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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Gosh, this just couldn’t have been better. I did add a tablespoon of mayo to the crema as a nod to elote often served with street tacos. Lime in the crema was great. Everything came together so well, just great! Thanks.
We’re not shrimp fans so I subbed chicken. These were outstanding. I’d never doctored up sour cream like that before, definitely doing that again! Everything I’ve ever made from this blog has been awesome. Thanks, Jen!
Thank you for an amazing recipe! Definitely a make again!
Love! Made them for the first time tonight and followed the recipe precisely. Easy, quick and oh so yummy! BF ate FIVE of them so this will def go into the rotation. Making your fajitas this weekend for family!
Hi Jenn,
We absolutely loved these tacos. My adult children requested a bit more heat. I was wondering about adding some cayenne pepper. What are your thoughts and if correct, quantity please.
I bet your a Mexican Rice would be fabulous as a side too!
Thank you!
Glad everyone enjoyed these! Depending upon how much heat you’re looking for, I’d start with 1/8 tsp. of cayenne pepper. You can always up it from there but I’d start conservatively.
I made these without the bacon and added a bit of smoked paprika. They were really delicious. Oh yes! Will definitely make them again. Next time I’ll try with the bacon, though I’m nervous that the bacon may send them over the top and I’ll make a huge pig of myself.
YES the bacon WILL!! 🙂
Easy and delicious! We had some green sauce leftover from making your Peruvian roasted chicken a few days ago so used that instead of the lime crema. It worked great and gave the tacos a little spice. If making with the mild crema, I think I would add some some chopped jalapeños to the taco mix and/or crema to provide some spice.
This shrimp taco mixture is awesome! We make the shrimp mix as is and then throw it on a salad with the sour cream mix and half an avocado. I make a vinaigrette with olive oil, pineapple balsamic, honey Serrano balsamic, and apple cider vinegars. It tastes amazing on this salad! Thank you for sharing a delish dish! I’ve made it twice now and will be making it again I’m sure!
One of the best shrimp taco recipes I’ve ever made. Love your recipes!
These were so good! Definitely will make these again. They are so easy to and quick to make. Usually I prefer flour tortillas but for this I went with the corn and I think it was the right choice. It gives it that earthy corn taste that went great with the other ingredients. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Wonderful flavor profile! This dish is super simple – great for a quick weeknight meal. My family of five loves it! I’ve made the dish three times now – no changes to the original recipe – it’s foolproof. Thank you!
These tacos were amazing. I served them to out of town family & after the first bite I was hearing OMG these are so delicious. Will make these again & again. Thanks Jenn!