Chili Lime Shrimp with Zoodles

When my beau asked what kind of tacos we’d be having on Taco Tuesday, I responded that I was thinking either chicken or shrimp. He said “why not both?” Uh because that sounds real fancy and I ain’t the Queen of Sheba, thank you very much.

But then I was like ooo but both of those do sound nice…

Instead of combining them, I decided to stick with chicken in my tacos but incorporated shrimp into a side dish that used zoodles as the base. This was a Mexican take on a shrimp pasta that also kept the calorie count down and gave me a healthy Taco Tuesday side dish that wasn’t salad, which is my go-to.

First, defrost jumbo shrimp and pat them nice and dry. I’m not a huge fan of frozen shrimp, but they work in a pinch. At Trader Joe’s, I prefer the raw red Argentinian shrimp over their other varieties. I’m actually going to tell you to get two colanders going because zoodles release tons of water when you cook them in a skillet. Sauté a package of zoodles in a pan with salt and pepper til they’re just a bit softened. Drain them in a colander and pat dry. (Note: I used a couple paper towels to push the water through the strainer.) Once your skrimps are ready, coat them with chili lime seasoning and cook them in a pan (cast iron if possible) or grill them. Toss them with the zoodles, some cilantro, and crumbled cotija cheese.

I was so happy these shrimpies didn’t shrink down to nothing (so often the case with frozen). This whole dish felt light and summery and I loved highlighting some different flavors in a “pasta” dish – cotija instead of parmesan, cilantro instead of basil, chili instead of red pepper flakes. Also, Shrimp take about a second to cook so this is a super easy dish to throw together. Who says you always have to have rice as your Taco Tuesday side dish?!