This shrimp enchilada recipe is one of our reader’s favorites- just read all the happy reviews! Filled with tender shrimp, sweet corn, melty cheese and lime zest, lathered in a flavorful yellow mole sauce. Vegetarian-adaptable. Video.
Only love can be divided endlessly and still not diminish.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh
This recipe for Shrimp Enchiladas is a delightful mix of texure and flavors. Shrimp are sauteed with butter, garlic, corn, cilantro, and lime zest, becoming the delicious filling for these tasty enchiladas.
The yellow mole sauce is simple but flavorful. It is made with yellow bell peppers, jalapeno, pumpkin seeds, and spices and blended into a silky smooth, vibrant sauce. Together, the zesty corn and shrimp filling with the luscious sauce is a feast for the senses! Love Mexican Cuisine? Visit 45 Fresh & Tasty Mexican Recipes!
What is Yellow Mole Sauce?
This yellow mole sauce is my take on Mole Amarillo. Mole Amarillo is a golden-colored mole sauce originating from Oaxaca, traditionally made with aji amarillo chiles (which are hard to find here). Mole Amarillo is typically paired with lighter proteins- chicken, fish, or seafood. We’ve simplified it a bit here.
Shrimp Enchilada Recipe Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Shrimp– I always look for wild, raw, peeled, and deveined shrimp to save time. Trader Joe’s has some in their freezer section. If making these vegetarian, you could sub roasted cauliflower or black beans.
- Peppers & Chilies – To get the mole sauce a vibrant yellow- use yellow or orange bell peppers for color! Jalapeno adds the perfect heat- or sub-canned green chiles.
- Pumpkin Seeds– give the mole creaminess, but you could easily sub cashews or a little tahini paste.
- Spices – cumin, coriander, saffron (or annatto) and cayenne to taste.
- Fresh Lime– Fresh lime zest and juice adds a lovely acidity.
- Tortillas– Corn or flour tortillas work here- not too thick.
- Cheese– use a mild melty cheese like queso fresco, Monterey jack cheese, pepper jack cheese or shredded mozzarella
How to make Shrimp Enchiladas
Step one: Make the Yellow Mole Sauce. (You could do this ahead).
Saute onion, bell pepper, and garlic until fragrant. Add spices, saffron water, salt, broth and pumpkin seeds and simmer until seeds soften. Blend until smooth.
Step two: Make the Shrimp Enchilada filling.
Chop up the shrimp and saute in butter and garlic over medium high heat. Add corn, lime zest, oregano, and cilantro. Season. Mix in cheese and a little of the yellow mole sauce. Taste and adjust salt, heat and lime. Add a pinch of cayenne pepper, for added heat, or a squeeze of lime juice for more acid.
Step three: Assemble. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Warm the corn tortillas to make them pliable. Fill each tortilla with 1/2 cup of the shrimp mixture, roll the tortilla, then place the seam-side down in the baking dish. Lather with enchilada sauce. You won’t need all the sauce- save the rest for plating. Sprinkle with cheese. (You could do this all ahead and refrigerate for 24 hours before baking.)
Step four: Bake. Bake uncovered at 375F until golden and melty, about 20 minutes.
To plate the enchiladas, warm the remaining yellow mole sauce in a saucepan, spoon a little on each plate, and top with an enchilada. Add sliced radishes and chopped cilantro. Microgreens would be pretty here too.
Serving suggestions
These are on the slightly richer side- so I like to opt for something light like our Mexican Slaw or this Cucumber Salad. My husband always loves rice; this Mexican Cilantro Lime Rice pairs well.
FAQS
Yes! The sauce and filling can both be made ahead, and the enchiladas can be assembled one day ahead before baking.
Yes, substitute the shrimp with roasted cauliflower- chop it up small! You could also add beans. To make this vegan, use melty vegan cheese.
Corn tortillas are more traditional and authentic, but both can be used. If using corn tortillas, warm them so they are pliable to prevent cracking when rolling. They can be lightly toasted in the oven, grill, or pan-seared. Dipping the warm tortillas in enchilada sauce before rolling is also traditional but does require an extra step.
Storage
Leftover shrimp enchiladas can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen. Be sure to thaw before reheating. Reheat in a 350 F oven.
More favorite shrimp recipes
Enjoy these and let us know what you think in the comments below. -xo
Shrimp Enchiladas Video
Shrimp Enchilada Recipe
- Prep Time: 40
- Cook Time: 25
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 8
- Category: dinner idea, shrimp, seafood
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: mexican
Description
A delicious recipe for Shrimp Enchiladas, filled with tender garlic shrimp, sweet corn, and lime zest, lathered in a flavorful Yellow Mole Sauce. Vegetarian-adaptable, with a video!
Ingredients
Yellow Mole Sauce:
- pinch saffron with hot water (see notes)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, white or yellow, rough chopped
- 4 garlic, rough chopped
- 2 yellow bell peppers (or one orange and one yellow for BEST color)
- 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds (or raw cashews)
- 2 teaspoons coriander
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground annatto (optional, sometimes hard to find, feel free to leave it out)
- 1/8–1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 3/4 teaspoons salt, more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, optional, for color.
