Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Avocado Tortilla Bowl Recipe
September 16, 2025
Prawn cocktail mini tacos Recipe
Prawn cocktails, in canapé kind! These one-bite mini tacos are incredible finger meals, and also you’ll love the nifty trick for making the miniature taco shells – simply use an upside-down muffin tin!
Although you’ll catch me consuming the leftover prawn filling by the spoonful, the star of right now’s recipe, is just not the prawns, however slightly, the mini taco shells. Firstly – cute! Versatile!
Secondly – how they’re made. It’s so nifty – simply wedge tortilla rounds into taco shapes utilizing the wrong way up muffin tin, then bake. They arrive out crispy and actually, actually, truly appear to be taco shells!
They’re the right dimension for one-bite finger meals, and will be full of something chopped sufficiently small to suit inside. Do that Jalapeño chicken filling, spicy salmon, Thai chicken salad and even old skool taco beef.
Within the spirit of summer season right here in Australia (and an try to be grown-up cocktail get together canapé worthy), I’ve gone for prawn cocktail with a traditional Marie Rose sauce. You simply can’t go mistaken with that combo!
Right here’s what it is advisable make the mini tacos and prawn cocktail filling.
1. for the mini taco shells
I like to recommend utilizing corn slightly than flour tortillas for the mini taco shells. They’ve extra flavour, plus they bake up crispier and have higher crispy endurance (an asset, as soon as full of the prawn cocktail filling). Nevertheless, I’d use flour tortillas in a pinch if that’s all I may get.
2. marie rose sauce for the prawn filling
The substances listed here are the identical as a traditional prawn cocktail. The one factor we do in a different way is chop the prawns up into small items so that they match contained in the mini taco shells.
3. the prawns
Use any prawns you need. I used tiger prawns, identified for his or her vibrant orange color! See extra right here for details about totally different Australian prawn varieties.
Purchase the prawns pre-cooked, within the shell. Most Australian prawns are cooked quickly after being caught, which locks in freshness and flavour. So long as they’re recent, the standard is superb!
It’s also possible to purchase them uncooked and boil your self, or cook dinner uncooked peeled prawns (instructions in recipe notes).
I like to recommend avoiding the frozen pre-cooked prawns. I do know they’re higher worth, however they don’t style very like prawns, and they’re much drier and and firmer than recent prawns.
The mini taco shells will keep crispy for two days – tremendous useful for getting forward!
1. How one can make the mini taco shells
Use the off cuts to make little crispy tortilla shards to sprinkle on salads. Spray with oil, sprinkle with salt and bake till crispy, then use like croutons!
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Reduce rounds from the tortillas utilizing a 6cm / 2.4″ cutter. I get 3 out of every tortilla. Begin with one tortilla at a time, then stack whenever you’re a professional!
For those who don’t have a cutter, use a glass and small sharp knife.
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Heat – Unfold half the tortillas on a dinner plate and microwave for 30 seconds on excessive to make them pliable. We have to do that as a result of corn tortillas are stiff when chilly so they’ll break when bent into taco shapes.
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Salt and spray – Spray the nice and cozy tortillas with oil and sprinkle with salt.
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Wedge into taco shapes in an the wrong way up muffin tin! Put them in salt aspect down. (There isn’t a must salt the higher aspect as a result of it will get full of the tasty prawn cocktail filling.
Then repeat with remaining tortillas (in case you work quick, you’ll be able to heat and mildew in a single batch).
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Bake – Spray the floor evenly with oil (helps them brown) then bake for 12 minutes at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced) or till they’re golden brown and crispy.
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Cool within the muffin tin so that they set and firmly maintain their form. Then they are often eliminated to make use of or saved in an hermetic container for two days.
Tip: In the event that they soften barely for no matter cause, simply reheat within the oven on a baking tray. 5 minutes at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan) ought to do the trick!
2. MAKING THE PRAWN COCKTAIL FILLING
That is merely a traditional prawn cocktail with the prawns chopped into smaller items so it matches within the mini taco shells.
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Peel the prawns.
(I freeze the pinnacle and shells till I’ve sufficient to make prawn inventory. Crush for freezer house effectivity!)
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Combine the sauce in a bowl. This may be accomplished forward – even the day earlier than.
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Add prawns – Stir the prawns within the sauce.
Don’t do that greater than half-hour forward of utilizing as a result of the salt within the sauce = sweats the prawns = thins the sauce = coats prawns much less plus soaks the taco shells sooner (neither of these items are good).
3. assembling & serving
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Fill the mini tacos shells with the prawn cocktail filling. Do that simply earlier than serving so the shells don’t turn into soggy. Although, in case you use corn tortillas, they’ll keep crisp as soon as crammed for a great half-hour!
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Serve – Sprinkle with chives, then switch to a platter and serve!
I’ve learnt through the years from the professionals that particulars matter. On this state of affairs, the element that I by no means considered beforehand was learn how to cease these mini tacos from falling over and sliding everywhere in the plate as you go them round. And slide, they do!!
