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Camarones a la Diabla is the tastiest Mexican shrimp dish. Succulent shrimp are cooked in a spicy red sauce that is DIVINE! It’s quick and easy to whip up in 35 minutes served with a side of cilantro lime rice. For dessert pair with these Mojito Cupcakes!
This might be one of the best shrimp dinners ever! Seafood dinners are such easy meals to throw together when you are short on time or want something really simple to prepare for dinner. Ginger Shrimp Stir-Fry with Garlic Bok Choy and this Lobster Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes are along the same lines. Simple, delicious, filling and quick to make in 30 minutes or less!
What is Camarones a la Diabla?
It is a Mexican dish that consists of two main components: a smoky red sauce with shrimp. Simple! This sauce might remind you of an enchilada sauce. It’s red and flavorful and in this case, a little smoky.
Ingredients You’ll Need for Camarones a la Diabla
- Shrimp – You’ll need 1 pound of peeled and deveined shrimp with the tails on. Try your best not to overcook the shrimp because this recipe will be so much better!
- Lime rice – You can serve plain white or brown rice with camarones a la diabla but homemade cilantro lime rice takes it to another level! Fresh cilantro and freshly squeezed lime juice is mixed with fluffy steamed rice.
- Guajillo chiles and chipotle in adobo – These peppers will add a kick of heat and wonderful smoky flavors to this spicy sauce!
- Roma tomatoes – They are first blistered in a hot pan then cooked and blended with the chiles to create the spicy tomato A La Diabla sauce.
For the rest of the ingredients, please refer to the recipe index card below!
How to Make Camarones a la Diabla
- For the rice. Start by making your cilantro lime rice, by cooking your rice in a rice cooker then combining the cooked rice with freshly chopped cilantro and lime juice. Cover and set aside.
- Hard sear the tomatoes and chiles. Heat up some neutral oil in a Dutch oven, then work in batches to sear the tomatoes, yellow onion and dried guajillo chiles. Searing them will add some really delicious flavor vs. just boiling them. You are looking for nice color on all sides.
- Simmer the sauce. Add water to the pot and let the seared veggies simmer until everything is really soft. Your goal here is to REHYDRATE the dried pepper.
- Blend. Transfer everything to a blender and pulse until very smooth.
- Season the sauce and cook for an additional 10 minutes so the flavors can marry together. Next portion out what you need. This recipe makes a lot of extra sauce so feel free to freeze it for later!
- Shrimp. In a medium skillet cook the shrimp for 30 – 40 seconds per side. Turn off the heat then add a few ladles of the sauce to the shrimp. Serve over lime rice with sliced avocado and cilantro.
Tips and Tricks
How to store the sauce. This recipe makes a ton of sauce, so you can save it for other recipes or keep it on hand to make this recipe later in the week! Allow it to cool to room temperature, then transfer to an air-tight container to keep in the fridge for up to 10 days. To freeze: Transfer to a freezer-safe container or bag. This sauce is good in the freezer for up to 6 months. To thaw, place in the fridge or on the counter at room temperature.
How to use leftover sauce for other meals. Enjoy it tossed with roasted eggplant and vegetables served over quinoa or rice. Or served over braised flank steak tacos! The sauce is also vegan and whole30 friendly so have fun adding it to all your favorite meals no matter your diet! You can also use this to make Chilaquiles.
Don’t overcook the shrimp. Shrimp really only needs to cook for a 30 – 40 seconds per side to be fully cooked. Overcooked shrimp will be rubbery and not as good!
Want a less spicy sauce? Use only 1 guajillo chile and 1 chipotle and leave out the adobo sauce!
Recipe FAQs
Also known as Mexican Deviled shrimp or Diablo shrimp, camarones a la diabla is a seafood dish made by tossing shrimp is a spicy chile tomato sauce.
Guajillo chiles are the traditional chiles used in this sauce. These are one of the most popular chiles used in Mexican cuisine. They have a medium level of heat with a good amount of sweet and fruity flavor! Since a la diabla sauce is very spicy I also used a chipotle in adobo to bring a good amount of heat and smoky flavor as well! If you have leftover chiles, use them for my Birria Tacos!
More Seafood Recipes
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Shrimp a la Diabla Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Rice cooker or pot to cook the rice in
- 1 Dutch oven or very large saucepan
- 1 pair of tongs
- blender
- 1 medium skillet
Ingredients
Lime Rice:
- 1 cup of medium-grain rice
- 1 3/4 cups water
- Juice from 1 lime
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
A La Diabla Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil, (vegetable oil, avocado oil or grapeseed oil)
- 6 roma tomatoes
- 1/2 yellow or white onion, peeled and stem cut off
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
- 2 dried guajillo chiles
- 2 cups water
- 1 chipotle in adobo , plus 1 tablespoon of the sauce from the can (If you’re adverse to spice just add the chile, no sauce)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
For Assembly:
- 1 avocado, sliced, for serving
- More cilantro, for serving
- 2 teaspoons neutral flavored oil, such as vegetable or canola or peanut oil
- 1 pound shrimp, deveined and peeled (tails still on)
- Limes, for serving
Instructions
To Make the Lime Rice:
- I make rice in a rice cooker because that’s what I grew up doing. Cook the rice, per the instructions of your machine, until fluffy.
