Quick and Easy Shrimp Fajita

Name: Quick and Easy Shrimp Fajita
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 1 lb shrimp/prawns (26 to 30 per lb)*; 1/2 fresh lime; 2 tbsp chipotle puree**; 1 tsp chili powder; 1 tbsp olive oil; 1/4 tsp kosher salt; 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper; 1 large avocado; 1/2 fresh lime (approx. 1 tbsp juice); 1/4 tsp kosher salt; 1 large white onion (preferably Spanish onion); 1 large garlic clove; 8 corn tortillas; 2 tbsp olive oil (approx.); 1 tbsp olive oil; 1/4 tsp kosher salt; 1 cup fresh, frozen or canned corn; cilantro (optional); lime wedges (if desired); cilantro sprigs (if desired)

4.8 out of 5 · 8 ratings

Active time: 20 min

Total time: 30 min

Serves: 4

Corn tortillas stuffed with lime-chipotle shrimp, sautéed onions, fresh avocado and corn.

Chef's notes

These fajitas would also be great with chicken, pork or beef. Simply cut the meat up into small pieces, marinate and then cook the meat just as you would the prawns. This fajita recipe was inspired by a recent issue of Fine Cooking magazine.

Steps

Marinating the Prawns | Shrimp

Ingredients

1 lb shrimp/prawns (26 to 30 per lb)*
1/2 fresh lime
2 tbsp chipotle puree**
1 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Clean the prawns by peeling and deveining them. Place them into a medium bowl with the olive oil and the lime juice. Next, add the chipotle puree to the prawns (**use the canned chipotle in adobo sauce and puree the peppers and the sauce together), along with the chili powder and seasoning. Toss everything together. If you have the time, cover and let the prawns marinate in the refrigerator for about an hour.

Preparing the Avocado & Mise en Place

Ingredients

1 large avocado
1/2 fresh lime (approx. 1 tbsp juice)
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 large white onion (preferably Spanish onion)
1 large garlic clove
8 corn tortillas

Carefully pit and dice the avocado into large pieces. Place into a medium bowl. Using a fork, mash the avocado and then add the lime juice and salt. Mix to combine and then taste for seasoning> add more lime juice, or salt if needed. Set aside for later. Next, peel and émincé the onion and then mince the garlic. For the tortillas, you can either wrap them in a clean kitchen towel and warm them in the microwave just before you are ready to serve them; or, if you have a gas stove, you can grill them over the open flame. Keep them warm while you cook the dish. Set all of your mise en place aside while you cook the prawns.

Cooking the Prawns

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil (approx.)

To cook the prawns, heat a large fry pan over medium-high heat. Pour a thin coating of oil into the pan and as soon as it just starts to smoke, add the prawns and sauté for about 1 minute. Flip and cook for about another minute, just until the prawns turn a bright pink color. Transfer the prawns to a plate, while you cook the onions.

Cooking the Onions

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

Add a bit more oil to the pan and then add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat. Stir occasionally and let cook until the onions start to soften and turn a nice golden color, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Finishing the Dish

Ingredients

1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 cup fresh, frozen or canned corn
cilantro (optional)

Once the onions have cooked, add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Next, add the corn and the reserved prawns to the pan and cook for another 2 or 3 minutes, to heat everything through. Taste for seasoning. If you like, you can also add a few tablespoons of minced, fresh cilantro at the end.

Assembling the Fajitas

Ingredients

lime wedges (if desired)
cilantro sprigs (if desired)

To assemble the fajitas, be sure the tortillas are warm. Spread a bit of avocado onto each tortilla, along with a scoop of the prawn and corn mixture. Top with a few sprigs of fresh cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lime, if desired. This dish is also great served family style. Place everything onto the table and let everyone make their own.

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11 Comments

Patrick O • October 21, 2009 at 06:51PM

The sqeeze of lime at the end makes a big difference. I didn't feel like driving across town for the corn tortillas so i used grocery store soft flour tortillas instead. They were still great but I imagine they should be even better with the corn tortillas.

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Tyler L • March 11, 2010 at 02:23AM

I just finished this dish and it was a resounding success. My favorite part (aside from eating it!) was deveining the shrimp. For some reason I thought deveining would be a much more difficult process, though I'm sure I could improve my technique to make this go quicker. I looked for a deveining lesson in the 'tips and techniques' but I could not find one. Any tips?

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Dawn T • March 11, 2010 at 05:39AM

There is a 'tip and technique' video that covers this. It is called "How to Clean Shrimp or Prawns". The same tip video (or Drill-down) is also attached to the text recipe, under step 1. Hope this helps! Glad you liked the dish - cheers!

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Tyler L • March 11, 2010 at 05:54AM

Guess I should have been more thorough. Google has made me lazy. I did a quick search for "devein shrimp" that did not return what I was looking for. Unfortunately, I'm all too knowledgeable about the limitations of the internal search in most content management systems. For those of you in Chicago, I was able to find the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce at The Spice House on Wells in Old Town. It can be hard to come by, especially in the food challenged Midwest.

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Dan S • May 30, 2010 at 09:13AM

I found chipotle Tabasco. So I used that for the marinade. Due to the acidity you need to add a little starch to thicken the marinade. After briefly sautéing them i ended up with a lot of excess water. So I decided to throw them on a grill which added a rich BBQ flavor. I also added a spoon of tomato paste when I heated the onions through with the shrimp. After using guacamole on the first wrap, I then replaced the guacamole in the second wrap with sour cream to compensate for the BBQ flavor. I probably ended up with a completely different dish, but it was perfectly lovely.

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Husna A • September 9, 2010 at 05:44PM

I don't get to cook much, and when I do, I have very little time. When I made these fajitas the other night, they totally blew my wife away. They were absolutely delicious and required very few ingredients and little time. Can't wait to make them again...maybe tonight!

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Kristi M • December 6, 2011 at 05:17AM

Hi, I tried this recipe with steak and it was good, but didn't end up with much fajita flavor. I think its because I marinated the steak, but then grilled it whole and it wasn't cooked with all the spices. Is there a better technique to use with steak? I have tried several steak fajita recipes before trying this and always have the same problem (I used flatiron steak and marinated it for 5-6 hrs, the steak did come out tender but not much flavor) Thanks!

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Tony M • Rouxbe Staff • December 7, 2011 at 08:27PM

A marinade will lend some subtle flavors, but without the spices this dish will not be as bold as it should be. Try to find a good fajita spice rub that suits your tastes and make sure to season the meat well with salt. Cheers!

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Marilyn • November 15, 2012 at 02:32AM

I'm not sure where to ask this question, if I want to make fried shrimp do I use raw or cooked? I found a recipe that said use boiled shrimp, but I'm not sure what that is?

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Dawn T • November 15, 2012 at 05:32AM

Generally, when you fry shrimp you start with raw shrimp, but reallyl it depends on the recipe you are using or following. Cheers!

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Mase M • December 23, 2020 at 10:40PM

I did not really like this dish

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