These Easy Sheet Pan Shrimp Tacos with Roasted Pineapple Salsa let you enjoy the big bold flavors of summer any time of year. This easy recipe really has it all – crunchy and soft textures, not to mention hitting all of the flavor notes – and it’s all pulled together with a creamy avocado sauce. You’re going to want to put this one on repeat!

If you’re looking for another sheet pan dinner celebrating the flavors of Spring, check out this Easy Spring Sheet Pan Chicken with Asparagus and Peas.

A white hex tile background with seven corn tortillas topped with roasted shrimp, pineapple salsa and avocado sauce and lime wedges.

Sheet pan dinners are such a favorite of mine. Combining the ease of cooking with the ease of cleanup is such a win-win for busy families.

For those that hate on sheet pan dinners, I think it’s simply a misunderstanding of timing techniques.

You see, almost every sheet pan dinner will work a little differently. Rarely can you just throw everything on the sheet pan at once, pop it in the oven, and have everything turn out well.

Rather, you have to learn the cook times of different things. This might seem fussy at first, but hear me out.

When something in a dish takes longer to cook than the rest, it allows us to get that started, and while it’s in the oven, you can work on the prep for the rest of the recipe. In the end, this often saves time, and actually makes you feel like an accomplished cook. And if you know me at all, you know that I’m all about building kitchen confidence!

What’s more, it also often gives you some time to pull together a quick sauce or condiment to bring the whole sheet pan together. And this, my friends, is where the magic of the sheet pan dinner comes full circle.

What you’ll love about this recipe:

BOLD BRIGHT FLAVORS – The flavors in this recipe are guaranteed to wake up your taste buds! The assertiveness of the chili, the sweet depth of the roasted pineapple and the tartness of the lime are just a perfect combination.
DELICIOUS SALSA – Ooooohhhh my, this salsa! You can skip the step of roasting the pineapple and you will still have an amazing salsa. But, if you are up for taking it to the next level, do yourself a favor and pop that pineapple under the broiler – you’ll want to eat this salsa with a spoon!
CREAMY AVOCADO SAUCE – This is really what ties all of those bright and bold flavors together – creamy avocado combined with cooling Greek yogurt, cilantro, lime and a touch of honey. This sauce would be welcome on most any taco!

Recipe ingredients

You’ll need the following ingredients to make these amazing Shrimp Tacos:

An overhead flat lay image on a dark wood background of the ingredients required for the recipe.

Ingredient Notes

Shrimp: You will want to use peeled and deveined shrimp in this recipe. You will also need to remove the tails, if they don’t already come that way. As far as size is concerned, I recommend using a slightly larger shrimp, such as 21-25, as the larger size is more forgiving in a roasting application. If you choose to use smaller shrimp, just know that you will need to roast them for a much shorter time – or else they can become tough.

Pineapple: A whole pineapple is required for this recipe. You have two choices here: the first is a fresh whole pineapple that you will prep (detailed instructions below) or you can buy a fresh pineapple that has already been peeled and cored for you. Please note, I would definitely NOT recommend using canned pineapple.

Mint: This recipe calls for a generous amount of mint to be added to the salsa. It really does provide a freshness that can’t be beat. If you are unable to find mint, you may omit it.

Cucumbers: In this recipe, I used three small Persian cucumbers, which have very small seeds, so no further prep is required. If you use larger cucumbers, you will likely need to remove the seeds before dicing them. The amount of diced cucumbers that you ultimately choose to put into your salsa is entirely up to you. It really is a lovely complement to the pineapple.

Jalapeno: This recipe calls for one jalapeno pepper finely diced. You are welcome to use as much or as little or even different varieties of peppers. If you prefer no heat at all, you can completely omit.

Make-Ahead Tip!

You can make the avocado sauce ahead of time if you like. Be sure to put it in an airtight container and cover it with plastic wrap – having the plastic wrap completely touch the sauce so that no air can get in – before putting on the lid. This will keep the avocado from oxidizing and turning brown.

If you choose not to roast the pineapple, you can also make the salsa ahead of time.

How to make Easy Sheet Pan Shrimp Tacos with Roasted Pineapple Salsa: STEP BY STEP

Be sure to check out the full recipe and ingredient list below in the recipe card

Steps 1 & 2:

Preheat the oven to BROIL.

Cut off the top and bottom of the pineapple and discard. Standing the pineapple up, remove the outer skin by cutting from top to bottom and rotating as you go.

A cutting board with a whole pineapple with the top and bottom sliced off.

A whole pineapple on a cutting board laying on it's side showing some of the skin being cut off with a knife.

Steps 3 & 4:

Next, cut the pineapple from top to bottom, straight through the core, in half and then into quarters. Stand each quarter up and cut from top to bottom to remove the core, then cut each quarter, crosswise, into ½-inch thick slices.

A whole pineapple cut into quarters and showing the core being cut out.

Pineapple quarters on a cutting board cut into 1/2-inch pieces.

Steps 5 & 6:

Toss the pineapple with olive oil, salt and pepper and spread out on a sheet pan. Broil for 5 minutes, flip pieces, and broil another 5 minutes.

Marinate the shrimp by combining the lime juice and spices and toss well to coat all of the shrimp.