- 1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice (zest it, save for filling)
Shrimp Enchilada Filling:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 garlic cloves, rough chopped
- 1 –2 tablespoons jalapeno, finely chopped
- 1 lb shrimp, raw, peeled and deveined, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups corn, fresh is nice, frozen is fine
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon lime zest
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 1/2 –2 cups shredded mozzarella or queso fresco, divided (6 ounces)
- 1/4 cup cilantro
8 x 6-inch corn tortillas
Garnish: cilantro, radish, microgreens
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F
- Make the yellow mole sauce: Pour 2 tablespoons boiling water over the saffron, and let sit. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Saute onion, bell pepper and garlic, and cover to let this steam and soften for about 5 minutes. Add coriander, cumin, cayenne (go light, add more to taste later) salt, pepper and saffron water. Stir one minute. Add the stock and pumpkin seeds. Bring to a simmer, cover, and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes until pumpkin seeds have softened. Let this cool. Add the lime juice. Blend until creamy, and silky smooth. You could do this ahead. Taste and adjust the cayenne to your liking. If you want to bump up the yellow color, add 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric.
- Make the enchilada filling. Chop the shrimp into small pieces. Heat the butter and garlic over medium-low heat. Add the shrimp and jalapeno and saute 2-3 minutes. Add the corn, oregano, lime zest, and salt. Once the shrimp is cooked, turn off the heat. If it is liquidy, drain. Stir in the cilantro, and add 1/2 cup of the mole sauce and half of the cheese. Taste and adjust salt, heat (add cayenne if you want) and acid (add a little lime juice if you want).
- Assemble. Warm the tortillas (so they are pliable and don’t crack when rolled) either in the oven, microwave, pan-sear or heat over a gas flame-then wrap up in a towel. Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish. Place roughly 1/2 cup of the filling in each tortilla, rolling one at a time, placing seam side down in the baking dish. Lather with the sauce- you won’t need all -save the extras for plating. Sprinkle with cheese.
- Bake uncovered until golden and melty, 20-25 minutes.
- If serving like the photo above, heat the remaining mole sauce in a small saucepan. Spoon a little mole sauce on a plate, place the enchilada over the top. Top with thinly sliced radishes and a sprinkling of chopped cilantro. Microgreens are nice here too.
Notes
These can be made a day ahead and refrigerated- be sure to bring to room temp before baking.
For a different sauce option, this Creamy Poblano Sauce would taste good too!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 enchilada
- Calories: 326
- Sugar: 3.8 g
- Sodium: 968.7 mg
- Fat: 17.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 24 g
- Fiber: 3.6 g
- Protein: 21.6 g
- Cholesterol: 111.9 mg
In my book, one hallmark of a great recipe is that it adapts to experimentation well. It was too hot to fire up the oven for these enchiladas, so I put them into a burrito with the sauce and cheese on the inside. Everyone’s eyes around the table lit up when they tasted the result. F@H nails it again with this one.
Great to hear Brian!
This is an absolutely delicious recipe! But it took me 1 hour 45 min, and I am not a slow cook. Be prepared!
Thanks Lola!
110% agree. Super delicious, even without the saffron, but it took me just under two hours to get it in the oven, even while working on the filling & mole concurrently.
Tossed in a seeded habanero and used 1/3 cup Tahini instead of pepitas, turned out great, just took some time!
Glad you enjoyed Kyle!
Great recipe! I threw a whole Habanero seeds and all into the mole sauce to add some spice and it was amazing
Sounds great CJ!
I made these with left over rotisserie chicken instead of shrimp and they were AMAZING!!!!!!!!!
Perfect Kathryn!
¡Tan delicioso! I will definitely be making it again! The mole sauce is absolutely the best–the saffron really kicked it up a notch. Every flavor in the final dish was balanced. I made half without cheese, and both versions were incredible! A bit time-consuming to prepare, but super tasty and very straightforward. One question: does the fresh corn need to be blanched first? We did that this time, but cutting out a step would be great for next time.
Thanks so much Megan! I just saute the corn, no need to blanch.
I did really like the flavors! Left out the saffron, because I thought it would get lost in all the other flavors, and added Aji amarillo paste to give the mole a little kick. My tortillas became somewhat mushy during the baking. Any suggestions for my next attempt? Thanks.
I need to find some of that paste! That is exactly what this recipe needs, Joe! As for tortillas, did you use corn? You could fry them before rolling like they often do in Mexico.
I looked at the label of my “corn”tortillas, and wheat flour was listed. I’m going back to the authentic from our Mexicantown tortilla shop. I use the Goya aji amarillo paste. $3.00 at our local mercado, $8.00 at Amazon. Hope you can find it locally.
I will try to find! I prefer all corn tortillas in enchiladas, they hold up better I think.
