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    Home » Recipe » Appetizers » Coctel De Camaron (Mexican Shrimp Cocktail

    Coctel De Camaron (Mexican Shrimp Cocktail

    Published: Nov 28, 2018 · Modified: May 13, 2022 by Sabrina Currie · This post may contain affiliate links.

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    If you've ever eaten coctel de camaron in Mexico, you know how good this is! Full of a savory tomato, chili sauce and tender small shrimp, it's the best party dip around. Just make sure to make a batch of Homemade Margaritas and the party is on!!!

    A dark blue background with a black bowl full of colorful shrimp cocktail and a tortilla chip standing up in the middle like a sail.

    Why I love Coctel De Camaron

    Quick and easy coctel de camaron is delicious scooped up with saltines, tortillas or on top of crisp tostadas (tostadas de camaron). I even put it in cucumber cups sometimes for a light variation. For some excellent side dishes to round out the meal, check out What To Serve With Ceviche.

    Jump to:
    • Why I love Coctel De Camaron
    • Recipe Ingredients
    • Step By Step Instructions
    • Make Ahead And Storage Tips
    • What shrimp should I use?
    • About Ocean Wise Shrimp
    • Related Recipes
    • 📖 Recipe
    • Get My Free Book
    • 10 Herbs 10Ways
    • 💬 Community

    This past weekend I lucked into an impromptu girls night. Because it was last minute and everyone had been ridiculously busy with various things all week, we didn't want to stress about dinner or do anything really time consuming, we all just needed to RELAX.  So the plan became a night of casual appetizers. 

    We each brought something and prepared it there over drinks.  My contribution was Coctel De Camarones (aka Mexican Shrimp Cocktail) along with some guacamole and Mexican Tuna Ceviche.

    Want more seafood recipe favorites? I love Easiest Seafood Alfredo, the raw Salmon Crudo, Salmon Carpaccio and the Hawaiian-Japanese inspired Easy Furikake Salmon too.

    Closeup overhead shot of shrimp and finely chopped Mexican vegetables in tomato juice mixture.

    Recipe Ingredients

    It took me awhile to perfect this shrimp cocktail as so many recipes use ketchup. I find the ketchup recipes taste too sweet and...well...too ketchupy. Needless to say, you won't find ketchup in my recipe, though in a pinch, you can substitute it for the chili sauce.

    Clamato Chili Sauce And Valentina Sauce For Shrimp
    Clamato Chili Sauce And Valentina Sauce For Shrimp
    • Clamato - A much more flavorful version of regular tomato juice or V8, this is my choice. If you can't get it, you can sub the tomato or v8 juice and add extra seasoning at the end as needed.
    • Heinz Chili Sauce - More complex than ketchup, this gives a good thick richness to the tomato based salsa.
    • Hot Sauce - A vinegar based hot pepper sauce makes this pleasantly picante. I use Valentina but you can use Cholula or Tabasco too.
    • Shrimp - Fresh, cooked and peeled small shrimp are perfect. If you use large shrimp, you can chop them into bite size pieces.
    • Cilantro - This punchy bright herb is in this traditional coctel de camaron for a reason. Fragrant, floral with a lime scent, fresh cilantro is the perfect finish for the dip.
    • Lime Juice - Using fresh citrus juice keeps the flavors bright and bold.

    Step By Step Instructions

    1. In a medium bowl, combine red and green onion, tomato, jalapeno, cucumber and lime juice. Stir gently until combined.
    Evenly small diced cucumber, green onion, tomato, green pepper and red onions in a white bowl.

    2. Add chili sauce and Clamato and stir until combined.

    White bowl filled with the coctel vegetables and red vegetable juice with a spoon in it.

    3. Add shrimp and cilantro.

    The shrimp and cilantro have been added to the vegetable juice mixture and are still sitting on top, not yet stirred in.

    4. Stir to combine and season to taste with hot sauce, salt and pepper.

    Same white bowl now has the shrimp and cilantro mixed into the red vegetable juice.

    5. Let chill in fridge 30 min (or up to 8 hours) then spoon into a serving dish, into mini cucumber cups or onto tostadas to serve. 

