Classic Mexican Shrimp Cocktail Recipe for Coctel de Camarones

This classic Mexican shrimp cocktail recipe for coctel de camarones makes the kind of prawn cocktails in tall old-fashioned glasses that you’ll be served in Mexico at marisquerias – restaurants, eateries and market stalls specialising in mariscos (seafood), from ceviche and seafood soups and stews to fried seafood and grilled fish. All best washed down with icy Mexican cervezas.

If you’re a seafood lover and a fan of the retro prawn cocktail then you must make our Mexican shrimp cocktail recipe. It will make you a classic coctel de camarones of the kind served in vintage glasses at marisquerias or seafood eateries at markets or Mexican seafood restaurants in Mexico city and beyond, and it’s one of our best shrimp recipes.

In Mexico City’s markets, where I first became addicted to Mexican shrimp cocktails, they come in the sort of glasses that ice cream parlours served sundaes in back in the day – the glasses I blissfully scooped plump prawns out of coated in a spicy tomato sauce on our first trip to Mexico, vowing I’d live off those the entire six-week holiday.

Traditionally served chilled, this Mexican shrimp cocktail makes for a cooling appetiser to kick off a seafood feast, and is the perfect treat on a sweltering hot day – especially washed down with icy Mexican beers. We’re in the midst of a heatwave here, so take my word for it.

If the weather’s not warm where you are right now, it’s worth turning up the heat to pretend it is just to indulge in these. Buy a bottle of tequila, fill the fridge with Coronas or your Mexican beer of choice, put on some mariachi music, and you’re set.

Before I tell you more about this Mexican shrimp cocktail recipe for a classic coctel de camarones, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader supported. If you’ve enjoyed our recipes, please consider supporting Grantourismo by using our links to buy something on Amazon, such as these cookbooks for culinary travellers, classic cookbooks for serious cooks or gifts for Asian food lovers; buy a handcrafted KROK, the best mortar and pestle ever; or buy these gifts for food lovers designed with Terence’s images from our Grantourismo store.

Now let me share our Mexican shrimp cocktail recipe for a classic coctel de camarones.

Mexican Shrimp Cocktail Recipe for Coctel de Camarones

If you haven’t been to Mexico then the food is as good an excuse as any to book a flight, especially the seafood. Make our classic Mexican shrimp cocktail recipe for coctel de camarones and you’ll get a taste of a popular Mexican dish, especially in the summertime, or whenever the weather starts to warm up.

If you have been to Mexico and you became as obsessed as I did with the coctel de camarones, ordering these tall glasses brimming with plump prawns and firm avocado in a spicy tomato sauce every chance you got, then you’re going to love our Mexican shrimp cocktail recipe – especially if you haven’t travelled to Mexico in a while.

Our coctel de camarones should take you right back to the marisquerias in Mexico City’s markets, especially Mercado Coyoacán, where my favourite seafood eatery has long been the breezy El Jardin del Pulpo. There are few better places to tuck into a prawn cocktail on a balmy weekend afternoon.

Saturday was always my favourite day in the Mexican capital, as we’d take a taxi for the 30-minute drive to the southern suburbs to the Frida Kahlo museum, then we’d hit the San Angel and Bazar Sabado for some shopping and photography, before taking another cab to Mercado Coyoacán for the shrimp cocktails.

Ahh, how I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. Until then, I’ll be making this classic Mexican shrimp cocktail recipe for a coctel de camarones at home here in Cambodia, and I’ll be turning the mariachi music up loud.

Tips to Making this Classic Mexican Shrimp Cocktail Recipe for Coctel de Camarones

Just a few tips to making this classic Mexican shrimp cocktail recipe for a coctel de camarones. Firstly, it’s a classic recipe for a reason, which is why, if you do some research you’ll find the Mexican recipes are all very similar, with just a few ingredients or measures differing between recipes.

While I experimented with excluding ingredients that are typically in Mexican shrimp cocktail recipes, I have to confess that my pared-back spicy tomato sauce just didn’t taste as good, which is why I’ve stuck with a fairly classic Mexican recipe, with a couple of little tweaks.

That means, don’t leave out the ketchup (go for a classic such as Heinz tomato sauce) and a Mexican hot sauce (Valentina is a favourite of Mexican marisquerias).

