Authentic Mexican Shrimp Cocktail (Coctel de Camarones estilo Mexicano)

I prepare this refreshing shrimp cocktail for my family a lot during the hot summer days. Being a Mexican family, we always add Mexican hot sauce (such as Valentina® or Tapatio®) and serve with saltine crackers on the side. The trick is to start with well-chilled shrimp, ketchup, and tomato juice cocktail so it can be ready after only chilling 1 hour in the fridge. Top with additional hot sauce and avocado slices if desired. Enjoy!

Preparation Details

Prep Time: 45 mins

Cook Time: Not available

Total Time: 1 hr 45 mins

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup Spanish onion, chopped
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 pound chilled cooked medium shrimp – peeled, deveined, and tails removed
• 2 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cucumber, finely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1 ½ cups chilled tomato and clam juice cocktail (such as Clamato®)
• 1 cup chilled ketchup (such as Heinz®)
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro – stems discarded and leaves chopped
• 2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce (such as Valentina®)
• 2 avocados – peeled, pitted, and chopped

Steps

1. Gather all ingredients.
2. Mix onion with lime juice in a small bowl and allow to stand for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, toss shrimp, roma tomatoes, cucumber, celery, jalapeno, salt, and black pepper in a medium bowl until thoroughly combined.
4. Whisk tomato and clam juice cocktail, ketchup, cilantro, and hot pepper sauce in a separate bowl; stir dressing into shrimp mixture.
5. Gently fold in avocados. Stir in onion mixture. Cover and chill thoroughly, at least 1 hour.
6. Enjoy!