The beauty of shrimp tostadas is that they’re just as good served as appetizers as they are as a complete meal. Amid dozens of easy shrimp recipes, shrimp tostadas stand out as one of the easiest. Take simple, fresh ingredients, and pile them onto crispy tortillas. That’s it!
One of the more traditional Mexican food recipes, a tostada is like an open-faced taco, starting with a thin, flat, crispy corn tortilla. Beans, proteins, vegetables, salsa and more all get layered on top of the tortilla. A zesty cream sauce brings it all together, acting as a base layer to hold the toppings on the shell and add zippy flavor.
For this shrimp tostada, you’ll get the sweetest and most delicate shrimp if you cook them yourself, but precooked frozen shrimp make good stand-ins for an even faster meal. Once you make your first batch, tostadas with these and all sorts of other toppings will likely be regulars on your party appetizers and weeknight dinner menus.
Ingredients for Shrimp Tostadas
- Shrimp: It’s easy to clean shrimp if you use fresh or frozen shrimp. Cook at home for the most flavor, or buy precooked ones and let them thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Tostada shells: Store-bought tostada shells typically remain fresh for two to three weeks after the date printed on the package. Once opened, they taste best within a week. If you have extras, break them into chips, and dip them in any of our favorite salsa recipes before they go stale.
- Vegetables: Get the most crunch in the topping by using fresh, crisp vegetables. English cucumbers have few seeds and a thin skin. Salad radishes stay crunchy even when thinly sliced and have a slightly peppery taste. Plum tomatoes have thicker flesh and less juice than other types of tomatoes, so they won’t make your tostadas as soggy. The mildness of green onions makes them ideal for eating raw.
- Jalapeno: For a little heat without watering down the topping, mince some jalapenos. Removing the seeds reduces the spiciness, especially when eaten raw. The oils in hot peppers can burn skin, so wear gloves while preparing them and avoid touching your face.
- Lime juice: Lime juice puts a touch of acidity into this recipe, bringing out the other flavors. Other acids like vinegar can have a similar effect but lack the distinctive citrus taste. If you zest the lime for the sauce and then squeeze the juice from it, you should have enough fresh liquid for both the shrimp topping and the sauce.
- Avocado: Avocados oxidize and darken quickly. Stirring cubes gently into the other ingredients helps them keep their shape; the lime juice in the topping slows the color change. If you cut an avocado into quarters before you peel it, instead of scooping it from the peel, you’ll have a better chance of chopping it into neat pieces. If your avocados are still a bit hard, read up on how to ripen avocados quickly.
- Sauce ingredients: Lime juice and zest build on sour cream’s tangy taste, which readily soaks up the cilantro and cumin. You can prepare and use the sauce straight away, but if you let it stand for 10 or 15 minutes, its flavors will meld more evenly. Spreading it over the tostada shells instead of drizzling it on top will help the topping cling to each tortilla.
Directions
Step 1: Prepare the topping
Place the coarsely chopped cooked shrimp, cucumber, radishes, tomatoes, green onions, jalapenos, cilantro, lime juice, garlic, salt and pepper in a large bowl; toss to combine.
Gently stir in the avocado, coating it with the lime juice. Let the mixture stand for 15 minutes.
Editor’s Tip: To make the juiciest shrimp, bring a saucepan of water with a splash of lime juice almost to a simmer. Add cold peeled and deveined shrimp to the water and poach, stirring occasionally, until just cooked through, about three minutes. The shrimp will look opaque and start to curl into a C shape. Immediately plunge the shrimp in an ice-water bath until cool, and then let them drain dry.
Step 2: Mix the sauce
In a small bowl, mix the sour cream, cilantro, lime zest, lime juice, salt, cumin and pepper. Stir until the ingredients are evenly distributed.
Step 3: Build the tostadas
To serve, spread the tostada shells with a thin layer of sauce, leaving an exposed edge all the way around the shell.
Top the sauce layer with the shrimp mixture, and serve immediately.
Editor’s Tip: For maximum flavor and the least amount of mess, pile the ingredients highest in the center, leaving enough room on the edges of the shell so you can hold the sides with your fingers. You want to get everything in one bite, but you don’t want the whole thing to crumble in your hands. Of course, no one ever faulted anyone for eating a tostada with a fork.
Recipe Variations
- Add black beans: A layer of mashed or refried black beans spread thinly over the sauce might do an even better job of sticking the topping to the tostada shell. Use your favorite brand, or make refried beans yourself. You could also mix lightly mashed black beans into the topping to help hold it together, leaving some of the beans whole for texture.
- Use spiced shrimp: If you’re cooking the shrimp, consider spicing them up. Try this grilled chipotle shrimp recipe or Cajun shrimp for an extra burst of flavor.
- Add heat: Mix up the peppery heat by choosing other types of peppers. Replace the jalapenos with Fresno chilies, and toss the vegetables with a little smoked paprika for a hint of smokiness. Add sweet bell or banana peppers for less heat, or go off the charts with a minced habanero.
- Use a different sauce: Instead of a cream sauce, try fresh salsa verde, perhaps with just a spoonful or two of sour cream mixed in. Instead of cubing the avocado, turn it into guacamole, spread it under the shrimp, and drizzle it on Mexican crema or lemon avocado salad dressing. For personalized layers, serve yogurt and hot sauce on the side.
- Make them into tacos: If flat tostadas seem too messy, pack the filling into taco shells instead. Hard shells give a similar crunch, but soft shrimp tacos are just as tasty and can be made with small street taco tortillas for appetizers. (You can make your own corn tortillas, too!) Or melt shredded cheese on tortilla chips, then pile on the shrimp mixture and sauce for nachos.
How to Store Shrimp Tostadas
Tostada shells keep for about a week in an airtight bag or container at room temperature. Store leftover shrimp topping and sauce separately in sealed containers in the refrigerator. The shrimp mixture will last for two to three days, but the lime juice will continue to soften the vegetables and firm up the shrimp the longer they sit, so it’s best to eat this topping as soon as possible. The leftover sauce will be good for up to one week, so keep spooning it over baked potatoes or salads.
Can you make shrimp tostadas ahead of time?
You can make the various components of shrimp tostadas and store everything until you’re ready to serve them. Freshly cooked shrimp will keep in a refrigerated airtight container for up to four days, so you can cook the shrimp ahead of time, then assemble the topping just before serving. If you bought precooked frozen shrimp, let it thaw slowly in the refrigerator overnight, then keep it stored in the fridge for up to two days.
Chop most of the vegetables in advance, and store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two days. Pack the tomatoes separately to keep the juices from softening the other vegetables, or leave them whole until just before serving. Wait to cut into the avocado until the last minute so that it stays bright green and firm.
Shrimp Tostadas Tips
How do you make homemade tostadas?
For homemade baked tostadas, brush or spray each side of six corn tortillas with sunflower oil, and spread them on a baking sheet. Bake at 400°F for 10 to 12 minutes or until crispy, flipping them halfway through. When you remove them from the oven, let them rest until they harden completely, about five minutes, and then add the toppings.
What can you serve with shrimp tostadas?
A side of rice and beans works well alongside each shrimp tostada, as does Mexican street corn. A side salad would round out the meal, especially a festive fruit salad recipe for a sweeter range of fresh flavors.
