The BEST recipe for Aguachile De Camaron!  This Mexican seafood dish is easy, healthy & delicious! It’s closely related to shrimp ceviche and if you like sushi or poke bowls, I guarantee you will love this healthy & fresh recipe!

Aguachile on a white plate topped with sliced red onions and tortilla chips on the side.
Authentic Aguachiles De Camaron

What is Aguachile?

Aguachile simply means chile water. In this recipe, the shrimp (or your prefered seafood) is marinated with a sauce made of jalapeños & serrano peppers, cilantro, lime juice and a little water.

Easy, healthy & delicious! 

The protein can be any white fish or shellfish although some new vegan recipes substitute fresh veggies for the protein. Feel free to use this method for any kind of seafood you would like to replace the shrimp with.

What’s the difference between ceviche and aguachile?

The main difference between ceviche and aguachile is for ceviche, the seafood is cured in the lime juice until “cooked” for about two hours. The vegetables in Ceviches are chopped (tomato, cucumber, onions, avocado) and some have a more juicy mixture.

For aguachile, the seafood is only marinated for about 20 minutes then served immediately while still raw.

Aguachile on a white plate topped with sliced red onions and tortilla chips on the side.
An easy Recipe for Aguachiles Verdes. Healthy & Delicious!

The ingredients for this recipe

This recipe calls for very simple ingredients but as always, the freshest the better!

  • The protein: Start with quality raw shrimp. Fresh seafood is better but it’s okay to use previously frozen shrimp. I actually like to buy the one from Costco (already cleaned and deveined). Other great seafood options:
    • Halibut Aguachile
    • Scallops
    • Clams
  • The veggies:
    • Jalapeño pepper or serrano chilies. Serrano is more spicy so use more of these if you like more heat on your recipes.
    • Cilantro
    • Fresh lime juice. When buying fresh limes, to ensure you select the most juicy ones, select ones that have a soft and smooth skin. If they’re too firm, most likely won’t have much juice
    • Cucumbers
    • Red onions
    • Avocado for topping
    • Chile Habaneros for an extra kick!
  • Seasoning: Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

Serving suggestions:

The best way to eat Aguachile is on tostadas, with corn tortilla chips or saltines. This finger food it’s perfect served as an appetizer before the main dish.

All ingredients for this recipe on a gray board.
Ingredients for Aguachiles Verdes

How to make Aguachile

The process of making this recipe does not take long once you have all of your ingredients ready. You should be able to eat them in 30 minutes or less!

A white dish with raw peeled shrimp and cucumbers on the side as props.
  1. First start by slicing the shrimp in half lengthwise and discard any veins. The process is to open it like a butterfly and not cutting all the way through.

2. Transfer to a large dish or bowl and cover with plastic. Refrigerate while we prepare the rest of the ingredients.

3. In a blender, add the chiles, cilantro, water & lime juice. Puree it thoroughly.

4. Add the aguachile mixture to the shrimps and add the red onion and cucumber at this point if you would like. Otherwise, you can just garnish it when serving.

5. Sprinkle some salt and pepper to taste then place in refrigerator for 10 to 20 minutes. 

A serving dish with raw shrimp marinating in chile water.
Authentic Aguachile Mexicano

Serve right away topped with sliced avocado, cucumbers and red onion. Eat with tostadas, tortilla chips, or saltines.

How To Store

Aguachile is best if consumed immediately. It tastes better when it’s raw and does not sit for too long. If you must store some away, place in an airtight container and placed in refrigerator. Eat in 24 hours of less.

A white plate with shrimp aguachile decorated with tortilla chips.
This Aguachile Recipe is Easy, healthy & delicious! 

Luckily, Aguachile is gaining popularity in the United States and specially in Authentic Mexican restaurants and it’s more readily available these days. If you go to a Mexican restaurant, just look for “Aguachil de Camarones”.

But better yet, just make it at home with this easy recipe! 😀

Buen Provecho! XO, Ana

More Mariscos (seafood) recipes you may like:

It is no secret that I LOVE seafood! I grew up by the coast eating fresh seafood all the time. Here are a few of my favorite seafood recipes for you to explore. More to come soon!

If you make this recipe, I would love to hear about it! Leave me a comment below to let me know how you liked it? By adding a comment and star rating you’re helping Muy Delish get even better! ? Gracias!!!!

A white bowl with raw shrimps covered in chile water and garnished with red onions.

Shrimp Aguachile

Servings 4 servings
Ana Frias
5 from 11 votes
Prep Time 30 mins
Total Time 30 mins
The BEST recipe for Aguachile De Camaron!  The shrimp is marinated with a sauce made of jalapeños & serrano peppers, cilantro and lime juice. Easy, healthy & delicious! 
4 servings

Ingredients  

  • 1 lb good quality raw shrimp. It’s okay to use previously frozen shrimp
  • 1 jalapeño pepper or 2 serrano chilies if you like it more spicy stemmed and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
  • ¼ cup fresh cilantro
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • tablespoons fresh juice from 4 limes
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • ¼ cup thinly sliced red onion
  • cucumber thinly sliced
  • 1 sliced avocado
  • Tostadas or corn tortilla chips for serving

Instructions 

  • Slice the shrimp in half lengthwise and discard any veins. The process is to open it like a butterfly and not cutting all the way through.
  • Transfer to a large dish or bowl and cover with plastic. Refrigerate while we prepare the rest of the ingredients.
  • In a blender, add the chiles, cilantro, water & lime juice. Puree thoroughly.
  • Add the aguachile mixture to the shrimps. Add the red onion and cucumber at this point if you would like. Otherwise, you can just garnish it when serving.
  • Sprinkle some salt and pepper to taste then place in refrigerator for 10 to 20 minutes. 
  • Serve right away topped with sliced avocado, cucumbers and red onion. Eat with tostadas, tortilla chips, or saltines.

Muy Delish Notes:

Aguachile is best if consumed immediately. It tastes better when it’s raw and does not sit for too long. If you must store some away, place in an airtight container and placed in refrigerator. Eat in 24 hours of less.

Add Your Own Private Notes

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Nutrition

Serving: 4oz of shrimp | Calories: 160kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 155mg | Sodium: 916mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 3g

The nutritional information and US conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. If this is important to you, please verify with your favourite nutrition calculator and/or unit conversion tool.

Aguachile with tortilla chips and cucumbers on the side.

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Recipe Rating




18 Comments

  1. 5 stars
     street stand to get a taste of Sinaloan aguachile aka Aguachile Verde. I’m not the master coctolero that these guys were so by now means is this their exact recipe. But, I recreated my favorite parts of the dish to make this shrimp aguachile.

      1. Hi Charles! I think you can make Aguachile with any other seafood item too like crabs, clams, or even squid. You can mix and match as you like. As far as other veggies and such sometimes I add jicama, radishes and even some thinly sliced fresh coconut! Let me know what you decided adding and how you like it.

  2. 5 stars
    I’m always up to try something new on Muy Delish. Never heard of this before. I have to say this recipe nails it!