If you’re looking for something a bit different – but utterly delicious – for your dinner tonight, give these scampi, samphire and tartar sauce tacos a go.
This is a bit of a fusion meal. We’ve moved well away from Mexican flavours to fill these tacos and have instead gone for the taste of a traditional English seaside. Sounds strange, but trust me – it works!
Using simple frozen breaded scampi, crispy taco shells, salty samphire and store cupboard ingredients for a flavourful tartar sauce, you get something really quite special.
Ingredients, Substitutions and Variations
- Frozen breaded scampi – you could of course bread your own scampi, but we’re going for ease here. Any breaded fish will work nicely – fish fingers would be great!
- Samphire – samphire is one of my favourite vegetables, but it can be tricky to get hold of. If you struggle, replace with some finely chopped cucumber and a handful of watercress.
- Hard taco shells – you can use soft shells if you like, but I think the texture of hard taco shells works really well here.
- Mayonnaise, gherkins, capers, dill, Worcestershire sauce, mustard – these are your tartar sauce ingredients. You can use English or Dijon mustard, but aside from this I wouldn’t change up the ingredients (to make sure you get the full flavour whack).
Top Tips
- Cooking the seafood Make sure you follow the packet instructions here in case your scampi is a different size to mine. You want the outside to be golden and crisp.
- Cooking the samphire Samphire needs just three minutes to cook – it just needs to heat through. Don’t cook any longer than this – it can become bitter.
- Get ahead You can make the tartar sauce well in advance – in fact, it’ll keep in the fridge for up to a month so why not double up the ingredients and make extra!
Scampi, Samphire and Tartar Tacos
Ingredients
- 300 grams frozen breaded scampi
- 90 grams samphire
- 8 hard taco shells
- 100 ml mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon chopped dill
- 1 tablespoon capers
- 3 small gherkins
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon mustard English or Dijon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Put the scampi on a baking tray and cook according to packet instructions – usually around 20-25 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the tartar sauce. Finely chop your gherkins and capers and put in a bowl. Add the mayonnaise, dill, Worcestershire sauce and mustard and stir well to combine.
- Three minutes before the scampi will be cooked, put the samphire in a nonstick frying pan. Cook over a medium heat, stirring often, for three minutes.
- Put the taco shells in the oven for the last 30 seconds of the scampi cooking time.
- To serve, evenly share the samphire between the taco shells. Top with the scampi, then drizzle over the tartar sauce. Enjoy!
More Fish and Seafood Recipes
If you enjoy cooking fish at home, you’ll find plenty more inspiration in my fish and seafood recipes collection. Fish is brilliant for weeknight dinners – it cooks quickly, feels light and fresh, and can be packed with flavour.
Try some of the most popular recipes from the site:
- Pan Fried Sea Bass with Olive Linguine – crisp-skinned sea bass served with a punchy olive pasta. Simple but incredibly satisfying.
- Asian Style Whole Baked Black Tilapia – a fragrant oven-baked fish with bold Asian flavours.
- Lightly Smoked Salmon with Crushed New Potatoes and Mustard Cabbage – a fresh, elegant dish that works beautifully for lunch or dinner.
- Baked Cod with Creamy Chorizo Beans – flaky cod served with rich, smoky beans. A proper flavour-packed dinner.
If you’re looking for easy fish dinners for tonight, these recipes are a great place to start.
This taco is definitely not ordinary. I love trying new recipes throughout the week. Thanks!
The crunch of the tacos and the scampi was delicious.
Such a delicious twist on tacos, the samphire really makes this dish a sure winner! Thank you!
Samphire was a bit hard to find but I’m glad I chanced upon it! It was a unique the ingredient that truly elevated the sauce! Thank you!
This is an excellent dinner! The best part about these scampi tacos is the homemade tartar sauce! Simple yet delicious!