• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Cook2eatwell
  • Home
  • Recipe Index
  • Cuban Recipes
  • About Us
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Home
  • Recipe Index
  • Cuban Recipes
  • About Us
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Home
    • Recipe Index
    • Cuban Recipes
    • About Us
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Cuban Food

    Camarones Enchilados

    Published: Dec 18, 2018 · Modified: Mar 12, 2021 by Elizabeth · 6 Comments

    • Share
    Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe
    Camarones Enchilados served with white rice in a white plate.

    Saucy and a little bit spicy, camarones enchilados is a Cuban dish similar to a shrimp creole. Camarones enchilados translates roughly to spicy shrimp. It’s shrimp that’s cooked in a flavorful, and slightly spicy tomato sauce.

    Camarones Enchilados, shrimp in a red sauce arranged around white rice and garnished with chopped parsley

    The tomato sauce comes together quickly, and you can make it as hot as you like, just add more or less hot sauce. This exotic dish is really easy to make, and will spice up your weeknight dinners.

    Serve the shrimp with white rice or with bread for dipping in the delicious tomato sauce. For more popular Cuban recipes, try this carne con papas recipe or this ropa vieja. Enjoy!

    Camarones enchilados ingredients

    • 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
    • 1 Small Onion, finely diced
    • 5-6 Garlic Cloves, minced
    • 1 teaspoon Paprika
    • ½ teaspoon Cajun Seasoning
    • ¼ teaspoon Cumin
    • ¼ cup White Wine (or use chicken broth)
    • 2 cups Tomato Sauce
    • ½ cup Water
    • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
    • Dash Cayenne Pepper Based Hot Sauce (like Crystal or Frank’s Red Hot)
    • 1 Bay Leaf
    • 1½ pounds Large Shrimp, peeled and deveined
    • Pinch of Kosher or Sea Salt
    • ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
    • Finely Chopped Fresh Parsley for garnish
    • Cooked White Rice or Bread for serving

    Prep Work

    If you plan on serving the camarones enchilados over white rice, start it right before you start cooking. The rice and this dish will take roughly the same amount of time to make.

    Peel and clean the shrimp. Pat them dry with a paper towel. Season the shrimp with just a pinch of salt and black pepper. Go easy on the salt. The tomato sauce, hot sauce, Cajun seasoning and Worcestershire sauce all contain a good amount of salt already. You can adjust at the end if needed.

    Things move quickly with this sauce, so there’s not a lot of time in between adding each ingredient. Make sure you have everything diced, minced and measured before you start.

    Camarones Enchilados Prep Work, raw shrimp, spices, sauces, diced onions and garlic displayed on a wood board

    Make the camarones enchilados sauce

    • Heat the olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for approximately 3 minutes until they start to soften, stirring frequently.
    • Next, add the garlic, paprika, Cajun seasoning, and cumin to the skillet, stir to mix well. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently.
    • Add the white wine and cook for about 1-2 minutes while stirring and gently scraping any bits from the bottom of the skillet. Cook until most of the liquid has cooked away. If you don’t cook with wine, use chicken broth to deglaze the pan.
    • Add the tomato sauce, water, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce and the bay leaf to the skillet, stir. Bring the sauce to a simmer, lower the heat to medium-low to low, cover and cook at a gentle simmer for 25-30 minutes. Stir occasionally and if the sauce is simmering too vigorously, lower the heat a bit.

    Cook the shrimp

    Remove the bay leaf from the sauce and discard.

    Raise the heat to medium-high, and bring the sauce to a boil. Add the shrimp to the sauce, stir and cook uncovered until the shrimp are cooked through; they’ll be pink, opaque and curled. This should only take about 5 minutes, depending on the size of the shrimp.

    As soon as the shrimp are cooked through, remove the skillet from the heat. Avoid overcooking the shrimp as they’ll get rubbery and that would be a shame.

    Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper to taste, if needed.

    Garnish the camarones enchilados with the chopped parsley and serve over a bed of white rice or with bread for dipping.

    Camarones Enchilados, shrimp in a red sauce arranged around white rice and garnished with chopped parsley

    You may also like these easy shrimp recipes:

    • Shrimp and vegetable stir fry
    • Garlic shrimp pasta
    • Shrimp lo mein
    • Camarones al ajillo
    Camarones Enchilados, shrimp in a red sauce arranged around white rice and garnished with chopped parsley
    Print Recipe
    4.73 from 11 votes

    Camarones Enchilados

    Saucy and a little bit spicy, camarones enchilados is a Cuban dish similar to a shrimp creole.
    Prep Time15 mins
    Cook Time45 mins
    Total Time1 hr
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: Cuban
    Keyword: spicy shrimp
    Servings: 4
    Calories: 294kcal
    Author: Elizabeth