    Overhead view of tostada stuck in coctel de camaron mixture in the black bowl with dark blue background.

    Make Ahead And Storage Tips

    This shrimp cocktail can be made early in the day and kept in the fridge until your company arrives. This can be left out on table or buffet for up to 2 hours before refrigerating any leftover.

    Store leftover coctel de camaron in a airtight, covered container for up to 3 days.

    Do not freeze this recipe, it will change the consistency and is not recommended.

    Coctel de camaron in small cucumber cups on a white plate with a wedge of lime.

    What shrimp should I use?

    Any freshly cooked and shelled shrimp will work well. Here is BC, we have West Coast pink shrimp and side striped shrimp that are sold as hand peeled or machine peeled. If you are far south of here, you may have bay shrimp or gulf shrimp. Those are similar and perfect for this recipe. If you use large shrimp, you may cut them into small bite size pieces for this.

    About Ocean Wise Shrimp

    In BC, shrimp have a longer season than many other types of seafood.  BC shrimp are on the Ocean Wise recommended list of seafood for being sustainably and ethically harvested here in BC.  These peeled shrimp are available almost year round in the fresh fish section of the supermarket and at fish mongers.

    Tall narrow picture of the coctel de camaron in a black bowl with large tostada peaking out in the back.

    I hope you and your family love coctel de camaron as much as we do. Serve it with lots of tortilla chips, tostadas, or saltine crackers. If you want some healthier dippers, you can use cucumber cups or endive spears which are firm, fresh and crispy.

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    I hope this finds you having a fun night of appetizers or Mexican favorites,

    For more on what I'm cooking up, follow me on Instagram or Facebook. You might also like my FREE printable weekly meal planner.

    Cheers friends! Sabrina

    📖 Recipe

    Diced shrimp (camaron), red peppers, cucumber and red onion in a black bowl with a tostada shell stuck in the back of the bowl to scoop with. Background is dark blue black.

    Coctel De Camaron (Mexican Shrimp Cocktail)

    Tangy shrimp cocktail is fresh and crunchy, sweet, savoury and picante.  Serve with traditional saltine crackers, tortilla chips, or in cucumber cups. Or to make it a plated dish, top tostadas for tostadas de camaron!  
    This will serve 6-8 people depending on the amount of other food served.  
    5 from 22 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Appetizer, Dip
    Cuisine: Mexican
    Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
    30 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 45 minutes minutes
    Servings: 3.5 c
    Calories: 106kcal
    Author: Sabrina Currie

    Ingredients

    • ¼ c Red Onion, Finely Chopped
    • ¼ c Tomato, Finely Chopped
    • 1 Jalapeno, Finely Chopped Feel free to use less depending on spice level preference
    • ¼ c Cucumber, Finely Chopped
    • ¼ c Green Onions, Finely Sliced
    • ½ Lime, Juiced
    • ⅓ c Chili Sauce I used Heinz brand
    • 1 c Clamato Juice I used Motts
    • ½ c Cilantro, Roughly Chopped
    • 1 c Shrimp (Approx 325 grams) Cooked and peeled. I used Pink shrimp
    • Salt And Pepper To Taste
    • Hot Sauce To Taste I used Valentina but tobasco works well too.

    Instructions

    • In a medium bowl, combine red and green onion, tomato, jalapeno, cucumber and lime juice. Stir gently until combined.
    • Add chili sauce and Clamato and stir until combined.
    • Add shrimp and cilantro, then stir and season to taste with hot sauce, salt and pepper.
    • Let chill in fridge 30 min (or up to 8 hours) then spoon into serving dish or mini cucumber cups to serve.  

    Notes

    Coctel de camaron has a lot of liquid, necessary for proper flavor so don't drain the "soup", just serve it in bowls or coupes unless you are serving it on tostadas, in which case you can limit the amount of vegetable juice spooned over.
    If serving in cucumber cups, use slightly more salt and spice as the strength of flavour will be diluted by the cucumber. 

