These prawn tacos are so easy to make with zingy lime and chipotle grilled prawns, crunchy red cabbage and the ultimate creamy avocado jalapeno sauce. These are so quick and easy to make (yes even the sauce!) and are packed with so much flavour they make the perfect summer BBQ lunch or even a weeknight dinner.
Honestly, what’s not to love about tacos. They are so easy, so versatile, and so full of flavour – they are basically just one of my favourite things to eat!
These tacos are here to welcome the warm weather. The hot, humid Queensland spring days when you spend as much time as you can outside and want food that’s quick to cook and full of fresh flavours.
I love the flavours of these BBQ prawn tacos so much. We’ve got heaps of lime, a little chipotle spice and the most delicious and super easy homemade avocado and jalapeno sauce. All served up in a charred corn tortilla making taco perfection.
Fire up the BBQ, or if you prefer, use a griddle pan or simply a frying pan inside to make these even easier for a weeknight taco feast.
Ingredients for these BBQ prawn tacos
We have a couple of components to this recipe, the prawns and their delicious smokey/zesty marinade, and the creamiest avocado sauce. Let’s discuss those key ingredients.
- Raw, peeled prawns – I use frozen and always Australian caught. I love to keep these on hand in the freezer for a range of different meals plus they are completely fuss free as they’re already peeled with tails removed. To defrost, leave in a small bowl of warm water for 15 minutes.
- Chipotle seasoning – found in the spice section of the supermarket, this spice gives a punchy, smokey but not too spicy kick to the prawns.
- Limes – used in both the sauce and the prawn marinade as well as to finish off the tacos, limes are the key to that big zesty flavour.
- Avocado – makes the smoothest, creamiest sauce that pairs so well on these tacos
- Jalapeno – use anywhere from ½ to a whole jalapeno pepper depending on how strong you want the flavour. If you want to minimise the heat make sure to remove the seeds. I used about ¾ of one and found the sauce not too spicy but super flavourful.
How to make BBQ prawn tacos
As the name suggests, you’ll ideally need a BBQ for this recipe to get that chargrilled flavour through the prawns and the tortillas.
However, if you don’t have a BBQ or don’t feel like going outside, you can also use a griddle pan on the stove for a similar flavour, or even a regular frying pan if that’s all you have available.
Start by marinating your prawns in olive oil, lime juice and the chipotle seasoning. Sit aside in the fridge while you prepare the sauce.
The prawns really only need 5-10 minutes to sit in the marinade. You can leave them for around 20 minutes, but you don’t want to do any longer than that as the citrus from the limes will actually start to cook the prawns.
The sauce couldn’t be simpler to make! You’ll need to add the avocado, jalapeno, salt, lime, olive oil and water to a small food processor or a bullet blender and mix until super smooth and creamy. You can adjust the salt, lime and jalapeno quantities to your tastes. Add a little more water if the sauce is too thick.
To cook your prawns, heat the BBQ plate or your griddle pan until really hot. I’m talking starting to smoke hot. Add your prawns to the plate, being careful not to overcrowd and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side until the prawns have changed colour. You want to be really careful here not to over cook them.
Char your corn tortillas over a flame or in a hot pan before assembling the tacos. Add some finely sliced red cabbage, a generous amount of the avocado jalapeno sauce, a few prawns and a squeeze of lime.
These tacos are best eaten immediately after cooking and due to the prawns, I wouldn’t recommend making them ahead of time. But being that they cook so quickly, you don’t really need to!
I know you’re going to enjoy this beautiful spring weather with a plate of these simple but full of flavour prawn tacos!
More easy seafood recipes:
15 Minute Garlic Prawn Noodles
Seared Scallops with Avocado, Smoked Salmon and Caviar
Teriyaki Salmon and Avocado Rice Bowls
BBQ Prawn Tacos
Ingredients
- 24 raw prawns peeled
- 1 teaspoon chipotle seasoning
- Juice of 1 lime
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the avocado sauce:
- ½ avocado
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ – 1 whole jalapeno
- ½ cup water
To serve:
- 8 white corn tortillas
- ¼ red cabbage thinly sliced
- lime
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix together the prawns, chipotle seasoning, lime juice, salt and olive oil. Set aside in the fridge to marinate while you make the sauce.
- In a small food processor or bullet blender, add the avocado, salt, lime juice, olive oil, water and jalapeno to taste. If you just want the flavour without the heat, make sure to discard the seeds. Blend together until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust salt and lime juice as necessary to taste.
- Heat a grill plate on the BBQ or stove until it’s really hot. Add the prawns and cook on each side for 1-2 minutes until they have changed colour and become translucent and cooked through. Set aside on a plate.
- Heat the corn tortillas directly over the flame or on the grill plate until charred.
- Make the tacos by placing some red cabbage on the tortilla, then some of the avocado sauce, followed by 3 of the prawns. Serve straight away with a generous squeeze of lime.
Notes
Nutritional information is provided as a guide only and is calculated using automated online tools, therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy. We encourage you to make your own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe.
Sherry M
prawn tacos? oh my this sounds wonderful and right up my alley:)
Sally
Thanks Sherry, hope you make them!