Who knew gourmet seafood tacos could be so easy to make at home?

Whether you’re looking for a fun appetizer to share with friends or a tasty dinner for your family, these zesty tacos are the perfect choice for any occasion!

Over the years, Table & Thyme has strived to find fun new ways to explore flavors and food to create one-of-a-kind catering experiences. We believe each and every event is unique, and that means the menu deserves to be, too! That is why we spend so much time investigating recipes to find the very best ones out there! Once in a while, we like to share some of the easiest recipes that can be made at home so you can beef up your culinary repertoire with some expert tips! 

You can view some of these recipe guides in our blog where we share event highlights, special deals, life-hacks, and, of course, our recipes! Examples of the type of recipes we’ve shared in the past include Red Wine Braised Beef Ribs, Cream Cheese and Pepper Jelly Shrimp and Pita Crisps, Raspberry Star Bread, and so much more! If you’re interested in seeing some of our favorite recipes, you can see our catalog tagged ‘bestrecipe’ in our blog here! 

This week, we are sharing a colorful and flavorful snack, perfect for helping you get over the mid-week slump or as a fun appetizer for any get-together, so if you want to know how to make these incredible shrimp and salmon tacos, you are in the right place! 

Any dish is only as good as its ingredients.

This rule goes for most dishes, but especially seafood. When it comes down to flavor and quality, the reality is the fresher the better. Where you get your seafood from can play a major part in how your dish turns out, so if you are hoping to achieve a higher-quality result, you need to be gathering high-quality ingredients from reputable suppliers! 

When trying to find your go-to seafood supplier, your best bet is to look into the seafood markets in your area. Being in a coastal city is going to make your chances of fresh seafood a lot higher, but not all of us can live in a beach town. That being said, there are still plenty of places to get fresh seafood! In Birmingham, for example, here are two markets worth stopping by when looking for your shrimp and salmon taco ingredients!

Sexton’s Seafood Birmingham

Gulf Fresh Seafood and Meat Market  

Aside from seafood, there are other ingredients you’ll have to gather to make these zesty seafood tacos! Produce is another thing to get fresh in order to have the best and most flavorful results, and farmers markets are always a great resource for fresh produce! Plus, it helps to boost local economies and farmers, so it’s really a win-win! We definitely recommend taking a visit to the Alabama Farmers Market to grab some fresh herbs, oils, homemade salsas, and anything else you can find for this delicious taco recipe! 

Making these sensational seafood tacos!

Speaking of ingredients, we are happy to provide a list of ingredients we recommend to make this recipe, but remember they are tacos! That means they are totally customizable! A taco bar is a great way to keep family and guests entertained, so do not be afraid to mix and match ingredients and to find the flavors that best suit your taste buds! In the meantime, here are the basic ingredients you’ll need:

Mayonnaise 

Chili garlic and/or Sriracha sauce 

Buttermilk 

Flour 

Tortillas 

Salsa 

Shredded Cheese 

Cilantro

And don’t forget your shrimp and salmon! For this particular recipe, we recommend sushi-grade salmon! 

This is a particularly low-effort recipe with maximum-quality results, which is exactly why we are beyond excited to share it with you! After you’ve gotten all your ingredients together, you’ll start by prepping the sauce for your tacos. It’s just as simple as it sounds. Just mix together the mayonnaise and your chili garlic sauce (and your Sriracha, if you’d like) and voila! If you need to slice up your salmon filets at all, now would be the time! Long and thin slivers are the best variation for this recipe. Once you have that done, keep your salmon refrigerated until ready to use! 

After the sauce is ready is when this recipe really starts to heat up, literally! You’ll be breading and frying the shrimp in hot oil, so make sure your preparation area is all set up before you dive in! You’ll need a bowl for your wet-breading ingredients next to a bowl for your dry-breading, and a place to set the shrimp before they go into the oil. For crispier shrimp, place a cooling rack on top of a sheet pan and place the shrimp there before putting them into the frying oil! As your setting things up, go ahead and place your shrimp into the bowl of buttermilk and leave to marinate for 20 minutes. Aside from that, you’ll need to set up a place to drain the shrimp of excess oil after they’ve been fried. A paper towel-lined baking sheet is perfect for this! 

