Mexican Shrimp Cocktail

Sweet, tart, spicy, and crunchy — this Mexican Shrimp Cocktail hits all the right notes!

Have you ever gone to brunch at a restaurant with a build your own Bloody Mary bar and loaded up your glass with everything they had? That’s what Mexican shrimp cocktail reminds me of, only without the booze — or the guilt of taking all of the shrimp. Sorry, not sorry.

What Is Mexican Shrimp Cocktail?

Most people describe this classic dish, also known as Coctel de Camarones, is a cross between shrimp cocktail and ceviche. It’s a little sweet, a little tart, a little spicy, and a little crunchy. 

Like the shrimp cocktail most Americans are familiar with, this Mexican shrimp cocktail recipe features shrimp in a spicy, tomato sauce. Instead of horseradish though, this recipe gets its heat from jalapeno peppers.

But it doesn’t end there! In addition to shrimp, coctel de camarones is loaded with crunchy celery, cucumber, red onion, avocado, cilantro, tomatoes, and jalapeno. It’s basically a full-on salad. It’s usually served as an appetizer, but can easily double as a light lunch.

Type of Shrimp To Use

Unlike shrimp ceviche, which is a salad made from raw seafood that gets “cooked” by its acidic marinade, you’ll want to use cooked shrimp in this recipe. I prefer to cook the shrimp myself, straight from frozen. That’s the freshest way to do it. Shrimp are frozen on the boat when caught, so if they’re still frozen when you take them home, that is the closest to the ocean-flavor they’ll have. You just boil water, take it off the heat, and add your frozen shrimp for about 5-6 minutes. Done!

The fish counters at stores tend to defrost the shrimp there and then sell them, so they’re freshest if you buy them frozen and cook them yourself. But, you can totally get them already cooked to keep things simpler. I won’t judge you for that, ever!

Which shrimp should you get for this? Anytime that shrimp are going to be in sauce, I prefer to get ones that are peeled, deveined, and have the tail removed. That way, we don’t have to be tugging at the saucy, messy tail to eat. But if the ones with the tails are on sale, get those. You can just leave the tails on and deal with the sauce, or remove the tails yourself from all the shrimp before mixing them with the sauce. It’s not a difficult thing to do, really. You just hold the meaty part of the shrimp firmly in one hand, squeezing with your fingers just above where the tail ends, and then with your other hand, grab the tail and pull. Done! Repeat for all of the shrimp.

What Is Clamato Juice?

Clamato is a drink made from tomato juice and clam juice. It’s more seasoned than regular tomato juice and has a rich, salty flavor. No, it doesn’t taste like fish! A lot of people really like the flavor that it adds to Mexican shrimp cocktail. But if you’re not feeling it, go ahead and use regular tomato juice or even V8. It will still be delicious.

Serving Mexican Shrimp Cocktail 

Traditionally, coctel de camarones is served with saltine crackers. You can also serve it with tortilla chips — or just eat it with a spoon. It’s such a great appetizer to serve for another classic Mexican dish, like this Carne Asada. That’s going to be such an amazing meal!

Once prepared, this Mexican shrimp cocktail will keep in the fridge for about 3 days. Be sure to store it in an airtight container. Enjoy! -Christine xo

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This post originally appeared in February 2020 and was revised and republished in July 2022.