Mexican Shrimp Cocktail for Cinco de Mayo – A Low Carb Appetizer

This Mexican shrimp cocktail is the perfect low carb appetizer for Cinco de Mayo! Each cup is filled with a creamy avocado dip, refreshing pico de gallo and 2 large spicy shrimp. One serving has only 2.0g net carbs. 

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 a 1 serving Cinco de Mayo dish.

The result was so good that we ate these Mexican shrimp cocktail cups for dinner! My husband ate a few in a tortilla and I ate mine right out of the cup because you know how I like to eat out of a cup.;) Best of all for me is that each cup is only 2.0g net carbs (and that’s with 2 shrimp)!

Mexican Shrimp Cocktail Recipe

There are three components to this dish. The spicy shrimp, colorful pico de gallo and the creamy avocado dip. They all went together so well that I would recommend that you make them all but separately they are quite good too and they are each very simple to make.  

 Low Carb Spicy Shrimp Recipe

Shrimp is a great low carb food to eat. It’s also very easy to cook. I bought large raw, tail on shrimp at Costco and keep them in the freezer. To make the shrimp, thaw them in a colander first. While they are thawing you can get the rest of the recipe going by adding the spices together in a small bowl.

When the shrimp is thawed, towel them dry and place in a large bowl. Add a bit of olive oil and the spices and mix well with your hands. Then heat a large saute pan with a bit of oil and cook the shrimp until they turn pink. This should just take about 5 minutes. Take them off the stove and set aside. 

Low Carb Pico de Gallo Recipe

I want to make the pico de gallo as low carb as possible so I added red onion, ½ tomato and some bell peppers. I just tossed them with some lime juice and fresh cilantro. In the nutrition below I used the fresh lime juice which is a bit higher in carbs than bottled juice but if you want to cut more carbs us the bottled. Now that’s done!

 Low Carb Avocado Dip Recipe

 This is simply adding fresh avocado along with a clove of garlic and some lime juice to the food processor and then pulsing until nice and creamy. Add the garlic first to make sure you get it nice and minced, then add the avocado and lime juice. As I mentioned before each component tastes great on their own.

To assemble, just spoon some avocado in each bowl, add the pico de gallo and top with shrimp. I bought both the bowls and spoons at the dollar store but you can get these cool mini cup and spoon sets on Amazon. The nutritional information below is for 1 cup and 2 shrimp.

101 cals / 8.7g fat / 5.1g carbs / 3.1g fiber / 2.2g protein = 2.0g net carbs

4.75 from 4 votes

Print

Mexican Shrimp Cocktail (low carb)

This Mexican shrimp cocktail is the perfect low carb appetizer for Cinco de Mayo! Each cup is filled with a creamy avocado dip, refreshing pico de gallo and 2 large spicy shrimp. Each serving has only 2.0g net carbs. 

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings 10

Calories 101 kcal

Author Denise

Ingredients

Spicy Shrimp

• ¼ teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• ¼ teaspoon paprika
• ⅛ teaspoon cayenne
• ⅛ teaspoon onion powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 20 large shrimp, raw with tail on

Pico de Gallo

• ¼ cup red onion, chopped
• ½ cup sweet bell peppers, chopped
• ¼ cup cilantro leaves, loosely packed, chopped
• ½ tomato, chopped
• ½ lime, juice of

Avocado Cream Dip

• 2 avocados
• ½ lime, juice of
• 1 garlic clove

Instructions

Spicy Shrimp

1. Thaw shrimp then towel dry and add to a large bowl.

2. Mix all the spices in a small bowl and then along with 1 tablespoon of oil, add to the shrimp and mix well. I used my hands to make sure the shrimp were well covered.

3. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to a large saute pan and heat to medium. Pour in the shrimp and saute until the shrimp turn pink. About 5 minutes. Take off the stove and set aside. 

Pico de Gallo

1. Add the chopped vegetables to a medium bowl and toss with lime and fresh chopped cilantro.  Set aside. 

Avocado Cream Dip

1. Add garlic clove to a food process and pulse until minced.

2. Put in the avocado and lime juice and pulse until nice and creamy.

3. Assemble the cups with a spoonful of avocado cream, pico de gallo and then 1 to 2 shrimp. Refrigerate before eating.