Street-Style Shrimp Tacos with Corn, Bacon and Lime Crema
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
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.
You May Also Like
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
Powered by 
- 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.
See more recipes:
Comments
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Great! I did a bowl instead if tacos, mixed it with jasmine rice.
Hi Jenn. I was wondering what your thoughts are on my using turkey bacon instead of the real thing here. I know it won’t render the same amount of fat to cook the corn in, so I was thinking I could add 1T. of olive or vegetable oil when I add the corn? Thank you!
Hi Mary, It should work with the additional oil. Please lmk how it turns out!
I’m using frozen corn. How would 4 cobs translate to cups? Thanks.
Hi Penny, that would be the equivalent of about 3 cups of corn. Enjoy!
This was the perfect dinner for Cinco de Mayo! So delicious, will make again soon!
These are amazing! I’m making them for about the sixth time now. My family loves them!!
Thank you for sharing this recipe 🙂 It was very, very good! Made it today for the first time to enjoy with guests and didn’t lack raves 🙂
I’m not sure what “small” tortilla means. Is that street taco size or one size up? Also is the tortilla crisped so it is used as a tostada (flat like the picture) or is it flexible and folded?
Hi Susan, you’ll want one size up from the street taco size, (so 6 inches). And while I don’t crisp the taco to serve them tostada – style, you certainly can if you’d prefer. Hope you enjoy!
My husband made these last night and they were so good. Add a little hot sauce, and bam! So flavourful.
Tacos were very good. My family enjoyed them. Very easy to make. Next time I will add some seasonings to the cream sauce to kick up the flavor a notch.
I made these yesterday and they were fantastic! Lots of Great feedback from all guests!
Thanks for all your good recipes.
Marjanne
Would chicken work instead of shrimp?
Sure! I’d love to hear how it turns out with chicken!
Had family over and made it with chicken to keep everyone happy. It turned out scrumptious!! Why am I surprised it’s a Jenn Segal recipe 😂
Made these for dinner last night. Really good and fresh tasting. I like that I can prep all ingreds, cook ahead, hold and then combine at last minute to reheat. Definitely a keeper!
I made this for dinner last night and like all of Jenn’s recipes, it was scrumptious and summery and fresh. Too bad I didn’t make more but I will definitely make them again!!