This Cuban Shrimp Creole or “enchilado de camarones” is a flavorful, classic Cuban dish. The shrimp get simmered in a flavorful sauce made with tomato, onions, peppers, garlic and seasonings. You’ll definitely want to keep this recipe on hand for quick weeknight meals.
Growing up in a large Cuban family, this meal was a special treat! We had “enchilado de camarones” many times for family gatherings or when company was over. I asked my mom what the english name for it was and the general consensus was “Cuban Shrimp Creole”. Although it doesn’t translate exactly, it’s what this dish is most commonly known as in English. So no matter if you call it an enchilado or a creole, you’ll be making it over and over for your friends and family as well!
How to make Cuban Shrimp Creole (Enchilado de camarones):
By now you know, most cuban dishes start with *drum roll* green peppers and onions! Add in some garlic and a couple tablespoons of the tomato sauce and you have a winning combination of flavors!
After cooking the veggies and tomato sauce, everything else (except the shrimp) goes in the pan and gets simmered for just 5 minutes. I told ya this was easy! By the way, even if you don’t like olives, i’d still encourage you to add them in with the brine. You can pick them out after cooking if you want but they add a great flavor that will otherwise be missing from the sauce.
Now for the star of the show…the shrimp! Dump them in and simmer for another 10 minutes. They should be cooked through at this point and be curled up and opaque.
Serve immediately over a bed of white rice and enjoy!
Cuban Shrimp Creole (Enchilado de camarones)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- half of a medium onion diced finely (about 1/2 cup)
- half of a green bell pepper diced finely (about 1/2 cup)
- 4 large garlic cloves - minced
- 8 ounce can of tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1/3 cup green Spanish olives (plus a tablespoon of the brine)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 heaping teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 and 1/2 pounds medium sized shrimp (peeled, deveined, and tail-off)
Instructions
- Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat and add in the olive oil, onions, and green peppers. Sauté until the onions and peppers soften.
- Add in the garlic and 2 tablespoons from the can of tomato sauce. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add in the remaining tomato sauce, water, white wine, olives, oregano, salt, pepper, and cumin. Bring to a simmer for 5 minutes, uncovered.
- After the 5 minutes, add in the shrimp and simmer, covered for 10 minutes.
- Serve immediately over white rice.
40 Comments
Anita
March 26, 2020 at 5:15 pmThis shrimp creole is simply delicious and full of flavors. I can eat this with nothing but white rice. 🙂
Charla @ That Girl Cooks Healthy
March 26, 2020 at 5:22 pmI bet the whole house comes to life with the smell of this wonderful looking dish.
Roxana
March 26, 2020 at 5:53 pmThere is something about these creole flavors and shrimp that work perfectly. So comforting with rice. What can I use instead of wine?
Coco and Ash
March 26, 2020 at 6:13 pmthank you! If you want to skip the wine, use the same amount of chicken or vegetable broth and add in 1 tablespoon of white vinegar for acid 🙂
Eni
July 7, 2021 at 9:12 pmWater
Sara Welch
March 26, 2020 at 6:16 pmSo many flavors in one dish; this was fantastic! Looking forward to enjoying leftovers for dinner again tonight!
Dlishus
April 27, 2020 at 8:21 amThis is not the way to make Enchilado de Camarones. Any real and true Cuban doesn’t put the brine of the olives in any meal for the simple reason the brine gives the meal bitter taste. In this recipe it doesn’t call for oregano or cumin, but it calls for hot sauce which isn’t mentioned at all. In addition, the recipe doesn’t call for water either.. Please research you data before publishing a Cuban Recipe…
Coco and Ash
April 29, 2020 at 12:03 pmThanks for your input. But both my parents, grandparents, great-grandparents – ALL born in Cuba and I am first generation born in this country. So if this is the way we make it, I’d say it’s pretty darn AUTHENTIC Cuban. Have a GREAT day!
John Leon
February 18, 2021 at 4:35 amI’m the same as you first generation Cuban-American. My family makes this dish exactly like your recipe, and Cubans always add brine from the jar when using olives. It’s practically customary, and when do Cubans ever leave out, cumin and add hot sauce to any recipe? Your recipe is spot on! I made this last night and it was amazing. Thank you!!!
Coco and Ash
February 18, 2021 at 9:12 amThank you!! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂 My great-grandparents’ last name was also Leon 😉
Rosie C.