- Add juice from 1 lime to the rice, along with 2 tablespoons of minced cilantro. Set aside until you’re ready to serve.
To Make the A La Diabla Sauce:
- In a big saucepan or Dutch oven, set over high heat, add the vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, add the roma tomatoes and sear on first side for about 3 to 5 minutes, flip, using tongs, and sear on the opposite side for an additional 2 minutes. You may need to do this in batches. Remove the tomatoes and set them aside in a bowl or on a cutting board.
- Next, add the onion, garlic cloves and guajillo chiles, searing and toasting them for about 2 to 3 minutes. Take a peek at the onion and if it needs more time, leave it for an additional minute or two. Remove the onion and garlic cloves and set them aside. Add the tomatoes back to the pot with the chiles and add 2 cups of water. Cover the pot and cook for about 10 minutes. This will soften the tomatoes quite a bit and soften the chiles too.
- To a blender, add the garlic cloves, seared onion and the chipotle in adobo and sauce. You may need to blend this sauce in batches, depending on how big your blender is (I had to do in batches). Add the tomatoes and the broth and the chiles to the blender. Pulse until smooth, making sure to allow a bit of steam out of the blender.
- Pour it back to the pot and add a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a gentle simmer, over medium-low heat and cover the pot. Cook for an additional 10 minutes. Just until the flavors can marry all together. Give it a taste and add salt to taste. I added an additional teaspoon or two.
- This recipe makes a big batch of sauce. See below for other ideas to eat it with. It stays good in the fridge for up to a week and a half, if kept in an airtight container. It freezes well too so definitely think about doing that!
To Make Shrimp a La Diabla:
- Shrimp cook very quickly and overcooked shrimp are SAD! So make sure you get everything ready before hand. Set the table. Get your drinks ready. Slice up your avocado and cilantro.
- In a medium skillet, set over medium-high heat, add a tablespoon of neutral flavored oil. When the oil is hot, add the shrimp and cook for about 30 to 40 seconds per side. You’ll know they’re cooked because they’ll turn from translucent to opaque and pink. If you need to, using your tongs, turn the shrimp onto their deveined side. I sometimes do this to make sure they’re cooked.
- Turn off the heat and pour in a few ladles of a la diabla sauce into the skillet. Toss them around in the sauce and serve immediately.
Notes
Tips and Tricks
- How to store the sauce. This recipe makes a ton of sauce, so you can save it for other recipes or keep it on hand to make this recipe later in the week! Allow it to cool to room temperature, then transfer to an air tight container to keep in the fridge for up to 10 days. To freeze: Transfer to a freezer-safe container or bag. This sauce is good in the freezer for up to 6 months. To thaw, place in the fridge or on the counter at room temperature.Â
- How to use leftover sauce for other meals. Enjoy it tossed with roasted eggplant and vegetables served over quinoa or rice. Or served over braised flank steak tacos! The sauce is also vegan and whole30 friendly so have fun adding it to all your favorite meals no matter your diet!
- Don’t overcook the shrimp. Shrimp really only needs to cook for 30 – 40 seconds per side to be fully cooked. Overcooked shrimp will be rubbery and not as good!
- Want a less spicy sauce? Use only 1 guajillo chile and 1 chipotle and leave out the adobo sauce!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Delicious! The sauce is so flavorful and comes together easily. Will definitely be making this again!
Where did you find that walnut handle serving spoon in the pics? Didn’t see it in the shop.
This was soo good! I used New Mexico chiles because I had them on hand – not sure how different the spice level is from guajillo but it worked. So easy and perf for weeknights in the summer!
Side note… I’ve been using the extra sauce to make these super easy migas all week and it is also bomb in that. My non-recipe goes something like this: fry up some veg (green onions, bell peppers, spinach), add some corn tortilla strips, scramble in some eggs, add a couple spoons of delicious sauce, top with cilantro (obvs.) I’m obsessed!
WHOA! That is so freakin’ cool that it works with New Mexico chiles. Umm…I would say that New Mexican chiles are probably spicer; guajillos aren’t really that spicy. But I bet it was delicious!
Damn those migas sound so good!!!
I literally started having hunger pangs halfway through the post. It looks amazing and I bet it also tastes delicious too. It is the perfect dish to cook up in this season. I can’t wait to try it . Looking forward to reading more delectable recipes in the upcoming posts.
This girl will be on the hunt for guajillo and adobe this weekend
I made this for dinner because I had (nearly) all the ingredients. It was spicy in just the right way and was totally delicious. So excited to have leftover sauce for tacos later this week! Thank you!!
That’s awesome. YAY!!!
What size shrimp did you use, Adrianna?
I used pretty big shrimp. I think the count was like 15 or 16 but really any size would do as long as it’s one pound. 🙂
YAS GIRL! I love camarones enchilados too! My mom’s been making it for years, especially during Spring/Summer and now I do too. The Cuban version is similar which is what you said – we’re not that different. Must try the flank steak idea!
your girl loves dat dish! i forgot about that. sofrito is my shit!
we’re def not that different. 🙂
It looks delicious. Thank you.