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Cilantro Lime Shrimp. This recipe comes together quick and easy. Full of flavor, these juicy shrimps are perfect for adding to salad, having with rice or quinoa, or even inside of tacos! 

Close up of cilantro lime shrimp.


 

Cilantro Lime shrimp is the perfect quick and easy dish to make. Serve this with some rice, or in a corn tortilla with some shredded cabbage for some shrimp tacos. Serve alongside some charro beans, Mexican Rice, or even some cauliflower cilantro lime rice for a complete meal!

How to make Cilantro Lime Shrimp:

  1. Season the shrimp and cook in a preheated skillet and olive oil.
  2. Once cooked, remove from heat and squeeze the fresh lime juice on the shrimp.
  3. Add the diced cilantro. Stir it all together.
Raw shrimp sprinkled with seasoning.
Tongs turning shrimp to cook in a skillet.
Squeezing lime juice over cooked shrimp.
Chopped cilantro being added to cooked shrimp.

What kind of shrimp should I buy? 

Frozen shrimp that has been peeled and deveined. Tails removed if preferred. The size doesn’t matter for this recipe.

I typically will buy bags of frozen shrimp. To make your life easy go for ones that have been peeled and deveined. I prefer to get mine with the tail left on, just because I like how it looks in pictures. But for ease of eating, you can get them with the tails removed also. 

Even if you were to buy shrimp “fresh” from the meat counter, chances are that shrimp was previously frozen and has just been thawed. Which again, is fine, and it cuts down the step of you having to thaw it yourself. Just be sure to cook the fresh shrimp within 1-2 days for best results. 

The size of the shrimp doesn’t matter for this recipe. The only thing that will change is the cooking time. The smaller shrimp will cook up much quicker than a Jumbo large shrimp will. 

If you need instructions on how to peel and devein your own shrimp check this out! 

Cilantro lime shrimp in a skillet.

How to cook the Perfect Shrimp

Shrimp should be cooked to an internal temperature of 120 degrees. Watch the color of the shrimp as it cooks. They will go from a grey color to a light pink. The longer you cook the shrimp, the tighter their C shape will become and they tougher they will be when you go to eat them. They cook quickly! So be careful not to overcook. 

Estimate about 4 minutes of cooking in a skillet on the stovetop. This can vary based on the size of the shrimp and how many you are cooking.

Cilantro Lime Shrimp

5 from 1 vote
Prep: 2 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Total: 12 minutes
Servings: 2 servings
Author: Serene
Cilantro Lime Shrimp. This recipe comes together quick and easy. Full of flavor, these juicy shrimps are perfect for adding to salad, having with rice, or even inside of tacos! 
Cilantro lime shrimp served on a plate.

Ingredients  

  • ½ pound shrimp
  • 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 clove minced garlic
  • tsp sea salt
  • tsp cumin
  • Juice from 1/2 lime
  • 1 tbsp cilantro chopped

Instructions 

  • Heat olive oil over medium heat.
  • Toss shrimp with sea salt and cumin then place in heated pan, cook in batches if needed to avoid over-crowding.
  • Cook the shrimp until they are pink, about 3-4 minutes. Then remove from heat.
  • While cooking the last batch of shrimp, add in the garlic in the last 30 seconds of cooking. 
  • Remove the skillet from the heat, add all the shrimp back into the skillet to toss in the remaining olive oil and garlic mixture. 
  • Squeeze the juice from half a lime over the shrimp and then toss with the cilantro.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 132kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 286mg | Sodium: 1027mg | Potassium: 94mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 15IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 166mg | Iron: 3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!

The post for Cilantro Lime Shrimp was first published on February 13, 2014. Updated on January 7, 2020 with new images.


Welcome to my kitchen!

Welcome to the House of Yumm!! My name is Serene. I’m the food photographer, recipe developer, and official taste tester around these parts.

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7 Comments

  1. Is the cilantro necessary in this recipe? Some of us can’t stand the taste of raw cilantro–it has the taste of soap on our palate.

  2. I love corriander and lime together and paired with prawns makes a great tasting meal. Thanks for linking up at Sweet and Savoury Sunday, stop by and link up again this weekend!

  3. Great recipe…simple, but delicious! I love lime, so this recipe called out to me right away! Thanks for sharing!

  4. This looks like such a simple and tasty meal! And the fact that it is shrimp is a bonus! Would be delicious over rice 🙂 Thanks for the great post!

    1. It is definitely tasty!! And it’s delicious on pretty much everything! 😉 thanks for stopping by! Hope you have an amazing day!