Chili Lime Baked Shrimp Cups

These are the perfect party appetizer. Wonton wrappers are baked in the oven until crisp, filled with arugula, a lime sour cream, and then topped with a big juicy chili-lime baked shrimp.

Chili Lime Baked Shrimp Cups

How to Make Chili Lime Shrimp Cups

I like to think of these as mini shrimp tacos. The shrimp are a little spicy from chili powder, the lime brightens everything up and the arugula keeps the whole thing fresh. You can make the wonton cups in advance, but assemble the cups with the arugula, sour cream and shrimp just before serving.

Chili Lime Shrimp Cups

Since originally sharing the recipe, we have made some changes to bump up the flavors of the shrimp cups. We loved them before, but now they are full of flavor and still just as simple to make. Changes include adding a lime sour cream, swapping regular chili powder for ancho chili powder and lightly seasoning the wonton cups before baking.

We use wonton wrappers for the cups. Most large grocery store chains in the United States sell them now, but they can also be found at International markets or online. Another option is to use store-bought tortilla chips in the shape of cups, sometimes called scoops.

Brush each side of the wonton wrappers with oil, lightly season with salt then press the wrappers into the cups of a mini muffin/cupcake pan. A regular size cupcake pan will also work, the cups will simply be larger.

Making Wonton Cups Ahead of Time: The wonton cups will keep, unfilled, in an airtight container for up to a week. Then fill them right before serving or they’ll get soggy.

How to make baked wonton cups

While the wonton cups bake, prepare the shrimp. Toss with olive oil, the zest of one lime, ancho chili powder, salt, and freshly ground pepper. Then bake in the oven until cooked through.

Assemble the cups by placing a few arugula leaves in the bottom — this looks really nice, but it also helps prevent the bottom of the cups from getting soggy. Add a small dollop of lime sour cream and finish with a chili-lime baked shrimp. Easy!

More Shrimp Recipes

If you loved this easy recipe, take a look a few more of our easy shrimp recipes!

Chili Lime Baked Shrimp Cups

  • PREP
  • COOK
  • TOTAL

These are like mini shrimp tacos. Wonton wrappers are baked in the oven until crisp, filled with arugula, a lime sour cream, and then topped with a big juicy chili-lime shrimp. You can make the wonton shells in advance, but assemble the cups with the arugula, sour cream and shrimp just before serving. See below in the notes section for more details.

Another option for the cups is to use store-bought tortilla chips in the shape of cups, sometimes called scoops.

Makes 12 shrimp cups

Watch Us Make the Recipe

You Will Need

Baked Wonton Cups

15 wonton wrappers (see notes below)

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt

For the Shrimp

2 teaspoons olive oil

12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 lime

1 teaspoon ancho chili powder, try our homemade chili powder recipe or substitute regular chili powder

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup baby arugula leaves

Lime Sour Cream

3 tablespoons sour cream

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

Pinch salt

Directions

  • Prepare Wonton Shells
  • 1Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

    2Lightly brush wonton wrappers on both sides with olive oil. Lightly season one side with salt.

    3Using a mini muffin pan, press the wonton wrappers down into the cups, laying back the corners and pressing the bottoms down to make a defined cup. Bake until lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool.

  • Cook Shrimp
  • 1Using a microplane, zest the lime. Set the lime aside for serving. Add the lime zest to the shrimp along with the olive oil, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Toss then arrange on a baking sheet in one layer. Bake until the shrimp are opaque throughout, 8 to 12 minutes.

  • Make Lime Sour Cream
  • 1In a small bowl, stir the sour cream, lime juice and a pinch of salt together.

  • To Finish
  • 1Fill the cooled wonton cups with a few leaves of arugula, a small dollop of lime sour cream, and a chili-lime shrimp. Serve with lime wedges for spritzing on top.

Adam and Joanne's Tips

  • Number of Wonton Wrappers: A few of the wonton cups may collapse during baking; making them difficult to stand up without falling over. We usually bake a few extras, just in case.
  • Make-Ahead: The wonton cups will keep, unfilled, in an airtight container for up to a week. Fill them right before serving or they’ll get soggy. The shrimp may be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Store in an airtight container in the coldest part of the refrigerator.
  • Nutrition Facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values.

If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste

Nutrition Per Serving Serving Size 1 shrimp cup / Calories 74 / Total Fat 3.2g / Saturated Fat 0.7g / Cholesterol 32.4mg / Sodium 185.7mg / Carbohydrate 6.5g / Dietary Fiber 0.3g / Total Sugars 0.1g / Protein 5.1g
AUTHOR: Joanne Gallagher
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107 comments… Leave a Review
  • Kathleen April 30, 2023, 5:45 pm

    Can the shrimp be served room temp either with or without the cups? I want to make a Mexican inspired cold/room temp app and was thinking to use these shrimp and the sour cream and lime as a dipping sauce. Thanks

    Reply
    • Joanne September 18, 2023, 9:13 pm

      Yes, just don’t keep the shrimp out for longer than two hours.

      Reply
  • Katrina Bell January 12, 2022, 4:51 pm

    Great Recipes!!!!!!

    Reply
  • marjan November 25, 2021, 10:39 am

    well, I made this before and it was wonderful. this time, by mistake I bought baked large shrimp from T.J. Can I still use them just by marinating them with the lime, chilli pepper I don’t want to overcook them, so I am afraid to put them into the pan! what do you think?

    Reply
    • Joanne November 25, 2021, 11:38 am

      I think you will still be okay. Yes, you can still marinate the baked shrimp in the lime/chili pepper. You might consider warming the shrimp and then tossing with the lime and spices.

      Reply
  • Debbie Gurba September 16, 2020, 8:26 pm

    We have appetizer Fridays with another couple, taking turns at each others house. We make a point of trying different appetizer recipes. The host makes two and then the guest brings one. So this week I will be making your chili lime baked shrimp cups. I loved watching your video. looking forward to watching more. Thank you, Debbie and Tom

    Reply
  • Karol May 15, 2020, 10:44 am

    Trying two recipes this weekend! Can’t wait! Just subscribed to Inspired Taste!

    Reply
  • larry barreto October 5, 2018, 5:10 pm

    I like your recipes,thank you

    Reply
  • Nina August 18, 2018, 12:39 pm

    Delicious!

    Reply
  • Nina August 18, 2018, 12:33 pm

    I made this appetizer with my partner for an event at college; it was for our finals, we had more than 200 restaurateurs guests,and our recipe was the winner!:) Thank you for sharing your recipe!

    Reply
  • JEan colardo April 5, 2018, 7:15 am

    Looks delicious..

    Reply
  • Ann Marie E December 23, 2017, 9:15 am

    I found that putting the oil on your hands and lightly salting your hands and rubbing the wrapper between them, cuts time in half when preparing the wontons. It also give its full coverage on the wonton so none of the powder is left behind 🙂

    Reply
  • Melinda December 4, 2017, 12:54 pm

    Made these at Thanksgiving, they were a big hit. I tested them with a regular muffin tin and they were a little too big and needed 2 shrimp per shell. I got a mini tin for the day and they were perfect. Everyone loved them. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

    Reply

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