Shrimp has been on my mind a lot recently and I had to include them in my Super Bowl Sunday snack lineup in one form or another. After contemplating it for a while I decided to go with shrimp nachos. The basic idea behind nachos is to pile tortilla chips on a plate, top them with things like meat, salsa, jalapenos, olives and cheese and then bake them until the cheese melts. I wanted to use whole shrimp to maximize the experience of their juicy and succulent nature and I did not want to chop them up. I was thinking that the full shrimp would not be clinging to the nachos all that well when randomly sprinkled on so I decided to go for individual serving nachos with one shrimp per tortillas chip. I was seeing these shrimp nachos as green so I wanted a salsa verde and I also had to include some avocado so I took the opportunity to combine the two and I made some avocado and roasted tomatillo salsa . Next up was some cilantro lime shrimp which were sprinkled with green onions, melted cheese and cilantro. These shrimp nachos were amazingly tasty and did they ever disappear quickly! I served them with the remaining avocado and roasted tomatillo salsa for dipping.
These cilantro and lime shrimp are so easy and yet so tasty! The cilantro and lime combination is a good one and it works really well on shrimp. You can snack on these shrimp all by themselves or use them in things like shrimp tacos , shrimp quesadillas or shrimp nachos. In the summer they are great on the grill but there is no need to wait for summer as they also cook up really well on an indoor grill or even in a pan.
Cilantro Lime Shrimp Nachos
ingredients
- 1 tortilla chip for every shrimp
- 1 batch (2 cups) avocado and roasted tomatillo salsa
- 1/2 batch cilantro lime shrimp (see below)
- 2 green onions (sliced)
- 1 1/2 cups Monterrey jack cheese (grated)
- 1 handful cilantro (optional)
directions
- Place a small spoonful of the avocado and tomatillo salsa on top each tortilla followed by one shrimp per tortilla chip.
- Sprinkle the green onions over the tortillas followed by the cheese.
- Bake in a preheated 350F/180C oven until the cheese melts, about 5-7 minutes.
- Serve immediately garnished with cilantro along with the remaining avocado and tomatillo salsa for dipping.
Cilantro Lime Shrimp
ingredients
- 1/2 pound shrimp (shelled and deveined)
- 2 limes (juice and zest)
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 jalapeno (finely diced)
- 1 clove garlic (chopped)
- 1 green onion (finely sliced)
- 1 handful cilantro (chopped)
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin (toasted and ground)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon oil
directions
- Marinate the shrimp in the lime, oil, jalapeno, garlic, green onion, cilantro, cumin, salt and pepper for 30 minutes in a sealed container in the fridge.
- Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.
- Add the shrimp and the marinade and cook until the shrimp is done, about 2-3 minutes per side. (The shrimp will have turned pink an no longer be translucent.)
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These are the most exciting nachos I've ever seen. And love the healthy protein from the shrimp component.
Another fantastic idea! Thanks for posting.
Que aperitivo tan fantastico.
Saludos
Fabulous! This looks simple to make yet very flavorful!
This is a creative twist on nachos. No doubt a great snack for Super Bowl Sunday.
Cheers.
Velva
yes please! i would love to come to your house and eat, all day. i will do ALL the dishes. LOL
Every single thing about this sounds geat!
These look fabulous! I love that every chip has its own toppings – how nachos were originally. This dish reminds me of summer, which is definitely a good thing in the middle of winter!
Kevin!! These look AMAZING – I can't wait to try. We eat a lot of shrimp and I'm always looking for new ways to cook it. Thanks!
Both looks perfect.
🙂 Mandy
looks great!
check out our blog!
http://kimchicsisters.blogspot.com/2011/02/saturday-morning-coffee.html
Hi Kevin! I make a tomatillo salsa all the time and I never once thought of adding avocado!
Those nacho's look awesome. I may just have to run to the store and add that to my super bowl menu!
These are totally my kind of nachos! Wish I was eating them tonight.
Looks tasty and definitely not something anyone else would bring to a party. Made me think of a variation that might be fun to experiment with….shrimp ceviche nachos! I had those in Belize last April and have always meant to try to develop a recipe for them.
Sandra
http://foodiemom-torontobites.blogspot.com/
Cilantro and lime is one of my favourite flavour combinations.
What a creative idea! Wonderful, although I would be one of those who delete the cilantro.
Great idea!
I have had shrimp nachos before, not with your exact flavor profile, and they are superb!! I also like crab nachos, and even lightly seared tuna with a little wasabi cream and some mango salsa. Ohhh, that is SO good!
the salsa looks great,we make a lot of salsa but having a hard time finding tomatilios here in sweden. great blog by the way,just started my own food blog, check it out if you want to try some swedish cooking.
cheers,Tony
Looks yummy, but tedious assembling each chip individually. Too much work for this mommy!
I had shrimp nachos somewhere in downtown San Diego YEARS ago and I sure wish I knew where that was because they were DELISH! It was an interesting sauce… kinda sweet. Not a typical nacho flavor.
oh my YUM!!!!!
must try.
Genius! I LOVE shrimp. Putting it on a nacho? AH! Sounds delish!
I love shrimp and these look irresistible! You might also like to check out my Parmesan Prawns – http://www.tastemyplate.com/2009/09/sauteed-parmesan-prawns.html
Thanks Kevin!
What a great appetizer. I was looking for just a thing like this for tonights dinner. My hubby will love it.
those look delicious! definitely will keep that recipe in mind for the future.
http://www.cailenascher.blogspot.com
I love shrimp nachos. I have a great margherita shrimp nachos recipe that I've been loving, but this is a really tasty looking alternative. It's also getting me hyped up to use the grill. 🙂 I can't wait to try make the avocado tomatillo salsa!
Hi Kevin,
New subscriber here! I'm so excited because I was going to do chicken nachos tonight but I also have shrimp around, so I'll make those. I also have lime juice and cilantro. I'm using Doritos Cool Ranch chips. Cheddar cheese. I'm wondering if this will be good with bacon. I'm gonna try it!
Terrah: It's great to have you here! You can never go wrong with bacon! 🙂 If you are into bacon, you should definitely check out my collection of bacon recipes!