Heat up your oil for your frying method of choice, unless of course it’s air-frying, then simply skip on the oil! This recipe will provide directions for frying in an oil fryer, but the process is pretty much the same around the board, with the exception being an air fryer. If you opt to air fry your shrimp, you can check out this guide to know the temperature and time to cook your shrimp at! 

While your oil is warming up, go ahead and bread your shrimp. Take your marinated shrimp and toss in the dry-mix bowl, coating them in flour. If you like your breading extra thick, dip the shrimp back into the buttermilk and toss in flour once more! Then, set the shrimp aside until the oil is ready. 

Once the oil is ready, toss the shrimp into it in batches. Use a slotted spoon to keep the shrimp from sticking together and to make sure they are frying evenly. This typically takes about 4-4 ½ minutes per batch, but watch for that delicious golden brown color to know they are done. 

If you want to make sure your shrimp stay warm until you are ready to serve your seafood tacos, you can heat up your oven to about 250-275°F and place your fried shrimp inside to retain heat! This also gives you the perfect opportunity to warm up your tortillas before using, which is going to take your tacos from “good” to “exquisite!”

After your shrimp have been fried and your sauce made, you are ready to put your tacos together! Layer your shrimp, salmon, shredded cheese, salsa, sauce, and cilantro. If you’re looking for some extra zest, top with a fresh squeeze of lime juice! 

Salmon and Shrimp Tacos

These savory treats are perfect for a weeknight dinner or a watch party for your favorite show with friends! 

Prep Time: 25 minutes 

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: Makes 10 tacos 

Ingredients

For the taco sauce:

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• ¼ cup chili garlic sauce
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce, optional

For the shrimp:

• 1 ½ pounds extra-large (26-30 count) shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 6 cups vegetable oil for frying

For serving:

• 1 pound of smoked sushi-grade salmon
• 10 taco-sized flour tortillas, warmed
• Smoked Salsa 
• Shredded Cheese
• Chopped cilantro

Directions

1. In a bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, chili garlic sauce, and sriracha together until blended. Store up to two days in the refrigerator until ready to use.
2. In a separate bowl, marinate the shrimp in the buttermilk for 20 minutes.
3. Combine the flour, cornstarch, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.
4. Set a cooling rack on top of a sheet pan on which to place the breaded shrimp prior to frying. Set up a draining station as well by lining another sheet pan with a thick layer of paper towels
5. While the oil heats, drain the buttermilk and toss the shrimp, in batches, in the flour mixture. Shake off any excess flour and arrange the shrimp on the cooling rack to “dry out” while you’re heating your frying oil.
6. Heat the oil until ready to fry, about 400º, and preheat the oven to 250-275°F.
7. To fry the shrimp, add a handful of the shrimp to the hot oil, and after a minute of frying, use a slotted spoon to stir and separate the shrimp; they like to stick together. Fry for 4 to 4 1/2 minutes, or until the shrimp are golden brown.
8. Keep the shrimp warm and continue frying. Remove the shrimp from the oil with a slotted spoon and place them on your draining rack/pan. Place the cooked shrimp in the warm oven. Also, place tortillas in the oven before assembling your tacos. 
9. Continue frying the remaining shrimp in batches. Remember to let the oil come back up to 350°F in between batches.
10. Fill the warmed tortillas with a handful of cheese and smoked salsa with the shrimp, and sauce. Garnish the tacos with cilantro then serve.

We hope you are inspired to try these delicious seafood tacos this week! If you do, we would love to hear how they turned out! Feel free to share your experience with us on social media. In the meantime, stay up-to-date with Table & Thyme by keeping up with our weekly blogs where we post recipes, life-hacks, event highlights, and more! 

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