Healthy Baja Shrimp Burrito

This Baja shrimp burrito recipe is a lighter take on the typical burrito you’d get out. It’s loaded with nourishing ingredients and so satisfying.

Now that we’re living in Southern California, we love Baja inspired foods (I made these shrimp burritos twice this past weekend!). Baja style cuisine offers fresh ingredients, great crunch, a creamy sauce and often a little sweetness and spicy kick. It’s a great easy meal option for clean eating, being so flavorful and light. I wanted to make a healthier and lighter version to the typical fried fish or shrimp option, so it’s more of a California shrimp burrito. You can definitely bread and fry the shrimp if you’d prefer. As a healthier approach to fried shrimp, I’ve been using chick pea flour for the breading, which has a really surprising crunch.

You could disassemble this easy shrimp burrito recipe to make a salad over greens, or swap the tortilla for rice and make a Baja shrimp grain bowl too. And if you want to make a healthier flour tortillas, see my recipe here.

How to make a Baja Shrimp Burrito

1. Shrimp

2. Crunchy vegetables (shredded cabbage or lettuce)

3. Creamy chipotle sauce

4. Add ins

Shrimp

You can use your favorite variety and sized shrimp, I typically use white shrimp. In this recipe, I roasted the shrimp at a high temperature, but grilled shrimp would be delicious in this burrito. You can also bread and pan fry the shrimp if you prefer that method.

Crunchy vegetables

I love using thinly sliced or shredded cabbage in this burrito for crunch. A shredded crunchy lettuce, like iceberg, could work too! I also added some sliced radish for a health and crunch boost.

Chipotle Sauce

To me, a Baja burrito is made by the chipotle crema. To make this recipe super easy I mixed sour cream with chipotle mayonnaise. You can alternatively mix chipotle in adobo with sour cream and a little mayonnaise.

Add ins

You can add various add ins to this recipe. I added rinsed/drained canned black beans, diced red onions and sliced jalopeños. Pickled jalapeños would also be delicious!

Photo Instructions

(recipe at the end!)

Step 1

I heat up the tortilla over the stove burner moving it around every few seconds until it bubbles and browns. Then I add canned and drained black beans. I like the brand Mi Rancho organic tortillas.

Step 2

Add on the veggies. You can use lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sliced jalapeño or fresno chili (hot), thinly sliced cabbage, thinly sliced radish, chopped onion or grated carrot. You can even add sweet fruits like chopped pineapple or mango (I use a pineapple hot sauce for the top!)

step 3

Add the sauce.

step 4

Add the shrimp (or protein).

step 5

Roll it up. Fold over sides first, then roll.

step 6

Heat the seam side down on medium heat until browned. (Evan is the pro burrito roller here, I was impressed (on the right)).

Recipe

For the shrimp (~3/4 lb for 2 servings)

• Marinate for 15 minutes to a few hours in

  • A drizzle of roasting oil (olive oil, avocado oil)

  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder

  • 1/4 tsp smoked paprika (I’ve been using Frontier Co-Op brand)

  • 1/4 tsp cumin

  • a pinch of salt

  • ground pepper

• Bake in an oven heated to 500F until pink and curled (time will vary based on size of shrimp). Mine took 6ish minutes. I use a stone baking sheet, preheated it, then cooked the shrimp on it!

For the Creamy Chipotle Sauce - 2 servings

• 2 tbsp sour cream

• 1 tbsp chipotle mayo (Sir Kensington brand)

  • you can use plain mayo and liquid from chipotle in adobo to taste also

• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

• Juice of half a lime

• a pinch of salt