My Mini Ranchero Shrimp Tacos is such an easy and delicious use of this fabulous Rancheros Sauce I make in batches and use in several recipes. I recently made a batch of the sauce for my Sunday Brunch of Huevos Rancheros. When I was left with a couple of cups of the sauce, I went to work on coming up with ways to use it and this recipe was a result of that “playing in the kitchen”. Once the sauce is made and in the fridge, it will become one of your favorite condiments and/or sauces. If you make the sauce ahead of time, this mini ranchero shrimp tacos recipe takes about 10 minutes to pull together.
The meaning of rancheros tacos
So where did rancheros tacos originate from? Mexico for sure. Los Rancheros translates to “the ranchers” in Spanish and refers to the people who work or live on a ranch. A famous Mexican breakfast, Huevos Rancheros, translates to rancher’s eggs and is made with fried eggs and served on tortillas with a spicy sauce – ranchero sauce. The farmers need a filling and satisfying meal to start their long days in the fields. And that is how the rancheros sauce got started. Once you’ve tasted and made the rich sauce, you’ll be inclined to use it on everything like I did. Since tacos are a main stay in Mexico, and I do say in California, it is a natural fit to drizzle it over them too. And so, my mini ranchero tacos were born.
Ready to make this dish? Start by pulling together all your ingredients.
How to make mini ranchero shrimp tacos
To start, I used these really cute slider sized tortillas I find in the supermarket. You’ll see them labeled as street tortillas or street tacos. Typically, you’ll double up and use two tortillas so they are hand held and are sturdy enough for the filling. I prefer one tortilla per taco, but you decide.
Start by making your sauce. Grab the recipe Rancheros Sauce recipe here. I put the sauce into a squirt bottle so it is easy to distribute over the rancheros tacos.
Once that is made, this dish is easy to pull together. Slice up your lime and slice up your avocado. Sprinkle the avocado with salt and pepper.
Take your coleslaw mix and add the rice wine vinegar and some salt and pepper to taste. Toss to make sure everything is coated in the vinegar. Put that to the side.
You are going to heat up two large skillets and spray with cooking spray. One will be used to toast the tortillas. The other will be used to cook the shrimp. Add 2-4 of the small tortillas to one pan and let heat through then flip. You’ll cook until lightly browned and crispy. A total of four minutes.
In the other skillet, add the shrimp, taco seasoning (Use any taco seasoning you like – I always have a package in my spice draw for fast, tasty meals.) and a pinch of salt and some fresh ground black pepper. Stir and let cook until just cooked through. The shrimp will be pink and will curl slightly.
You are then ready to assemble your tacos. Top each tortilla with a couple of slices of avocado. Top with a 2-4 shrimp, some of the coleslaw and a nice drizzle of the Rancheros sauce. One note on the sauce, you can use the sauce warm, cold or at room temperature. I prefer warm-room temperature to keep the shrimp warm. The sauce can be reheated right on the stove or in the microwave if you’ve made it in advance. Remember, rancheros tacos is all about the sauce!
I typically these as an appetizer, but they would also be great as a lunch. I’d serve four per person when serving for lunch.
Serve the mini tacos on a large platter or in a taco stand with lime wedges on the side. This is such a satisfying bite of food. The sauce is everything on these tacos and well worth making. Whip up that sauce and let your imagination go wild. Check out my Ranchero Burgers too. WOW, mixing chorizo with ground turkey is a winner on it’s own but adding this sauce put it over the top!
Did you like this recipe? If so, please leave a rating and comment below. Do you like Mexican flavors? If so, be sure to try some of my other favorite recipes and enjoy.
Mini Ranchero Shrimp Tacos
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 8 Corn slider sized tortillas
- 16 Large shrimp, peeled, deveined and tail removed
- 1 Tbsp. Taco seasoning (use your favorite store-bought mix)
- 1 Avocado, pitted and sliced into thin slices
- 1 Cup Coleslaw mix
- 2 Tbsp. Rice wine vinegar
- ¼ Cup Ranchero Sauce (see notes below)
- ½ Tsp. Kosher salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- Cooking Spray
- 1 Lime, cut into quarters
Instructions
- Make your Ranchero Sauce. Get the recipe here: Ranchero Sauce
- Mix the coleslaw mix with the rice wine vinegar and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put to the side.
- Heat two large skillets sprayed with cooking spray. In one, add the shrimp, taco seasoning and a sprinkle of salt and a few grinds of fresh black pepper. Cook the shrimp until cooked through (about 5 minutes total). Flip the shrimp at about 3 minutes.
- In the second skillet, add four tortillas at a time and cook about two minutes on each side to get warm and crisp up slightly. Cook two batches.
- Assemble your mini tacos. On each tortilla, add a couple of slices of the sliced avocado, top with two shrimp and top with a heaping tablespoon of the coleslaw. Drizzle on the ranchero sauce. Serve on a platter with lime wedges. Enjoy.