One addition I’ve made that isn’t in Mexican shrimp cocktail recipes is chilli powder. It adds a nice little extra kick of heat. I’m not a fan of tabasco, so I use Worcestershire sauce, a favourite Asian condiment. I’ve also tried fish sauce, which worked, but I thought leaving that on the ingredient list might get me into trouble with my Mexican friends.

Although it’s challenging for us to source here, I’ve included Clamato, which was invented in Mexico and was essentially tomato salsa and clam juice. Now owned by an American company, it includes a long list of ingredients. I find a little of the liquid in the pot I cook the prawns in works.

As for those prawns or shrimp, fresh prawns always taste better, quickly boiled in your own kitchen, but fresh cooked prawns bought from a fishmonger or fish market are next best. If you can’t source fresh shrimp where you live, then quality frozen shrimp will work, and will be much improved the longer you leave them to chill in the sauce in the fridge.

I peel and de-vein most of the prawns, keeping a couple with their shells on for garnishing the glass. To me, these taste much more delicious than the peeled prawns, as shrimps are firmer and more flavoursome boiled in their shells. But someone in this household other me has an objection to leaving the ‘poop shoot’ in, and it’s not Pepper.

Make sure to add the diced avocado to the spicy tomato sauce and shrimps just before serving and combine it gently so the avocado doesn’t turn to mush (which is why it’s better to use a firm just-ripe avocado).

Distribute the spicy tomato sauce and shrimps between chilled old-fashioned sundae glasses or ‘malt glasses’ as a friend said they’re called in the USA, then garnish with diced avocado, fresh coriander sprigs, a lime slice, and a whole prawn or two, and serve immediately.

Mexican Shrimp Cocktail Recipe for Coctel de Camarones

Classic Mexican Shrimp Cocktail Recipe for Coctel de Camarones

AuthorLara Dunston

Mexican Shrimp Cocktail Recipe for Coctel de Camarones

This classic Mexican shrimp cocktail recipe for coctel de camarones makes the kind of prawn cocktails in tall old-fashioned glasses that you’ll be served in Mexico at marisquerias – restaurants, eateries and market stalls specialising in mariscos or seafood, from ceviche and seafood soups and stews to fried seafood and grilled fish. All best washed down with icy Mexican cervezas.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Dinner, Lunch, Seafood

Cuisine Mexican

Servings made with recipeServings 2

Calories 443 kcal

Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

1x2x3x

• 10 large shrimps / prawns - peeled and deveined
• 2 large shrimps - unpeeled, heads removed
• 1 can quality tomato puree
• 2 limes - juice only
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 2 tbsp Mexican hot sauce
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 tbsp Clamato – or liquid you boiled shrimps in
• 2 small purple shallots - finely diced
• 1 fresh or pickled jalapeño or Serrano chilli - finely diced
• 2 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp fresh coriander - (cilantro), finely chopped
• 1 firm just-ripe avocado - halved, pitted, diced

Garnish

• 2 whole prawns
• lime slices
• fresh coriander - (cilantro) sprigs

Instructions

 

• Chill two tall sundae glasses in the refrigerator.
• Bring a pot of water over high heat to a rolling boil, transfer the shrimp to a fine mesh strainer with handle or round deep fryer basket, set a timer and dip the shrimp into the boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain immediately and set aside to cool.
• To a large mixing bowl, pour in the tomato puree, lime juice, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, hot sauce, olive oil, Clamato (or liquid you cooked the prawns in), diced chillies, chilli powder, salt, sugar, and combine well.
• Add the diced purple shallots, finely chopped fresh coriander (cilantro) and cooked peeled shrimps, stir through, cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes, or longer if needed, until chilled.
• Just before serving, add almost all the diced avocado to the bowl (set some aside for garnishing), gently stir the avocado through so it doesn’t break apart, then spoon it all into the chilled sundae glasses.
• Garnish with the diced avocado, whole prawns, lime slices, and fresh coriander sprigs, and serve immediately with saltines, tortilla chips or tostadas on the side, lime wedges, and ice-cold Mexican beers.

Notes

To serve: lime wedges and saltines, restaurant-style tortilla chips or tostadas

Nutrition

Calories: 443kcalCarbohydrates: 33gProtein: 19gFat: 30gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 122mgSodium: 2242mgPotassium: 1036mgFiber: 11gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 1127IUVitamin C: 46mgCalcium: 117mgIron: 3mg

Please do let us know if you make our Mexican shrimp cocktail recipe for a classic coctel de camarones as we’d love to know how it turns out for you.