Coconut Shrimp and Fried Avocado Tacos on the Traeger

In partnership with Safeway

As you’re planning your menu for the big game coming up, definitely consider adding coconut shrimp and these fried avocado tacos, both cooked up on the Traeger, to your gameday menu. Hearty, filling and unique, these two items are a must-have on the buffet and will fill your guests bellies with happiness! With the simplicity of grocery delivery from Safeway’s Fresh Pass program, we can have our big party and great food without having to leave the house. It’s a win-win-win. 

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HOSTING A PARTY FOR THE BIG GAME

With the end of the football season fast approaching, I’m sharing a bunch of great food ideas for the big game weekend so that you can get your big game spread all planned out. It’s one of our most favorite times to host friends at our house, because everyone can enjoy good company, good food and usually some decent football viewing. 

At some houses, a party for the Eagles-Chief game is a good excuse for a potluck. Everyone brings something and variety abounds. But at our house, any excuse to cook for friends and family is worthwhile and that remains true for big game watching. Because of the ease of cooking on our Traeger grills, feeding a crowd with a big spread of unique eats is super easy and fun. 

SAFEWAY GROCERY DELIVERY MAKES IT EASY

When we are having a gathering– and honestly most of the time– we use Safeway’s Fresh Pass delivery program to make our lives easy. As parents of twins who both have other jobs (beyond cooking for social media!), a trip to the grocery store often feels like the last thing we can fit in. So it’s pretty awesome when we can sit in bed, click through our grocery list, and have groceries on the porch the next morning. It’s like magic and Safeway Fresh Pass makes it happen. 

UNIQUE RECIPES TO COOK OUTDOORS

For this year’s party, we are trying to ensure that everything we serve has been cooked outside. It’s just our thing– year-round grilling on the Traegers in our back yard. And despite the frigid temperatures that Colorado has been dealing with for weeks this winter (we’re usually used to plenty of 60* days mixed among the snowy ones), we’re doing our best to keep the grills going and the good food rolling.

Planning ahead for the big game, we wanted to create two tasty bites that use the Traeger in unexpected ways. And in looking at the circular from Safeway, two ingredients jumped out at us– shrimp on sale and fresh Hass avocados! Now they could definitely be used together to create a unique recipe, but we upped the ante by making two distinct dishes with shrimp and avocado as the primary ingredients, respectively. 

On the menu for the big game: coconut shrimp and fried avocado tacos, both cooked upon the Traeger. 

ORDERING UP INGREDIENTS

In advance of the big game day, we logged into our Safeway app to put together our grocery order. Using the Safeway Fresh Pass shopping and delivery service, all we needed to do was enter our order and select a delivery window and our work was done. 

Knowing that extra jumbo shrimp was on sale this week, we added a pound of those to our order along with a bag of Safeway’s Signature Farms avocados. The rest of the ingredients were mostly things we could use for both dishes– including a couple boxes of Panko breadcrumbs, some flour and eggs, etc. 

COCONUT SHRIMP BAKED ON THE TRAEGER

Coconut shrimp is one of my favorite foods and I never think to make it home. So it feels extra special to have it because it usually only happens when we go to a restaurant. But in reality, it’s a super simple dish, with an elevated appeal and using my Traeger grills to cook them up was the perfect approach.

Pick big shrimp for this recipe– 16-20 shrimp per pound is ideal because it gives you lots of surface area on which to adhere the breading, and your guests will enjoy big tasty shrimp with dip when they’re served. The shrimp we got from Safeway’s fish counter were “extra jumbo” and came in at 16-20 per pound. Our pound delivered from through Safeway Fresh Pass had 16 shrimp! 

These shrimp come deveined and cleaned and peeling is super simple. Just leave the tail piece intact so that you have a handle for holding while dipping– and it adds to the overall look of the dish. If your shrimp aren’t defrosted when you’re ready to get cooking, a good tip is to run cool water over the shrimp for about 10 minutes, and they’ll be perfectly defrosted. 

We used the three-bowl technique for the breading– seasoned flour, beaten egg, and 50/50 coconut flakes and panko breadcrumbs. Rather than frying these coconut shrimp up, we placed them on a wire rack over a cookie sheet (to catch drips and loose pieces of coconut) and baked them in a hot Traeger for about 15 minutes. You get just a touch of wood-fired flavor in the food as a result of cooking on the Traeger, cleanup is a breeze and your guests will be so thrilled to enjoy handmade coconut shrimp right off the grill. 

With these tasty coconut shrimp, we served them with some of the Safeway brand’s Waterfront Bistro Cocktail Sauce. Simple and delicious. 

FRIED AVOCADO TACOS ON THE TRAEGER

For this second recipe using ingredients from Safeway that were delivered to our doorstep through the Safeway Fresh Pass membership, we whipped up a batch of amazing fried avocado tacos. Give this recipe a try and you won’t look back!

In the past, fried avocado tacos have been a treat we only have at restaurants. Much like coconut shrimp, it seemed intimidating to even consider making such a dish at home. But the reality is they’re pretty simple, super delicious and when cooked up on the Traeger in our backyard, they simply can’t be beaten. 

We started this recipe by getting a bag of 7 perfectly-ripe avocados from Safeway. We picked the Signature Farms Hass Avocados for this dish, because this time of year they’re in season, ripe and delicious. You want avocados that are just slightly firm, because they’ll hold up best in this cook. The ones we had delivered from Fresh Pass hit the mark!

Same as with the shrimp, a three-bowl breading station was key to making these fried avocado tacos. Seasoned flour, beaten egg and panko breadcrumbs. Add seasoning to the bread crumbs if you want, but certainly not required. 

