Description
This Mexican shrimp cocktail (Coctel de Camarones) is a vibrant, refreshing, and spicy seafood dish packed with fresh vegetables and zesty tomato-based sauce. It’s perfect for warm days, parties, or light dinners—delicious and easy to prepare!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 medium tomatoes, diced
- 1 small cucumber, peeled and diced
- 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
- 1 small avocado, diced
- 2 tbsp chopped cilantro leaves (stems reserved for poaching)
- 1 cup vegetable juice (such as V8)
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 1 1/2 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (for poaching)
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 1/2 tsp hot sauce (Cholula or Tapatio)
- 1/4 cup water (to adjust consistency)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Tortilla chips or saltine crackers, for serving
Instructions
- Bring 2 quarts water to a boil with lemon juice, salt, black peppercorns, and cilantro stems. Add shrimp, remove from heat, cover and let stand 3 minutes. Transfer to ice bath, then peel.
- In a large bowl, mix tomatoes, cucumber, onion, vegetable juice, ketchup, lime and lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and water.
- Add shrimp to the sauce and stir gently. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes (up to 24 hours).
- Just before serving, fold in avocado and chopped cilantro. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Spoon into glasses or bowls. Garnish with lime wedges and serve with tortilla chips or saltines.
Notes
Add avocado just before serving to prevent browning. For less spice, reduce hot sauce. Clamato juice can be used instead of vegetable juice for a bolder flavor.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: No-Cook / Chilled
- Cuisine: Mexican
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 160
- Sugar: 5g
- Sodium: 400mg
- Fat: 5g
- Saturated Fat: 1g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 12g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 22g
- Cholesterol: 140mg