Shrimp “cook” in lime juice to make this flavorful Shrimp Ceviche, with fresh cilantro, cucumbers and jalapeño. The perfect summer appetizer!

Shrimp Ceviche
This ceviche recipe is an incredibly easy dish that is sure to impress. Plus, no oven or stove is needed, making it perfect for summer. Just combine the shrimp with the onion, lime juice, and salt for 20 minutes, and then add in the other veggies. That’s it! Serve with tortilla chips or air fryer tostones for a delicious appetizer for your beach house, boat or backyard. Some more of my ceviche inspired recipes are this Ceviche Shrimp Cocktail, Canned Tuna Ceviche, Vegan Mushroom Ceviche, and Ceviche Cucumber Cups.
How To Make Shrimp Ceviche
The key to shrimp ceviche is to use super fresh shrimp, preferably ones caught the same day you plan on eating it. If you don’t have access to fresh shrimp, frozen wild shrimp, cooked shrimp or fresh white fish also works.
The shrimp only take about 20 minutes to “cook” in the lime juice. Once the shrimp are opaque, they are ready.
How long does ceviche last?
It’s best to eat shrimp ceviche the day you make it so that bacteria doesn’t begin growing. It will last in the refrigerator for up to a day if you start with straight-off- the-boat shrimp.
How to Serve
Ceviche makes the perfect appetizer or light dinner. I like to eat it as a dip with tortilla chips or plantain chips, but the ceviche would also be great as tacos, tostadas, or in a salad.
Variations:
- Add avocado or red bell pepper to the ceviche.
- For a spicy ceviche, keep the ribs and seeds in the jalapeños. If you prefer it milder, remove them.
- Swap the jalapeño for a serrano.
- Sub the shrimp for a fresh white fish, like mahi mahi, striped bass, or flounder.
- Use cooked shrimp if you don’t have fresh, raw shrimp.
More Shrimp Recipes You’ll Love:
- Shrimp Ceviche and Avocado Salad
- Air Fryer Fried Shrimp Sandwich with Tartar Sauce
- Sheet Pan Shrimp Oreganata
- Zesty Lime Shrimp and Avocado Salad
- Drunken Shrimp
Shrimp Ceviche
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh peeled and deveined shrimp, chopped (preferably wild)
- 1 cup fresh squeezed lime juice, from 6 to 9 limes
- 1/4 cup chopped red onion
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2/3 cup peeled and diced cucumber
- 1 to 2 jalapeño, stemmed and sliced into rings
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 scallions, chopped
- tortilla chips or plantain chips, for serving
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine the shrimp, lime juice, red onion and salt.
- Let it sit for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until opaque.
- Add the cucumbers, jalapeño, cilantro and scallion.
- Serve right away with chips.
Made this for a friends Christmas party and everyone loved it! Thank you.
Can I leave the jalapeño out? Or will it lose its zip?
Very fresh and delicious!
Can you use thawed, previously frozen shrimp for this recipe? Sounds delicious!
Made this and it was amazing! We live in Arizona but my husband is from Maryland and misses the fresh seafood, he couldn’t stop raving about it!
Quick question, have you ever added bay scallops? If so, do they “cook” like the shrimp in the lime juice. TYIA!
So simple and so good. Thanks Gina!
Fabulous. Wouldn’t change anything.
The acidity from the lime juice “cooks” the shrimp. Google Ceviche and find out if it is a recipe you feel comfortable making. It’s super delicious, and so is this recipe!
I par-boil them when I make shrimp ceviche. I don’t cook them completely because then the lime juice bath will make them tough and rubbery.
Mmmm yes going to make this. A perfect bright and fresh dish for sunmer.
Please forgive this ‘stupid’ question! You will probably not want to post it. 🙂 The recipes alludes to no cooking involved, using fresh wild caught shrimp, and it says ‘the fresh shrimp cook in the lime juice’. Even the shrimp in the 4th photo down looks raw. Surely even fresh same-day caught shrimp needs to be cooked, yet there is no mention of that? I have to presume that the shrimp is cooked beforehand, right? 😬
Thank you ….
Actually not a stupid question. Lime is acidic and when you let shrimp rest in a cup of lime juice, the acidity does “cook” the shrimp. The importance is to make sure the shrimp turns opaque. Ceviche is enjoyed this way across the world, especially in South America and Mexico.
I would boil them beforehand just to be safe 😬
It actually “cooks” from the acid in the lime juice, but is added raw…We love ceviche . I would research the process for your own piece of mind
Thank you to Jens, Elsie and Cindy. 😊Really good to learn this. Reading more online, it is suggested to leave it in the lime juice (‘acid’) for at least 2 hours to make sure it becomes opaque. That works. I’m now looking forward to making this yummy sounding recipe (and thank you to Gina). 😊
The acidity from the lime juice “cooks” the shrimp. Google Ceviche and find out if it is a recipe you feel comfortable making. It’s super delicious, and so is this recipe!
Either The Good Health blog copied your recipe and pictures or you copied theirs. You may want to check this out. It is EXACTLY like yours, pictures and all – and if it is yours they copied they didn’t give you credit.
Ugh looks like they are scraping all my content, not cool.