbohydrates: 21 g
- Sugar: 4 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 16 g
- Sodium: 636 mg
- Cholesterol: 115 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I can’t wait to make these. Your apple cake just came out of my oven and it looks beautiful. Just a tip about slicing the corn. Use a large bunt cake pan turned upside down, and stick the end of the corn or the end with the “handle” in the bunt hole. It is deep enough to keep corn from going all over the kitchen while slicing and putting the woody end in the bunt cake hole, keeps it nicely secure while cutting. My grandmother always taught us to slice the corn kernels twice so that they would be nice and tender. On the first slice don’t go all the way to the cob but just about half way the corn kernel. Then slice the second half of the kernels off on the second go round. It makes the corn so tender one could almost eat it without cooking it. This may not be a good technique for this recipe, but it is great for others. Love, love your recipes. Thank you so much.
I really like that so many of your recipes are so simple to make, yet they impart such a depth of flavor. The tacos are delicious, thank you!
My family went crazy over these tacos. They were easy to make and I will definitely be making them again 🌮
This recipe was absolutely DELICIOUS!! I made some slight adjustments to it. I omitted the scallions and garlic, because I get heartburn when I eat this and no one in my family seemed to have missed these ingredients/flavors; however, I added a diced jalapeno to the corn and cilantro. Then as a topping, aside from the lime crema, I cut a ripe mango into small cubes, added some lime juice and salt to it and then used as a topping along with small cubes of avocado, and some cotija cheese. The plates looked like we were eating at a fancy Mexican restaurant even though the name of the recipe was street tacos! I had my mom and my adult son visiting and everyone raved about them. Easy and delicious. It is a keeper. Thanks for always sharing great recipes.
Hi Jenn,
Do you think the chipotle sauce from Baja Fish Tacos would be a good substitute for the lime crema?
Greatly appreciate your work!
Mark J.
Sure! I’d love to hear what you think. 🙂