Ceviche Recipe
Ceviche is loaded with shrimp, avocados, tomatoes and cucumbers; all marinated in fresh lime juice. You can use cooked or raw shrimp in this Mexican shrimp cocktail.
Ceviche is among our favorite appetizers along with cowboy caviar and the wildly popular shrimp salsa. It is a major crowd pleasing recipe and so satisfying served over crisp tostadas or with tortilla chips.
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Shrimp Ceviche!
This authentic Mexican ceviche recipe was shared by one of our readers, Blanca Villasenor. The secret ingredient for the best ceviche is Clamato juice which melds the flavors together and makes it one of the most fresh and satisfying appetizers you will try. Thank you so much Blanca for generously sharing your traditional family recipe with us!
What is Ceviche?
Ceviche has many names including cebiche, seviche, or sebiche. The origin is debated but thought to have it’s roots in Peru. It is essentially a seafood cocktail using fresh fish that is marinated or “cooked” in a large amount of lime juice. It also includes tomatoes, onion, cilantro and some form of spice or pepper. We love bulking it up with fresh diced cucumber and diced avocado.
How to Make Ceviche:
- Put chopped shrimp in a large bowl and stir in 1 cup of fresh squeezed lime juice. Refrigerate and marinate (1 1/2 to 2 hours for raw shrimp and 15 minutes for cooked shrimp).
- Dice remaining vegetables: cucumber, avocado, tomato, onion, jalapeno and cilantro.
- Once shrimp are done marinating, stir in the diced vegetables.
- Season with black pepper then add Clamato juice.
Is Ceviche Safe to Eat?
Marinating shrimp in fresh lime juice essential cooks the shrimp due to the high acidity of lime juice. For food safety, If using raw shrimp, purchase it from a trusted source (preferably shrimp labeled “wild caught”) and enjoy the ceviche the first day it is made.
Use pre-cooked shrimp if you are not comfortable with raw (or want to save a ton of marinating time), and it will still taste just as good. We often use cooked shrimp meat to save time and you don’t even have to dice it. In either case, rinse the shrimp and thoroughly pat dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture so your cocktail isn’t watered down.
More Shrimp Appetizers:
- Mango Shrimp Salsa – with refreshing tropical flavor
- Coconut Shrimp – you won’t believe the 2-Ingredient Sauce
- Avocado Shrimp Cucumber Bites – these disappear so fast!
- Stuffed Shrimp – with a creamy, garlicky, cheesy center
Fresh Ceviche always induces major cravings – it’s just mouthwatering good. I hope this becomes a new favorite for you! Let me know if you make your ceviche differently? Do you use cooked or fresh shrimp or other type of seafood?
Ceviche Recipe
Ceviche is loaded with shrimp, avocado, tomatoes, cucumber and cilantro; all marinated in fresh lime juice. Use cooked or raw shrimp for this Mexican shrimp cocktail.
Ingredients
- 1 lb shrimp (raw or cooked) peeled, deveined and diced
- 1 cup lime juice from 6 limes
- 1 cucumber peeled and diced
- 1 large avocado (or 2 small avocados)
- 2 roma tomatoes diced
- 1/2 red onion diced
- 1/4 bunch cilantro chopped
- 1 jalapeno seeded and minced
- 1/4 tsp black pepper or to taste
- 1 cup clamato juice (use "picante" version for spicier salsa)
To Serve:
- 16 Tostadas (or a bag of tortilla chips)
- Hot Sauce (Tabasco or Franks Red Hot)
Instructions
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Dice shrimp and place into a large glass (non-metamixing bowl. Squeeze 1 to 1 1/4 cups lime juice from 6 limes over shrimp. Stir to combine then cover and marinate in the refrigerator (marinate 1 1/2 to 2 hours for raw shrimp or until no longer translucent and marinate 15 minutes for cooked shrimp), stirring halfway through.
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Chop the vegetables: cucumber, avocado, tomatoes, red onion, jalapeno and cilantro.
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When shrimp are done marinating, add vegetables to the bowl.
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Add 1/4 tsp black pepper or season to taste and gently stir to combine. Lastly, stir in 1 cup clamato juice, mixing just to combine. Serve with tortilla chips or over tostadas.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
natashaskitchen
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Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about salsa steps intermediate.
Regards
You’re so welcome!
sounds good and I’ll give it a try but nothing is as good as Tahitian marinated raw fish with coconut milk!
That sound delicious!
I’m allergic to msg so what would be a good substitute for clamato?
Hi Kati, I didn’t realize it had it in there. You might try adding tomato juice to taste and sometimes we make ceviche omitting the clamato altogether and adding hot sauce to taste for that little bit of tomato in the sauce.
Thanks for the recipe! Substitution of Clamato with reconstructed tomato paste and clam juice would work wonderfully for those who try to avoid sugar and MSG.
That is great to know! Thank you so much for sharing that with us!!
In Peru they never really let the fish sit in the marinade for longer than 2 minutes, essentially giving it a sushi-like quality. I’m a little skiddish doing this with raw shrimp however, any thoughts?
Hi Joske, 2 minutes is too brave for me, but I can see that working with really fresh fish. Regarding the shrimp, please see the section titled: “Is Ceviche Safe to Eat?” which should help.
I am allergic to garlic and since clamato contains garlic what would you recommend as a substitute?
Hi Christina, This recipe still works without the clamato (if you wanted to omit it), or you could use a splash of tomato juice.
This is perfect for summer!
Isn’t it the best! So fresh and perfect for summer! I hope you love it!
So easy and flavorful. This one is being kept on our summer recipe menu for sure.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review, Alli!
I LOVE ceviche!! This looks really, reeeeeally GOOD!!! YUM!
Thank you!! I hope this becomes a new favorite for you!
So fresh and delicious!
Mmm it really is! Thank you Tanya!
This was my first time making ceviche and it turned out perfect. Restaurant quality recipe 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your amazing review! I’m so happy you loved the ceviche!