I love shrimp. No, I kinda, sorta have a thing for shrimp. And what better way to cook shrimp than with a bunch of authentic Mexican flavors, like in this Shrimp Ranchero recipe (AKA Camarones Rancheros).
So since I cook with shrimp A LOT, like a lot a lot, I religiously keep an eye out on my grocery store flyer for when the shrimp goes on sale ($5 a pound for shrimp? Yes, please!) And boy, when it goes on sale do I STOCK up.
See, shrimp cooks so quickly, it makes for some of the easiest, quickest, delicious meals I can whip up on a weeknight. And that’s incredibly important for me. If I have to spend more than an hour on dinner that means it’s a takeout night, and that’s not good for my budget.
So that’s how I’ve ended up making a lot of shrimp recipes. But Camarones Rancheros. Let me tell you about these Mexican Ranch Style shrimp, or Shrimp Rancheros (there’s many variations, but the flavor is the same!)
These ranch-style shrimp (camarones rancheros) are SO GOOD served over rice. The rice soaks up the yummy sauce and just fills you up. Or serve it with some crusty bread (YUM). With avocado, cheese, and spinach to boot, I can eat these all day (and I have…)
So how do you make these?
Make sure you start with fresh veggies. Onions, tomatoes, garlic and jalapeños are so yum. Trust me, it’s worth the tears and spicy fingers. Chop everything and put it aside in a bowl.
Heat up your oil in a good sized skillet (like this skillet, which is my absolute fave) over medium high heat and add these colorful veggies to it. Does your kitchen smell amazing yet? Trust me, it will soon.
In the meantime, season your Camarones Rancheros with salt, pepper, paprika, and chicken bouillon. Like so:
When your veggies are soft and your kitchen smells like heaven on earth, add your shrimp to the skillet. Watch those babies get slightly pink and add your spinach and water.
Cover and let simmer, until everything cooks up and the shrimp get nice and pink. You’re on your way to finishing this Shrimp Ranchero recipe!
Sprinkle with cilantro, and serve over rice (or bread, or tortillas – delicious carbs!)
Top with avocado and cotija cheese and enjoy this goodness in a bowl.
If you make this Shrimp Ranchero recipe, make sure you tag it with @elotesisters. Can’t wait to see how you enjoy these 😉
Shrimp Ranchero Recipe – Pin for Later
Ranchero Shrimp Recipe (Camarones Rancheros)
Ingredients
- 1 lb shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1 tbsp canola oil (any vegetable oil works!)
- 1 large yellow onion
- 4 roma tomatoes
- 7 garlic cloves
- 1 jalapeno
- 1 serrano pepper (optional, if you like it a bit spicier)
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon (I used Knorr)
- 2 oz water
- 4 oz baby spinach (regular spinach works as well!)
- cilantro as garnish, optional
- 1 avocado (optional)
- 2 oz cotija cheese (optional, for garnishing)
- 1 lime (optional)
Instructions
- Slice your onion into half moon slices
- Cut your tomatoes into 6 to 8 wedges
- Roughly chop your garlic
- Slice your jalapenos and serrano peppers into long strips
- Roughly chop the cilantro. Set aside for now.
- In a large skillet, heat your oil over medium high heat
- While your pan warms up, season your shrimp with the salt, pepper, paprika, and chicken bouillion. Set aside for now.
- Now that your pan is warm, add the onions, tomatoes, garlic, jalapenos and serrano peppers and cook until the onions start to soften and turn transluscent, about 5 minutes
- Once your onions and other veggies soften, add the shrimp to the pan and sautee for a minute or two, until the shrimp start to turn slightly pink
- Add the water and the baby spinach
- Cover the pan and cook for a couple of minutes, until the spinach starts to wilt and the shrimp are all pink
- Add the cilantro to the pan and stir everything together
- Place in bowls, top with avocado, cheese and lime and enjoy!
This looks so good! I’m definitely going to get me some shrimp tomorrow and try this out. ??
I made shrimp Rancheros years ago
I had them at a restaurant and wanted to learn to cook them at home. So I Googled shrimp Rancheros and a recipe came up in spanish. I was able to translate. They tasted just like the restaurants. I lost the recipe when I bought a new computer , I had a file with my recipes on the computer. I remember the sauce was made with different red dried chiles. This recipe doesn’t take long to make. it is just more work because having to Liquify the dried. The paprika in your recipe probably takes the place of the red dried chiles. was just wondering if you have the recipe using dried red chili? thank you in advance ☺️