Keto Mexican Shrimp Appetizer for Cinco de Mayo

This Keto Mexican shrimp appetizer is the perfect low carb party food for Cinco de Mayo or any party! Each cup is filled with a creamy avocado dip, refreshing pico de gallo and 2 large succulent shrimp. Not only is it colorful and tasty but one cup has just 2.0g net carbs. 

You might also like these 46 keto recipes for Cinco de Mayo!

I’ve been craving this recipe for awhile now. I bought these little cups at the dollar store and used them for my low carb jelly bean gelatin and since then have wanted to make an appetizer with them. I thought they would be perfect for this keto Mexican shrimp appetizer that we could eat for Cinco de Mayo

The result was so good that we ate these individual appetizer cups for dinner! My husband ate a few in a tortilla and I ate mine right out of the cup. Each one had a layer of creamy avocado, then a layer of colorful pico de Gallo and topped with a couple juicy shrimp. The flavors just went so well together.

These would be great for any summer party. They don’t take long to make and they look great. Plus they are fun to eat. Best of all for me is that each cup is only 2.0g net carbs.

 

Recipe ingredients I used and substitutions.

There were 3 components to this appetizer – spicy shrimp, pico de Gallo and avocado cream dip.

Spicy Shrimp
The simple ingredients I used were raw tail on frozen shrimp, olive oil and a spice blend of cumin, chili powder paprika, cayenne, onion powder and salt. This dish tastes best if you use raw and not pre-cooked shrimp. I like to buy it peeled already but you can buy them with the peel on and peel them before sautéing.

Pico de Gallo
For the pico I used red onion, sweet bell peppers, fresh cilantro leaves, dice fresh tomatoes and fresh lime juice. If you don’t like the tasty of cilantro you can use other fresh herbs like parsley or just eliminate it.

Avocado Dip
And lastly for the avocado dip I used – fresh avocado, lime juice and fresh garlic.

If you want to take some short cuts you can buy already made pico and avocado dip. If you are on a low carb diet check carbs on store bought items. I just wanted to make everything fresh because it’s was minimal work and I think it tastes better.

How to make this Mexican shrimp appetizer.

All 3 components of this Mexican shrimp cocktail recipe have amazing flavor together. However separately they all were quite good too and they are each very simple to make. So keep this recipe for future reference.

Note: I bought both the bowls and spoons at the Dollar Tree store but you can get these cool mini cup and spoon sets on Amazon.

Step 1: Thaw shrimp and if you have peel it, try to keep the tail on because it makes it easier for people to eat. Make sure to dry them after peeling and the place in a large mixing bowl.

Step 2: Mix the seasoning together in a little bowl. Then add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and spices to the shrimp in the bowl and mix. I used my hands to make sure the shrimp was covered in the spices. I used my hands to make sure everything was well combined.

Step 3: Get out a large saute pan and heat to medium heat. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and let it heat up for a minutes. Add the raw shrimp in a single layer in the the hot pan and saute until they turn pink.

This should take about 3-5 minutes but try not to overcook them or they get that rubbery texture. Take off the stove and set aside.

Step 4: To make the pico, get out a medium bowl and add the chopped fresh veggies (tomato, pepper and onion). Make sure to dice into small pieces. Toss with the lime juice and fresh chopped cilantro and set aside. This is simple but has such bright flavors.

Step 5: To make the avocado cream dip, add the garlic to a food processor and pulse until minced. Add the avocado and lime juice and mix until nice and creamy. You can also do this by hand. Place this in a separate bowl.

Step 6: To assemble the cups add a spoonful of the avocado dip, then the pico de Gallo and top with 1 or 2 shrimp. Refrigerate before eating.

Store leftovers in an airtight container for each of the 3 components. As I mentioned above you can eat each of these dishes separately for other meals. Please scroll down for the printable recipe card.

And if you don’t care about carbs you can add a tortilla chip scoops to the cups for scooping up the extra dip and salsa.

More tasty keto Mexican recipes for Cinco de Mayo.

My family just loves Mexican food so I have quite a few low carb Mexican dishes for you to try.

• keto Yucatan shrimp – a spicy dish you can eat as an appetizer too
• keto chicken casserole
• keto slow cooker chicken verde or chipotle chicken
• low carb taco burgers or taco soup or taco stuffed peppers
• low carb chorizo skillet dip or or alambre skillet dip
• keto salami tostadas

We actually ate this Mexican shrimp cocktail for dinner but they would be perfect for a keto appetizer at a summer party. It really is pretty simple to make and doesn’t take much time. The combination of flavors go so well together but you can eat the individual components separately or use them in other dishes. 

The nutritional information below is for 1 cup and 2 shrimp is 101 cals / 8.7g fat / 5.1g carbs / 3.1g fiber / 2.2g protein = 2.0g net carbs