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Chopped shrimp and crisp veggies are combined in a bright and tangy citrus mixture perfect for scooping with chips.

plated Shrimp Ceviche

Holly’s Recipe Highlights

  • Flavor: Bright lime, juicy tomato, and creamy avocado balance the cool crunch with a citrusy zing!
  • Skill Level: This recipe is easy to make with no cooking required, making it a favorite for everyone!
  • Time-Saving Tip: It’s okay to skip the chopping and swap the vegetables for a refrigerated pico de gallo or mango salsa.
  • Serving Suggestion: Ceviche makes a great snack, appetizer, or light lunch over a salad or wrapped in lettuce.
shrimp , avocado , tomatoes , onion , lemon , limes and other ingredients to make Shrimp Ceviche with labels

Ingredient Tips for Shrimp Ceviche

A traditional ceviche is a South American dish marinating raw seafood in an acidic marinade like citrus juice or vinegar, which “cooks” the raw fish, shrimp, or shellfish (instead of heat).

  • Shrimp: Use chopped shrimp or bay shrimp that are pre-cooked and ready to use. If using raw shrimp, ensure it’s very fresh. While raw seafood is traditional in ceviche, I prefer to use cooked shrimp in this recipe, as not everyone has access to fresh shrimp. Cooked shrimp adds a different texture, and cooking the shrimp can kill harmful bacteria.

The FDA recommends that children, the elderly, the immune-compromised, and pregnant women do not eat undercooked seafood (including ceviche).

  • Citrus: Use fresh lemon, lime, and oranges for the best flavor. You can squeeze the juice with a citrus juicer or cut it in half and squeeze it by hand. The orange juice is needed to keep the mixture from being too tart, while lime juice brightens the flavors.
  • Vegetables: Tomatoes, jalapenos, red onions, and avocado bring color and texture. Thinly sliced radishes and sliced green onions work well, too.

Variations

  • Replace the shrimp with scallops, ensuring they marinate in the citrus to ‘cook’ before adding the other ingredients.
  • For a little extra kick, substitute serrano chile for the jalapeno.

How to Cook Shrimp

If you’ve purchased raw shrimp and you’d like to cook them before adding them to the citrus marinade, I suggest poaching them as we do in our shrimp cocktail recipe.

What to Serve with Shrimp Ceviche?

So many options! Serve shrimp ceviche with tortilla chips or homemade crostini, scooped into cucumber boats, avocado halves, or piled on top of tostadas. You can also use it as a salsa for quesadillas or tacos.

plated Shrimp Ceviche with limes

Holly’s Pro Tips

  • If using raw shrimp, marinate them in the citrus juices until they become opaque (looking as though it is cooked) before adding the other ingredients, or up to 4 hours.
  • You can soak the red onion in ice water for 10 minutes to tame the sharpness.
  • Dice everything uniformly for the best texture and scoopability. I love to use this veggie chopper to make quick work of this.

Storing Shrimp Ceviche

Shrimp ceviche doesn’t last long in the refrigerator without losing its crunch, so it’s best enjoyed the same day it’s made. Store it in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to a day.

More Mexican-Inspired Faves

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top view of Shrimp Ceviche in a bowl with lemons and limes around it
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Easy Shrimp Ceviche Recipe

Shrimp ceviche is a refreshing dish of succulent shrimp marinated in tangy citrus juices, mixed with fresh veggies, avocado, and jalapeno.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Marinating Time 30 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 8

Equipment

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Ingredients  

  • 1 pound cooked shrimp * peeled and deveined
  • ¼ cup fresh lemon juice about 2 lemons
  • ¼ cup fresh lime juice about 3 limes
  • ½ cup fresh orange juice about 1 large orange
  • 4 Roma tomatoes seeds removed and diced
  • 2 jalapeños seeds and vein removed, minced
  • 1 cup diced jicama or diced peeled apple
  • ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • ¼ cup finely diced red onion
  • 1 avocado pitted and diced
  • kosher salt to taste
  • black pepper to taste

Instructions 

  • Chop the shrimp into ½ inch pieces and transfer to a bowl. Set aside.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon, lime, and orange juice to combine. Pour ½ cup of the citrus juice over the shrimp and toss to combine. Allow the shrimp to marinate in the juice for 15 minutes.
  • Add the tomato, jalapeño, jicama (or apple), cilantro and red onion to the shrimp. Toss the ingredients to combine and allow to marinade for an additional 10 minutes. Stir in the avocado and remaining juices.
  • Season the ceviche with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately with tortilla chips, if desired.