    Nutrition

    Serving: 125mls | Calories: 106kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 109mg | Sodium: 439mg | Potassium: 535mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 856IU | Vitamin C: 27mg | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 1mg
    Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @wckitchengarden or tag #wckitchengarden!
    Coctel de Camaron in a black bowl with a tortilla chip in the background.
    Mexican Shrimp Cocktail Recipe Easy
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    About Sabrina Currie

    Classically French trained cook, photographer and food stylist living on beautiful Vancouver Island, BC.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Melanie

      December 09, 2018 at 8:03 pm

      5 stars
      Oh my oh my! Totally saving this recipe for appetizers during friends gathering over the holidays!

      Reply
      • SabCurrie

        December 09, 2018 at 8:45 pm

        Awesome! I hope you love it as much as we do!

        Reply
    2. Joss

      June 04, 2019 at 8:23 pm

      5 stars
      I've been looking for recipes with clamato, this is perfect!

      Reply
    3. Leanne | Crumb Top Baking

      June 05, 2019 at 2:47 am

      5 stars
      This appetizer would be perfect for summer get-togethers! And I'm on a shrimp kick lately, so I'm all over this recipe. I'm just picturing serving this up with a few drinks on our back patio on a warm summer evening! Great recipe Sabrina!

      Reply
      • SabCurrie

        June 05, 2019 at 7:10 pm

        Awesome Leanne! It seriously goes great with a Margarita, cold beer or crisp white wine and definitely perfect for patio season 🙂 Cheers!

        Reply
    4. Loreto and Nicoletta Nardelli

      June 05, 2019 at 7:50 am

      5 stars
      What a delightful, light and tasty appetizer! You are lucky to live on the West Coast and be able to access those beautiful shrimp. Loving the flavors you have developed here, A great recipe to have on hand when entertaining, and not only.

      Reply
      • SabCurrie

        June 05, 2019 at 7:11 pm

        Thank you Loreto and Nicoletta! These fresh shrimp are great but fresh frozen Canadian shrimp are a great choice too. I hope you enjoy 🙂

        Reply
    5. Dawn - Girl Heart Food

      June 06, 2019 at 4:49 am

      5 stars
      How perfect for summer is this? Love all the fresh flavours and you really can't go wrong with any type of shrimp cocktail! Bet this would disappear so fast when entertaining 🙂

      Reply
      • SabCurrie

        June 06, 2019 at 6:26 am

        Thanks Dawn! This does disappear quickly and is a nice healthy addition to happy hour 🙂 I hope you get a chance to try it, cheers!

        Reply
    6. Terri

      June 10, 2019 at 10:42 am

      5 stars
      I adore this Mexican take on shrimp cocktail and how healthy it is! I bet it's very little Weight Watchers points too! Yum 🙂

      Reply
      • SabCurrie

        June 10, 2019 at 2:03 pm

        Thanks Terri, so kind 🙂 Good thinking On the weight watchers points, it’s quite low carb, full of veg and shrimp 🦐 so probably great for that 👍🏼

        Reply
    7. Jessica Formicola

      May 03, 2021 at 8:06 am

      5 stars
      I've been trying to decide what to make for cinco de mayo, and this mexican style shrimp cocktail looks perfect! My family is sure to enjoy this!

      Reply
    8. Audrey

      May 03, 2021 at 8:40 am

      5 stars
      This was wonderful and very refreshing.

      Reply
    9. Angela

      May 03, 2021 at 10:29 am

      5 stars
      So fresh and light. This is a wonderful cocktail.

      Reply
    10. Ayngelina Brogan

      May 03, 2021 at 1:34 pm

      5 stars
      You had me at Mexican!

      Reply
    11. Kay

      May 03, 2021 at 1:34 pm

      5 stars
      Super quick healthy midweek meal!

      Reply
    12. Julia

      May 03, 2021 at 1:38 pm

      5 stars
      This was so easy and delicious

      Reply
      • Sabrina Currie

        May 03, 2021 at 3:18 pm

        I’m so glad you liked it! Thank you so much for sharing.

        Reply
    13. Natalie

      May 04, 2021 at 7:11 am

      5 stars
      I love this! Sounds super delicious and easy to make. I'm saving the recipe right now. Thanks for sharing.

      Reply

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