    Ingredients

    • 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
    • 1 Small Onion finely diced
    • 5-6 Garlic Cloves minced
    • 1 teaspoon Paprika
    • ½ teaspoon Cajun Seasoning
    • ¼ teaspoon Cumin
    • ¼ cup White Wine
    • 2 cups Tomato Sauce 16 oz.
    • ½ cup Water
    • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
    • Dash Cayenne Pepper Based Hot Sauce like Crystal or Frank’s Red Hot
    • 1 Bay Leaf
    • 1½ pounds Medium or Large Shrimp peeled and deveined
    • Pinch of Kosher or Sea Salt
    • ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
    • Finely Chopped Fresh Parsley for garnish optional
    • Cooked White Rice for serving optional

    Instructions

    • Peel and clean the shrimp. Pat them dry with a paper towel.
    • Season the shrimp with just a pinch of salt and black pepper.
    • Heat the olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for approximately 3 minutes until they start to soften, stirring frequently.
    • Add the garlic, paprika, Cajun seasoning, and cumin to the skillet, stir to mix well. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently.
    • Add the white wine and cook for about 1-2 minutes while stirring and gently scraping any bits from the bottom of the skillet.
    • Add the tomato sauce, water, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce and the bay leaf to the skillet, stir. Bring the sauce to a simmer, lower the heat to medium-low to low, cover and cook at a gentle simmer for 25-30 minutes. Stir occasionally.
    • If the sauce is simmering too vigorously, lower the heat a bit, if it isn’t up to simmer raise the heat a bit.
    • Remove the bay leaf from the sauce and discard. 
    • Raise the heat to medium-high, and bring the sauce to a boil. Add the shrimp to the sauce, stir and cook uncovered for approximately 5 minutes.
    • The shrimp are cooked through when they are pink, opaque and curled. Avoid overcooking as they’ll get rubbery.
    • Taste the sauce and add more salt and pepper, if needed.
    • Garnish the camarones enchilados with the chopped parsley and serve over a bed of white rice, or serve with bread.

    Notes

    If you plan on serving the shrimp over white rice, start it right before you start cooking. The rice and the enchilado will take roughly the same amount of time to make.
     
    Go easy on the salt. The tomato sauce, hot sauce, Cajun seasoning and Worcestershire sauce all contain a good amount of salt already. You can adjust at the end if needed.
     
    Things move quickly with this sauce, so there’s not a lot of time in between adding each ingredient. Make sure you have everything diced, minced and measured before you start.
     
    If you don’t cook with wine, use chicken broth to deglaze the pan.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 294kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 37g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 428mg | Sodium: 1983mg | Potassium: 630mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 900IU | Vitamin C: 18.7mg | Calcium: 276mg | Iron: 5.3mg
    The nutritional information above is computer generated and is only an estimate. There is no guarantee that it is accurate.This data is provided as a courtesy for informational purposes only.

    More Cuban Food

    • Cuban Appetizers and Snacks
    • Quick Cuban Style Black Beans
    • Arroz con Huevo Frito
    • Cuban Coffee (Café Cubano)
    • Share

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Maggie

      June 19, 2021 at 2:07 pm

      I have company coming over. Do you have to serve eight away?

      Reply
      • Elizabeth

        June 19, 2021 at 9:13 pm

        Hi Maggie,
        I haven’t tested the recipe for eight but if you have experience in the kitchen you can double the recipe. Don’t double all of the ingredients though. Double the shrimp and the liquid (maybe add a little less than double the water), do a medium to large onion instead of a small. Add two or three extra garlic cloves. For the spices, double them or do one and one half then taste the sauce when it’s done and add a dash or two more if needed. You may also need to cook the sauce longer. For the shrimp read the info on how to tell if the shrimp are done. After everything is cooked you can taste and adjust salt, hot sauce and black pepper to add more zing. I hope this helps, good luck!

        Reply
        • G

          November 30, 2021 at 12:15 pm

          I think she meant “… to serve right away?”

          Reply
          • Elizabeth

            November 30, 2021 at 12:24 pm

            You are right! Oh well, I’ll leave the comment up in case in comes in handy for someone. To the actual question, it is best served right away, if left on low heat the sauce will continue to thicken and concentrate and the shrimp could get rubbery. Thank you for your excellent interpreting skills!

            Reply
    2. Amanda

      February 09, 2021 at 10:31 pm

      5 stars
      This was delicious! I followed the exact recipe and was not disappointed. Will make again.

      Reply
      • Elizabeth

        February 10, 2021 at 11:11 am

        Hi Amanda, thank you for your kind comment. I’m really happy you enjoyed it.

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    aboutus

    Hi, I’m Elizabeth! welcome to Cook2eatwell. Food is my favorite subject; I like to cook food, talk about food, write about food, and most importantly, eat food. Lucky for me, my husband Eddie feels the same way. 

    More about me →

    Popular

    • Chicken Macaroni Salad
    • Seasoned Rice
    • Macaroni Salad
    • Corned Beef and Cabbage

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • About

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2022 Cook2eatwell