We dipped wedges of sliced avocado in the flour-egg-panko rotation and ensured all the slices were well coated.  Using the induction burden on the Traeger Timberline XL grill, we heated up a small cast iron pan with about ¾ of an inch of vegetable oil. Get that oil to about 350* and then into the oil the dipped slices go. The great part about quickly frying the avocado to get the breading golden brown is that it takes just a minute or two per side, and the avocado itself remains cool in the middle.

Assembly for these tacos is super simple– and with all the ingredients dropped off on our doorstep through Safeway Fresh Pass, we could get these tacos on the table in a hurry. A dollop of bean puree, some homemade pico de gallo, fried avocado slices, homemade poblano ranch and crumbled queso fresco. Simple and delicious fried avocado tacos with limited mess, no trip to a restaurant and made for family and friends to enjoy for the big game! 

PRIMARY INGREDIENTS

Coconut shrimp

• Extra Jumbo Raw Shrimp from the Safeway seafood counter
• Waterfront Bistro Cocktail Sauce
• O Organics Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
• Panko bread crumbs
• O Organics Eggs
• Signature Select All Purpose Flour
• Signature Select Cooking Spray 
• Salt and pepper
• Lemons

Fried Avocado Tacos

• Signature Farms Hass Avocados
• Panko bread crumbs
• O Organics Eggs
• Signature Select All Purpose Flour
• Signature Select Vegetable oil
• Poblano pepper
• Ranch dressing
• Cilantro
• Pickled jalapenos
• Canned Chili Beans
• Flour tortillas (street taco size)
• Homemade quick pico de gallo (see recipe below)
• Crumbled queso fresco

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WHY COOKING THESE BIG GAME DISHES ON THE TRAEGER WORKS 

When you love cooking everything outside on your grill, doing so for family and friends for occasions like the big football game coming up is a no-brainer. We love how people are always impressed by the variety of things we can cook on the grill, and how easy it makes our lives when it comes to cleanup. No hot ovens, no grease or smells in the house. Food comes off the Traegers hot and ready to eat and that’s exactly how we want it for our guests when they join us for the big game! 

STEP-BY-STEP

COCONUT SHRIMP

• If the shrimp is frozen, be sure to give yourself plenty of time to defrost them. 
• Peel the shrimp, leaving the tail intact. 
• In three bowls, prepare your breading ingredients.
• First bowl: beaten eggs, Second bowl: seasoned flour, Third bowl: 50/50 blend of panko breadcrumbs and shredded coconut
• Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and place a wire rack atop.
• Spray the wire rack with nonstick spray.
• Preheat your Traeger Grill to 375*.
• Coat the shrimp by first dipping in flour, then egg wash, then rolling in the coconut mixture. 
• Place the shrimp on the prepared wire rack and continue with the remaining shrimp.
• Spray the top of the coated shrimp with nonstick spray.
• Put the shrimp on the rack in the preheated grill and cook for 8 minutes until golden brown.
• Carefully flip the shrimp over and cook for 5-8 more minutes until golden on the second side. 
• The shrimp should reach an internal temperature of 120*.
• Remove the shrimp from the grill and sprinkle lightly with salt.
• Transfer cooked coconut shrimp to a platter and serve with cocktail sauce. 

FRIED AVOCADO TACOS

• Preheat your Traeger grill to 350*.
• Place the whole, washed poblano pepper on the grill grates and close the lid.
• Allow the pepper to cook about 10 minutes, then transfer it to a metal bowl and cover with plastic wrap. 
• Pour about ¾ of an inch of vegetable oil in a small cast iron skillet.
• Place the skillet on the induction burner of your Traeger Grill and begin gently heating the oil. 
• Pour the can of beans in a small blender or food processor and pulse until smooth.
• Transfer the bean puree to a microwave-safe bowl.
• Rinse the blender bottle and to it add the ranch dressing, the grilled poblano (seeds and stem removed, cilantro and pickled jalapeno.
• Blend until very smooth and season to taste.
• Peel, pit and slice the avocado into wedges. 
• Arrange three bowls for breading– beaten egg, flour and panko breadcrumbs. 
• When the oil has reached 350*, begin coating the avocado slices.
• Dip first in flour, then in egg wash, then in breadcrumbs. Repeat with remaining slices.
• Using a slotted spoon or metal spatula, carefully lower the breaded avocado slices into the hot oil and fry until just golden brown (about 3 minutes).
• Flip and fry on the other side for another 60-90 seconds. 
• Remove the fried avocado slices to a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with salt.
• Repeat frying with remaining slices. 
• Warm tortillas briefly in the hot grill and quickly heat the beans in the microwave. 
• Top each tortilla with a dollop of beans and a scoop of pico de gallo.
• Arrange two fried avocado slices on each tortilla.
• Drizzle with poblano ranch and sprinkle with queso fresco.
• Serve your fried avocado tacos and enjoy! 

QUICK PICO DE GALLO

Whipping up a small batch of quick pico de gallo is one of our go-to-ways to elevate a dish with that homemade touch. Use what you have on hand– but here’s a general idea of what we do.

• 2 small tomatoes (we like Campari tomatoes), diced small
• 1 slice red onion, diced small
• 1 tbsp fresh cilantro, diced
• ½ tsp diced jalapeno pepper (or substitute a hot sauce)
• Juice of ½ a lime
• 1 tsp olive oil
• ½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp oregano
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and season to taste. Set aside until ready to eat. 

OTHER RECIPES TO MAKE FOR THE BIG GAME

Here are some other recipe ideas for your big game spread:

• Big Game Snacks
• Truffalo Chicken Bites
• Spicy Texas BBQ Shrimp
• Pulled Chicken Taquitos

Products used in this cook:

• Safeway Fresh Pass– online ordering, in-store shopper and unlimited free delivery over $30
• Traeger Timberline XL grill

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