Camarones Guisados (Stewed Shrimp)

Camarones Guisados is a delicious one pot dish made with stewed and sautéed shrimp in a flavorful tomato based sauce. It comes together in under 30 minutes and makes a wonderful weeknight meal served over rice or with fried plantains.

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If you've been a reader here at Salima's Kitchen for a while, you've been waiting for this recipe! It's the perfect match served over a bowl of mofongo and such a fun meal to make during the colder Winter months.

Ingredients

Here's what you're going to need to make this stewed shrimp:

• olive oil
• yellow onion, chopped
• green bell pepper, chopped
• garlic, minced
• pimento stuffed olives, chopped
• can tomato puree 
• cilantro, minced
• bay leafs 
• oregano 
• salt
• pepper
• shrimp, peeled and deveined (fully thawed and dried with paper towels if frozen)

See recipe card for exact quantities.

How to Stew Shrimp

In a large pan heat the olive oil over medium heat. Toss in the onion and green bell pepper and sauté until the onions become translucent. Add in the garlic and sauté for another minute.

Next add in the olives, tomato puree, spices and cilantro. Stir well, bring to a simmer and continue to cook for 5 minutes over medium heat. At this point taste the sauce to see if you want to add any additional salt or pepper.

Add the shrimp to the pan, mix and cook for 10 minutes or until the shrimp is fully cooked through.

Hint: You will know your shrimp is fully cooked when the thickest part of the shrimp is opaque and not translucent. 

Let's Talk Shrimp (Frozen vs. Fresh)

While I will always encourage you to find fresh seafood available to you locally, I know frozen can be way more convenient these days.

You can make camarones guisados with frozen shrimp, just make sure to thaw it completely and pat dry with paper towels before adding to the sauce.

Substitutions

If you know how to make the recipe fit a certain diet, let the reader know here. Don't fake it - only provide guidance on topics you have actual experience with.

• Lettuce - instead of ice berg lettuce, you can use romaine lettuce or spinach
• Bun - use gluten free buns instead of white bread buns to make this gluten free
• Vegetarian - the beef hamburger can be replaced with a plant-based burger to make this vegetarian

How to Serve Them

Camarones guisados are fabulous on their own, straight out of the pot! They are also really fabulous served over a bed of white or brown rice.

That said, if you want the full island experience, try your stewed shrimp with a traditional plantain dish.

Here are some of my favorites:

• Tostones - these fried green plantains are really fun to dip in the stewed shrimp sauce. The combination of the crisp fried texture with the warm, saucy shrimp is pretty perfect. Get my recipe for tostones!
• Mofongo - mofongo is a dish made from fried green plantains mashed with garlic and chicharrones. It's traditionally served with a healthy scoop of camarones guisados on top, so this is a match made in heaven. Get the recipe!
• Maduros - If you're looking for a sweeter pairing for this dish, these sweet fried plantains are a fun accompaniment. Get my recipe here.

Equipment

Because stewed shrimp can be made in one pan, it really doesn't require any special equipment. I just love recipes like this. All you'll need is a can opener for the tomato sauce and a good quality pan.

If you're anything like me, you're always looking for the safest, easiest to clean pan around and I've recently been loving my AllClad pans. I really love how lightweight and reliable they are, and found mine really helpful for this recipe.

Storage

I like to enjoy seafood the same day I cook it, but this stewed shrimp will keep in your fridge for up to 3 days.

These ingredients don't stand up well to freezing.

Top Tip

If there's one thing no one likes, it's overcooked shrimp! Make sure to watch your shrimp once you add it to the sauce to make sure it doesn't become chewy and rubbery.

Happy cooking!

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