Mexican-Inspired Shrimp Cocktail Recipe

When throwing a party, we always look for recipes that are visually impressive, incredibly tasty, and surprisingly easy to prepare. That magic combination of qualities ensures a crowd-pleasing event that doesn't wipe us out as the hosts. If you are looking for a way to elevate your next party spread, look no further. Recipe developer, Catherine Brookes, brings us this recipe for Mexican-inspired shrimp cocktail.

Brookes says, "I love to serve this shrimp cocktail as a starter before a Mexican main or spread of other Mexican dishes. It's a great one to make if you have guests as it feels that little bit more fancy and it's easy to make in a big batch too."

We love recipes that look impressive without requiring a lot of time, ingredients, and effort. This recipe fits the bill. In just 15 minutes, requiring only 13 ingredients this recipe comes together and provides major flavor.

To make this Mexican-inspired shrimp cocktail, you can start by gathering your ingredients. For this recipe, you will need ketchup, lime juice, hot sauce, salt, pepper, red onion, cucumber, celery, tomatoes, jalapeño, cilantro, avocado, and shrimp.

While a traditional shrimp cocktail sauce is made from ketchup, horseradish, and Worcestershire sauce, this recipe focuses on Mexican flavors such as lime juice, jalapeño, and avocado. In a large bowl, add the ketchup, lime juice, hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Stir these ingredients together until they are well combined.

Then, add in the red onion, cucumber, celery, tomato, cilantro, and jalapeño to the stirred sauce. Give the larger ingredients a stir to fully incorporate them into the sauce. Next, add in the shrimp and the avocado. Brookes recommends adding ⅓ cup of water at this step to help facilitate the stirring of all of these ingredients together.

Lastly, transfer the mixture to individual serving glasses before diving in. Brookes adds that an additional lime wedge can be added as garnish to each serving glass. As far as what to serve these with, Brookes notes, "This is great served before or alongside tacos, quesadillas, fajitas or other Mexican dishes."