Ceviche Recipe
Ceviche is so fresh and loaded with shrimp, tomatoes, cucumbers, and avocados; all marinated in fresh lime juice. For this Mexican Shrimp Cocktail, you can use raw shrimp or cooked shrimp meat (if you want to cut the prep time way down).
Ceviche is an appetizer we’ve probably made a hundred times and it’s among our favorites, right up there with Cowboy Caviar and the wildly popular Guacamole. Shrimp Ceviche is a major crowd-pleasing recipe.
Shrimp Ceviche
We got this authentic Mexican ceviche recipe from 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 freshest and most satisfying appetizers you will try. Thank you so much Blanca for generously sharing your traditional family recipe with us!
Watch the Video
Watch Natasha make this classic Restaurant-style Ceviche. We’ve been loving this recipe for years and have been fine-tuning it over the years. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of this recipe. Also, it’s a true story that my husband and I can polish off the entire batch in one evening in lieu of dinner!
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 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 Cook Shrimp? If you are starting with raw shrimp and want to pre-cook it before adding it to Ceviche, see our Boiled Shrimp Recipe.
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 the shrimp are done marinating, stir in the diced vegetables and Clamato juice.
Pro Tip: A speedy tip for making Ceviche is to dice everything up using a food chopper. You’ll get everything chopped up in less than 5 minutes. My husband literally puts everything he can on that chopper. He’s become super efficient with the many batches of ceviche we’ve enjoyed over the years.
Variations
There are so many ways to make this and different regions will make it differently (i.e Peruvian Ceviche versus Mexican Ceviche). The biggest differences are in the types of seafood used.
- Fish Ceviche – instead of shrimp, you can try fresh white fish diced into small pieces. Some options include halibut, sea bass, or snapper. Scallops are also a popular option. Always use the freshest fish, keep it on ice in the refrigerator, and make ceviche the day you purchase it.
- Raw Shrimp – If using raw shrimp, it should be super fresh and purchased from a trusted source (preferably shrimp labeled “wild caught”), and enjoy the ceviche the first day it is made.
- Cooked Shrimp – I’ll be the first to admit that I love using cooked shrimp meat for ceviche. With a 15-minute marinating time, it’s a no-brainer for me. I also love that shrimp meat is often wild-caught and typically comes at a lower price tag than whole shrimp, plus there is zero peeling or deveining required. Sign me up!
Safety Tip: The USDA recommends cooking seafood thoroughly to minimize the risk of food born illness, especially for at-risk groups including pregnant women, children, older adults, and those with weakened immune systems. This is another reason we prefer using cooked shrimp.
Is Ceviche Safe to Eat?
If you’re new to ceviche, you may be wondering – is ceviche still raw? Marinating shrimp in fresh lime juice essentially cooks the shrimp due to the high acidity of lime juice.
Use pre-cooked shrimp if you are uncomfortable with raw shrimp or want to save a ton of marinating time (and it will taste just as good). With small cooked shrimp salad meat, you don’t even have to dice it! In either case, rinse the shrimp and thoroughly squeeze or pat dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture so your cocktail isn’t watered down.
Make Ahead
Ceviche is best enjoyed the same day it is made since the cucumbers and tomatoes are vibrant and crisp, but leftovers do keep well.
Refrigerate leftovers right away. Refrigerate for up to 1 day if you used raw seafood and refrigerate for up to 2 days if you used cooked shrimp.
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 salsa differently. Do you use cooked or fresh shrimp or another type of seafood?
Ceviche Recipe
Ceviche is loaded with shrimp, avocado, tomatoes, cucumber, and cilantro; all marinated in fresh lime juice. You can use raw shrimp or cooked shrimp meat for this Mexican shrimp cocktail. Using cooked shrimp meat cuts down the marinating time significantly which is why we prefer it. P.S. This also keeps really well in the refrigerator and you'll be happy if you have leftovers!
Ingredients
- 1 lb shrimp , (raw or cooked) peeled, deveined and diced
- 1 cup lime juice, from 6 limes
- 1 cucumber, peeled and diced
- 2 avocados
- 3 roma tomatoes, diced
- 1 red onion, diced
- 1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
- 1 cup Clamato juice, (use "picante" version for spicier salsa)
Options To Serve:
- 16 Tostadas , (or tortilla chips)
- Hot Sauce, (Tabasco or Cholula)
Instructions
Dice shrimp and place into a large glass (non-reactive) 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.
Chop the vegetables: cucumber, avocado, tomatoes, red onion, jalapeno and cilantro. A food chopper will make this process much faster.
When shrimp are done marinating, add vegetables to the bowl along with clamato juice and stir to combine. Serve with hot sauce if desired along with tortilla chips or over tostadas.
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