Really liked this. Always looking for something a bit different and this fit the bill. As I was peeling shrimp, it hit me that o should have just made stock out of the shrimp peel, tails and the corn cob. Just an idea for those using unpeeled shrimp and fresh corn.
I’m happy you enjoyed this! Yes, this would be a great stock!
Excellent recipe. The enchilada filling and yellow mole sauce are both outstanding. Love the way this meal comes together. We enjoyed this with the Mexican slaw using purple cabbage. Many thanks for a delicious and beautifully presented meal.
Thank you Lisa- I’m so glad you gave it a go! Sounds perfect with the purple slaw!
Beautifully balanced flavors. Presentation equally lovely.
I made the recipe exactly as written and don’t have to change a thing.
Definitely one of my favorites.
Feasting at Home has become one of my favorite cooking sites.
Yay Gail! graet to hear!
These were SO good and beautiful too! Love the combination of flavors. Another big hit!
Thanks so much Ragna!
So delicious! Made exactly as written and everyone loved them!
Thanks Meghan!
Thank you for yet another delicious recipe! This was my first time making enchiladas and these were amazing! I made recipe as is and it turned out perfect! I love that your recipes have such depth of flavors and you also bring the heat!!
Thanks Joanne- glad you liked this one!
Another winner! However next time I will go for more jalapeños and cayenne, I went on the lighter side of your recommendations. My Mole sauce was quite a bit runnier than yours (by looking at your stunning pictures) but it ended up turning out amazing.
Glad you enjoyed Mona and yes, I kept these quite mild- feel free to spice them up!
oh my goodness! these were delightful! as good as i thought they would be!
Awesome to hear Catherine!
Your recipes never fail to impress!
Used mushrooms instead of shrimp and subbed vegan cheese and other obvious subs to make this vegan. It is absolutely AMAZING! Thank you for making easily adaptable and incredibly tasty recipes!!! Yummmmmmmmm
Mushrooms! Yum! Love your adaptions Megan.
Made these to take to a friend’s for dinner last night. They were fantastic! I did add more cayenne and little more jalapeno. Also had cotija on hand from a party I did a couple of weeks ago. These were a big hit and I will definitely make them again.
Great to hear Jo!
I added more lime juice and spiced up with extra cayenne, great recipe!! Made with pre cooked frozen shrimp. Settled into the flavor well. Ty!
Great to hear Megan!
Oh wow! Made these for family and substituted butter beans (didn’t have black beans to hand) for the two vegetarians, shrimp for the rest. Soooo good as with everything on FaH site.
Thank you!
Thanks so much Laura!
Finally feels like summer and was excited to get back to this section of your recipes! My husband can’t eat bell peppers, do you think the sauce would still be successful with poblanos?
They would work, but they would be spicier!
Thank you so much for this recipe. My family loves it. They already asked me to make it again.
Awesome Monique!
What would you suggest as a replacement for the shrimp? (I am highly allergic to shrimp, crab and lobster.) Would scallops get overcooked while baking? Any other ideas?
Hey Kris, That is a great question- I bet they would be ok!
We have gastric issues with all bell peppers. Any suggested substitutions for the sauce?
Thank you
Oh shoot Terry… I am racking my brain here. Yellow tomatoes?? You would probably need less liquid.
Just got an idea… what do you think of a mix of tomatillos and poblanos? It would light green, but thinking the flavors would work. I’ll look for yellow tomatoes too. Will keep you posted. Thank you.
Yes! 🙌 Give it a try. The tomatillos will make it more tart, so adjust lime to taste. Let me know how it turns out!
Genius flavor combination and beautiful on the plate! I’m thinking of trying these again as take along to make the mole and the filling day ahead but not assemble, then take all along to assemble and bake the day after arrival. Sylvia, do you think that will work?
I think that would work fine!
This recipe landed in my inbox yesterday morning and I knew immediately what were having for dinner. The shrimp enchiladas were a delicious Friday night meal. The flavors all came together perfectly and there were no leftovers. It took me a while to pull it all together, but I’m sure I’ll be able to prepare everything faster next time. Definitely worth the effort!
I am so glad you gave this a go Jeremy! Yes, if you do multiple things at once, it can go pretty quickly! Glad you enjoyed it and thanks so much for being the first to rate and comment!
This was incredible! The email with this recipe came this morning. I went grocery shopping at lunchtime and made it for dinner. It took about 2 1/2 hours to make, but well worth the time! I also made Mexican slaw to go with it. The cheese on top of the enchiladas got really brown in the oven but that was really good too. I might try covering it in the oven for a while next time so it’s not so crispy.
Thanks Mandy- so glad you enjoyed this.Yes you can always cover it or lower the heat a bit. I forgot to mention placing it on the middle rack…maybe that was it?
Hi Sylvia, I’m not a fan of saffron, is it critcal to use for this recipe?
No, but it does give a pretty color. 🙂
Amazing recipe!! Got the email this morning and made ‘em for dinner—-wife and I LOVED them!! Keep the awesome recipes coming!
Thanks and Oh Wow! You were fast! Glad you both enjoyed these Steven. My husband devoured these too. 😉