Blackened Fish and Shrimp Tacos With Avocado Dressing

If you’re looking for a recipe that rolls all of the seasonal flavors into one, this is it! From the Creamy Avocado Dressing,  sweet corn, jalapeno, and radish toppings – these fish and shrimp tacos are summer-worthy!  Combine these tacos with one of my favorite summer salads and you will have a rock-star menu packed with flavor.

Grapefruit Salad to Compliment Blackened Fish Tacos

By now, you probably already know that I love using homemade avocado and cilantro dressing. So, I’m always playing with recipes to compliment it. I recently added the dressing to these fish and shrimp tacos and found perfection! Added bonus – I grilled some sweet corn and oh. my. goodness. This is a crowd-pleaser recipe.

Taco Party

These tacos are great to entertain with because you can do just about everything ahead of time. I made these for family recently and I chopped all of the toppings ahead of time, arranged them neatly in serving bowls, covered with plastic wrap and kept them in the fridge until we were ready to eat. It was fun to see everyone make their own tacos and play with the different flavors/toppings.

I even skewered the shrimp ahead of time and prepped the tilapia beforehand, too. The only thing you need to do while the guests are there, is bake the tilapia. We had some kiddos over, so I even added some chicken to the taco party (just in case the blackened seasoning was too strong for them). They loved the tacos! How cute do they look!? Lukas had a great time playing in the yard with all of his cousins after dinner, too!

Taco Fiesta Party with Family

After Dinner Fun

Ingredients:

Blackened Seasoning:

• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp oregano
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp pepper

Other Ingredients:

• 6 tilapia or cod filets
• 1 lb of shrimp, peeled and deveined, tail on
• Corn or flour tortillas
• Chopped cilantro for garnish
• Radish slices for topping
• 2 ears of corn, grilled
• A drizzle of Avocado Dressing on each taco
• Sliced red onion
• Jalapeno for topping
• Lime wedges

Directions:

Start by making the avocado cream sauce , which I have featured in past blog posts. I like to make this in bulk on a Sunday so I have it throughout the week for things like tacos, salads, and rice bowls. I always have this dressing on hand because it’s so versatile. I keep it in a mason jar or in plastic condiment bottles for 7-10 days.

If your avocado sauce is already made, start with the shrimp and tilapia. Place the shrimp on skewers and coat well with the blackened seasoning. Place the tilapia in a oven safe dish and also coat well with blackened seasoning. I like to grill the shrimp (about 3 minutes on each side or until done) and bake the tilapia at 375 for about 20-25 minutes. It’s such a delicate fish that it doesn’t hold up well on the grill. However, you could wrap it in tinfoil and also bake it on the grill.

As the fish and shrimp are cooking, prepare all of the toppings. I like to chop a variety of different things such as jalapeno, radish, red cabbage, cilantro and lime to use as toppings. They also add a great pop of color. I especially love adding grilled sweet corn to my fish tacos in the summer. When sweet corn is in season, I find every excuses to use it and tacos are a great option! Simply remove the corn from the husk, rinse, let dry, and brush lightly with butter. Place the corn on the grill until it starts to blacken slightly. Cut the corn off the stalks and garnish the tacos with the kernels. The corn tortillas are also better when grilled. We throw each tortilla on the grill right before serving. Enjoy! [/Recipe]