A neat trick I learnt from JB is to make use of dried black beans as a mattress to maintain them upright. Heavy and huge sufficient to not keep on with the tacos (like rice would), and I believe the black color appears to be like nice in opposition to the tacos!
Eating places and caters would sometimes go for rock salt as a extra upscale possibility, however dried beans are cheaper and will be re-used which is why I’m going for that.
You don’t want to make use of a mattress of any variety although. You possibly can simply lie the tacos down on their aspect or use the tacos to carry one another up. Although in case you do the later, sternly inform your visitors to take from the sting, not the center, else you’ll danger a mini taco domino toppling state of affairs!! – Johnsat x
Ingredients
- 6 corn tortillas ~13cm / 3" wide (Note 1 on flour tortillas)
- 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt)
- Olive oil spray
- 220g/7 oz cooked prawns/shrimp, peeled (ie 500g/1 lb whole cooked in shell, then peel yourself, Note 2)
- 4 tbsp mayonnaise , preferably whole egg, or Kewpie (Note 3)
- 1 tbsp ketchup (or Aussie tomato sauce)
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp horseradish cream , or better yet fresh horseradish (Note 4)
- 2 dashes of tabasco , for touch of spice (optional)
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper , for touch of spice (optional)
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder (or small garlic clove pressed using garlic crusher)
- 1 tbsp cornichons (or dill pickle), finely chopped
- 1 tbsp chives , finely sliced (or parsley)
- Fancy options – salmon roe, caviar (not pictured)
- Dried black beans or rock salt , to keep upright when serving (optional, Note 5)
Instructions
- Cut 17 x 6cm/2.4" rounds, microwave to soften, oil and salt, press into upside muffin tin. Bake 12 minutes, cool in tin. Fill!
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced). Get a standard 12 hole muffin tin.
- Cut circles from the tortillas using a 6cm / 2.4" cutter. (Note 6 on using offcuts)
- Warm – Spread half on a dinner plate and microwave for 30 seconds on high (makes them pliable). Spray the warm tortillas lightly with oil, sprinkle with half the salt.
- Wedge – Turn the muffin tin upside down. Wedge the tortillas salt side down between the muffin tin holes – they fold into taco shapes! Repeat with remaining rounds.
- Spray the surface of the tortillas lightly with oil (no salt).
- Bake for 12 minutes, or until quite golden and crispy. Cool in the muffin tin so they set. (Stays crisp 2 days!)
- Dice the prawns into small 5mm / 0.2" cubes (for large, cut in half horizontally, lengthwise then chop – see video).
- Mix the Marie Rose sauce in a bowl. Then stir the prawns through, just before assembling.
- Fill taco shells with prawn cocktail filling, sprinkle with chives. To keep them upright, place on a bed of rock salt or dried beans for serving.
- Pass around, bask in praise, be coy when people ask how you made those marvellous mini taco shells!
Notes
1. Tortillas – You’ll need more than 6 tortillas if yours are smaller or less if larger. Corn tortillas bake up crisper than flour ones, have better flavour and stay crisper for longer, but flour tortillas work too – no need to warm to make pliable & takes a few more minutes in the oven.
2. Prawns (shrimp) – Best to buy good whole prawns and peel yourself. Else, buy whole raw and boil, or pan fry – 250g/8oz raw peeled prawns, sprinkle lightly with salt then sear in a pan on medium high heat until just cooked, they will keep cooking as they rest. Cook time will vary with size: small – 1 minute each side, large – 2 minutes first side, 1 1/2 minutes second side.
I find frozen cooked peeled prawns rather flavourless. I’d use seafood sticks instead!
3. Whole egg mayonnaise – smoother, less sharp, not as sweet as regular mayo. Labelled as such on the jar – I like S&W and Hellmans. Else, Kewpie always works 🙂
4. Horseradish cream mainly adds tang here and tiny wasabi-like heat. Can be omitted, don’t sub with lemon juice (thins sauce).
5. Not essential to have a bed of something to keep them upright for serving, you can lie on side or arrange so they hold each other up. To re-use dried beans, rinse under hot water in colander, dry thoroughly tea towels, store in container indefinitely.
6. Cutting rounds – If you don’t have a round cutter, you can always trace around a glass using a small knife. Stack, to cut faster!
Use tortilla offcuts to make crispy tortilla shards for sprinkling on salads. Chop/cut into small random pieces, spray with oil, sprinkle with salt, bake 8 to 10 minutes until crispy.
Making ahead – Mini taco shells will stay crispy for 2 days in an airtight container in the pantry (flour tortillas lose a bit of crispiness but still respectable, can re-crisp in oven for 5 minutes). For filling, prepare both sauce and prawns but don’t combine until <30 minutes before using (salt will extra juice from prawns which tins the sauce). Once filled, they will stay respectably crispy for 30 minutes, but I still scoff them down an hour later!
Nutrition per mini taco.
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