Pineapple segments on a sheet pan brushed with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper, ready to be roasted.

A cutting board with a bowl of shrimp and the ingredients to marinate with - lime, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, chili powder and garlic powder.

Steps 7 & 8:

Remove the pineapple from the oven and transfer it to a plate to cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees.

Prep the rest of the salsa ingredients, combine, and set aside until the pineapple is cool.

A sheet pan with the roasted pineapple segments just out of the oven.

A cutting board and bowl with the salsa ingredients ready to be mixed together - lime juice and zest, jalapenos, cucumbers, red onion, mint, and cilantro.

Steps 9 & 10:

Make the avocado sauce by combining all of the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor or blender and blend until creamy.

Spread the marinated shrimp in the sheet pan and roast for about 8 minutes.

A food processor bowl with the ingredients for the avocado crema - avocados, greek yogurt, cilantro, honey, lime juice, salt and pepper.

A sheet pan with the marinated shrimp ready to go into the oven.

Steps 11 & 12:

Using a cast iron pan or an open flame, char the corn tortillas on both sides.

When ready to serve, push the shrimp to one side and add the rest of the parts of the dish. Bring the sheet pan to the table and enjoy!

An open gas burner with a medium flame charring a corn tortilla.

A sheet pan with roasted shrimp, shredded red cabbage, charred corn tortillas, wedges of lime, a bowl of pineapple salsa, and a bowl of avocado sauce.

Chef Notes & Tips

Fresh shrimp or frozen shrimp? Actually, unless you live on the coast and have access to truly fresh shrimp, it has all be frozen at some point. So don’t stress about which you have.
Frozen shrimp is very easy to thaw – If you didn’t take it out of the freezer to defrost ahead of time, simply put the shrimp into a colander and run cold water over it for about 5 minutes, tossing it around every so often, and you’ll be ready to go.
Make sure you fully cool the roasted pineapple! Adding warm pineapple to the rest of the salsa ingredients will just make everything wilt, sacrificing the crunchy elements. When it comes out of the oven, transfer it to a plate and spread out the pieces so they can quickly cool. You can even put that plate in the refrigerator to speed up the process.
Don’t omit the honey – that 1 teaspoon of honey in the avocado sauce does not make it sweet, but does do its job by adding balance to the finished sauce.

Storage & Reheating

Storage: You’ll want to store all of the main parts of this dish separately – shrimp, salsa, sauce, tortillas – in airtight containers for up to 3 days. For the avocado sauce, be sure to press plastic wrap onto the top of the sauce before closing the lid – this will help the avocados not to oxidize.

Reheating: To reheat the shrimp, I would add them to a saute pan over medium heat with a splash of water until warmed through. I would not use a microwave to reheat, as it tends to make shrimp rubbery. If you have leftover charred tortillas, you can wrap the stack in foil and place them in the oven or toaster oven at 350 degrees until warmed through. Alternatively, if you don’t have any left over tortillas, you can char some new ones.

Freezing: I would not recommend freezing any parts of this dish.

A white hex tile background with several torillas piled with shrimp, roasted pineapple salsa and avocado crema.

Additions & Substitutions

ADDITIONS:

Red bell pepper: You could add this, finely diced, to the salsa for a pop of color and added texture and flavor.

Fry the tortillas: You could fry the corn tortillas making tostadas instead of tacos.

Fresh garlic for the shrimp marinade: Fresh chopped garlic could be added to the spices to punch up the garlic flavor of the shrimp.

Add lime juice & zest to the shrimp marinade: Although not necessary, this would add another dimension of flavor.

SUBSTITUTIONS:

Swap the shrimp for another protein: You can easily swap in fish for fish tacos or even chicken – but cook times will vary. Beef would also be delicious in this recipe, but you would not want to cook it on the sheet pan – preferably a grill or cast iron pan.

Sour cream: This would be a great substitution for the Greek yogurt in the avocado sauce.

Bell peppers: These would be fine substitutes for the cucumbers in the salsa.

Flour tortillas: You can easily swap flour for corn in this recipe. You will want to warm the flour tortillas, not char them. Wrap a stack of them in foil and place them in a 350 degree oven until warmed through.

FAQs

Unless you live on the coast and have access to actual fresh shrimp, it has all been frozen at some point – so don’t worry about this too much! Frozen shrimp is fine. You can defrost it the night before by removing it from the freezer and placing it in the refrigerator. If you forget to defrost it, you can easily place the frozen shrimp in a colander and run cold water over it for about 5 minutes, and you’ll be ready to go!

You absolutely can! And while you’re at it, you might as well grill the shrimp, too! They will only need to cook for a couple of minutes on each side.

This recipe calls for large shrimp – roughly size 21-25, meaning there are 21-25 pieces per pound. But the truth is you can use larger if you like. I just would not use smaller as they are difficult to roast on a sheet pan without overcooking.

I hope you love these Sheet Pan Shrimp Tacos with Roasted Pineapple Salsa! If you make it, be sure to leave a rating so I know how you like it!

Did you make this recipe?

Mention us @nataliemarblecooks so we can see your creations! You can also leave a comment below!

Easy Sheet Pan Shrimp Tacos with Roasted Pineapple Salsa