Notes

Do not use lemon, lime or orange juice from a container. Fresh squeezed is recommended for best results.
Shrimp Ceviche is best enjoyed the same day it’s made. 
*We prefer to use cooked shrimp in this recipe as not everyone has access to fresh shrimp. The FDA recommends that children, elderly, immune-compromised, and pregnant women do not eat undercooked seafood (including ceviche).
If using raw shrimp, cut it into bite sized pieces and marinate in the citrus juices at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours before adding the other ingredients.
4.97 from 159 votes

Nutrition Information

Calories: 116 | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 142mg | Sodium: 444mg | Potassium: 251mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 135IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 89mg | Iron: 1.5mg

Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.

Course Appetizer, Dip, Snack
Cuisine American, Mexican
Shrimp Ceviche with a title
light and fresh Shrimp Ceviche with writing
bright and tangy Shrimp Ceviche with writing
Shrimp Ceviche with lime on a plate and close up with a title

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About the author

Holly Nilsson is the creator of Spend With Pennies, where she creates easy, comforting recipes made for real life. With a passion for nostalgic flavors and simplified techniques, Holly helps busy home cooks create delicious meals that always work. She is also the author of “Everyday Comfort,” which promises to inspire even more hearty, home-cooked meals.
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Comments

  1. Thank you Kellie for this amazing recipe. So easy to make and the finished Cerviche looks and tastes as if it was a secret family recipe past down through the generations. Incredibly refreshing as well. Personally i don’t like my food really spicy hot, so as a precaution I started with only 3/4 of a jalapeño, finely chopped. It was perfect! My friends have asked me to make this again. This time I am using two avocados instead of just one and a whole jalapeño. Thank you for sharing this fantastic recipe.5 stars

  2. The recipe was a hit. Great for summer.

    I call bullshit; however, on the “15 minutes prep” – that is entirely inaccurate. Give yourself more like ONE HOUR to juice all the limes, lemons, and oranges, gut the seeds from the tomatoes and jalapenos and dice them, and dice/chop/mince everything else. Who are these people? Really, who are these people that do ALL of that in 15 minutes?

    The recipe might take “15 minutes prep” – IF – all you had to do was throw it together and everything else was done.

    But it went over well, it was refreshing, and it’s a great potluck dish, especially in summer. I might consider tweaking it by adding some cumin to it and perhaps a little sage.5 stars

  3. don’t use bottled citrus juice but use cooked shrimp, no thank you. you should use canned shrimp to make it even easier! LOL! excellent recipe! the flavors tie together beautifully ! i actually used a similar recipe in my master chef tryout.4 stars

  4. One other note from the comments below. Don’t remove the the juice it is a big part of the experience. In South America it is relished as the gran finale and they call it “Sangre de Tigre” or the blood of the tiger.

  5. I would disagree about not using orange juice. It is not intended to be the principal citrus flavor but it adds another component to the flavor. I lived in Ecuador and dated a Peruvian who used a little orange also and her ceviche makes me want to go back. On a sideline the Ecuadorians always serve ceviche with popcorn. Also it is a fabulous hangover cure.

  6. Absolutely the wrong way to make ceviche is to follow the above recipe. The proper way is to use raw shrimp and absolutely never use orange juice. Only one type of lemon in the whole plant is proper for ceviche and it grows naturally in only two places in the world (Mexico & Peru) but is now farmed & grown in many places. Use ONLY GREEN Lemons, some people including grocery stores call them limes but they are actually green lemons. Green lemons are about the size of small Valencia oranges and can mainly be found in the hispanic grocery stores and almost never in a typical grocery store in the USA. DO NOT USE Key Limes as they are way to sour.

    1. What about clamato? I’ve always known ceviche to be made with this tomatoe-esk juice (also great with beer, aka chelada)

      1. We don’t use Clamato in our ceviche recipe but that sounds delicious Ms. Ind!

    2. Too sour. Just FYI Loren: To is a preposition with several meanings, including “toward” and “until.” Too is an adverb that can mean “excessively” or “also.” I figured you would want to know that you are incorrect in this instance since you are so particular about this recipe.

  7. Do you drain the juices from the shrimp after it marinates for 15 minutes, prior to combining with the remaining fruits/veggies and citrus juice.

  8. Excellent and refreshing! I did use a green apple, first making sure it wasn’t sweet, since I couldn’t find jicama at store-it was delicious!5 stars

  9. I made this shrimp ceviche recipe today. It was much easier than my standard recipe.It was absolutely fantastic. The only difference was I added one diced jalapeno. It will now be my go-to ceviche recipe.

  10. Whoever said ceviche doesn’t include orange juice needs to read up a bit. Peruvian ceviche includes oj. Everything about this recipe is amazing, thank you!!5 stars

  11. Thank you for sharing this recipe..delicious! I used cucumber instead of jicama, it turned out great. I don’t care if it’s not actually ceviche or not..it’s the taste that counts, and this is definitely a winner. So refreshing and and an impressive appetizer for guests. I appreciate the simplicity, and the balance of ingredients is 5 stars