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Zesty shrimp on a bed of shredded cabbage, sliced avocado, and topped off with fried crunchy tortilla strips all drizzled with a wonderful lime creme dressing and fresh cilantro combine for this delicious Shrimp Taco Salad! 

I’m kicking 2017 off with this delicious Shrimp Taco Salad! My own personal creation and one I’m pretty dang proud of!

I’m sure we all have specific goals for this new year. I’m also sure being healthier is towards the top of all of our lists! We have to feel good to do anything in life!

Now let me be clear here regarding “healthy dishes”. In my “book”, if it contains any form of vegetable or fruit it’s healthy! Lol. There’s green in this dish, so that makes it a healthy dish, right? (I think I read that somewhere!) 

During the holidays, I hosted a fun Mexican dinner party with friends.

About an hour before the party started, I decided I had to have some form of “salad” (insert my need for one “healthy” item…although there was guacamole on the table!) Keep in mind I’m a country girl and “drivin’ ta town” was not in my time frame.

My brain started thinking about what I had on hand. I realized I had all the “fixin’s” for Shrimp Taco’s…what if I just turned it all into a salad? The more I thought about it, (we’re talking 3 minutes tops here people…my attention span isn’t that in-depth!), the more excited I got.

I’ll be honest, it’s always a little scary coming up with a last-minute menu item and hoping that it will turn out how you intended it. Thankfully, from the empty plate, I think I nailed it!

How To Make Shrimp Taco Salad

Let’s start off with those shrimp! You will want 1/2 pound of large raw shrimp (31-40 count) tail on. Thaw and rinse your shrimp. Remove the tail.

Cut into bite-sized pieces. 2–3 cuts per shrimp. Place the shrimp in a large ziplock bag. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, juice of half a lime, 1/4 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp chili powder, 1/8 tsp of onion salt, one minced clove of garlic, a dash of coarse black pepper and a dash of cayenne pepper. Allow to marinate at least 30 minutes to 4 hours.

Salad dressing

For the dressing, in a separate bowl, mini food processor, or blender, mix together sour cream, chopped cilantro, juice of one lime, spices and 1/2 a ripe avocado. Blend till smooth.

TIP: The key to this salad is to have everything prepared ahead of time. With that in mind have one avocado diced, lime wedges sliced, green onions thinly chopped, and chopped cilantro ready and on hand.

Also, place a bed of thinly sliced cabbage on a serving platter. In addition, you’ll want to have your corn “crunchies” ready to go! (My kids named them “crunchies” and it is now a cooking term in this Nest!)

To make my “crunchies”, you’ll need 6-8 white corn tortillas. Slice them thin and then fry in a small skillet in about 1/2 inch of hot vegetable oil, drain on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt. If you don’t want to do that, you can buy them in the salad section with all the salad toppings. (I got ya covered!)

With all your “toppings” ready, it’s time to pull it all together.

Cooking Shrimp

Begin by heating a medium skillet over medium high heat. Dump the entire contents of the shrimp and marinade into your hot skillet. See the sizzle…the secret to cooking shrimp… hot and fast!

Stirring constantly. It doesn’t take very long to thoroughly cook shrimp. You do NOT want to overcook shrimp because it will become tough and rubbery! (Insert icky face! eweeeee!)

The shrimp is done when nice and pink, and it’s no longer translucent.

Once your shrimp looks like the photo below, you will pour the entire contents of your pan over the thinly sliced cabbage on your serving platter. All of it! Including all that wonderful flavored juice!

Final Touches

Top with chopped avocado, sprinkle with thinly grated Monterey jack cheese, chopped cilantro, and thinly sliced green onion.

Drizzle with the dressing, top with the corn tortilla crunchies, and lime wedges, arranged around the salad.

Like I mentioned, I was a little nervous if this salad would even be good since I had never given it a trial run before serving. (By the way…not something I recommend unless you are really sure of your recipe and flavor combinations.) 

Thankfully, it was a huge hit! My guest loved it and even had seconds! (A sure sign you’ve hit recipe gold!)

I can’t wait to do this again! I realize it’s topped with all those yummy crunchy fried corn chips, which may take away from the “healthy” side of the dish, but it’s such a light refreshing salad! Can we just pardon the “crunchies”? 

This salad is perfect for lunch or dinner. The cabbage soaked in the juices from the marinade and topped with all that luscious shrimp is Soooo good! Add in the zesty creamy avocado lime dressing, and you pretty much have a flavor party going on in your mouth!

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The next time you’re hosting a Mexican themed dinner party or just want a delicious new dish for lunch or dinner…give this scrumptious salad a try!  

If you’re looking for other great Salad ideas, here are a few of my favorites!

Great Salad Recipes

• Grilled Chicken Classic Cobb Salad
• Grilled Salmon Peach Salad
• Steak Fajita Taco Salad
• B.L.T. Salad with Fresh Basil dressing
• Blue Cheese Pear Salad
• Perfect Summer Fruit Salad from Allrecipes.com

Have a fantastic day! Go write a GREAT page in that book of life! Hugs and Love from my Nest to Yours!

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