March 5, 2021 at 9:28 pmDaughter of Cuban parents, grandparents, etc., here!! My Oklahoma-born gringo husband learned very quickly into our relationship that the Olive brine is a sacred thing that must never be discarded, even after the olives are gone!! It’s one of my cuban “secret weapons” in the kitchen, along with anchovy paste in a tube, smoked paprika and Vino Seco cooking wine. I keep other wonderful wines on hand that I use for cooking but for some Cuban dishes, the bitter-salty notes in the Vino Seco AND the olive brine are absolutely not replaceable. Thanks for sharing a great recipe! I’ll be adding it to our rotation!!
Coco and Ash
March 6, 2021 at 11:16 amThank you!! Totally agree 😃
JM
December 13, 2022 at 12:28 pmFirst of all…I am NOT Cuban, but I live in Florida and eat Cuban food often. I just made this recipe and think it’’s DELICIOUS, easy and fast! What more do you need? I will definitely make it again.
LizB
December 14, 2020 at 6:47 pmCould you not be a troll? I just made her picadillo recipe and it was definitely authentic.
Coco and Ash
December 14, 2020 at 7:47 pmLOL thank you!!!!!
Ki
April 7, 2021 at 10:27 amYou’re incorrect. Please research your data before commenting on a Cuban recipe.
Eni
July 7, 2021 at 9:28 pmYou must not be Cuban, because I have done it that way, except for the tablespoon of the brine, I think that’s optional.
I do add the Oregano and the Cumin and if you can’t have wine you add Water. That does not mean that one is not Cuban if we have different ways of cooking.
Natalie
September 16, 2021 at 11:48 amYou’re an idiot. A Cuban would NEVER put hot sauce in their food.
G Sabsoub
November 29, 2021 at 7:42 pmReal Cubans don’t use hot sauce. This recipe was perfect.
Theresa Gonzalez
August 16, 2020 at 1:20 pmDo you cook the shrimp before adding it to the sauce?
Coco and Ash
August 16, 2020 at 6:12 pmNo, they cook in the sauce 🙂
Gigi Perez
October 10, 2020 at 1:11 pmI have never eaten Cuban camarones enchilados with olives. I’m Cuban and we usually use olives in picadillo, ropa vieja, fricasé de pollo, that’s about it.
Coco and Ash
October 10, 2020 at 1:13 pmI’m cuban and my family makes it with olives 🙂 feel free to leave them out if you’d like!
Rosie
March 5, 2021 at 10:04 pmPero ven acá caballero….. que pasa con esta gente que no paran de joder con las criticas???
Francisco Castellanos
November 15, 2020 at 12:52 pmGOOD RECIPE. VENEZUELAN MARRIED TO A CUBAN FROM CARDENA
How to Make White Rice - Coco and Ash
May 14, 2021 at 4:28 pm[…] Cuban Shrimp Creole […]
Patsy
July 11, 2021 at 10:15 amI’m cooking for a Cuban inspired buffet party next month. Could I make the sauce the day before and overnight it in the fridge then add the raw shrimp once its reheated? I want to do a shrimp dish but won’t have time to make it on the day.
Coco and Ash
July 11, 2021 at 10:23 amAbsolutely! Great idea 🙂
Patsy
July 11, 2021 at 10:39 amTHANKS!! Loving your recipes
I’m catering for a few vegetarians do you have a Cuban veggie recipe – again one i can prep the day before and heat up rather like when i cook an Indian veggie curry?
Coco and Ash
July 11, 2021 at 11:15 amI think the only ones that would be vegetarian are the black bean recipes. I have a quick version and a traditional (just search “black beans”) I’m not sure if you’d be able to modify any other recipes. Good luck! 🙂
Greg Divine
January 9, 2022 at 7:18 pmI made this for dinner tonight and the whole family loved it! So much incredible flavor in this soup . I will absolutely be making this again and again. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe with us . Now I’m going pick out another of your recipes to make next and I can’t wait.
Lucia Harrison
January 27, 2022 at 6:47 pmMy husband hates olives, so last time I made this I did not add them or the brine. It was really good. But tonight I made it again, added the olives and brine, and made sure he did not get an olive when served. ..it was outstanding. Only change was a splash of fresh lemon before serving. So good.
Coco and Ash
January 27, 2022 at 7:30 pmGreat to hear! I do the same here 🙂 thank you!
Eating At McDonald’s In Cuba: What You Need To Know – AutenticaCuba
September 28, 2022 at 9:22 pm[…] a member of our Cuba culture tour, concurs. Outside of the main cities, meals are still based on simple Cuban creole dishes. Although some foods may not be as appealing to everyone, such as guava, which is best consumed in […]
Casey
October 1, 2022 at 11:04 pmI don’t eat shrimp so I didn’t try it but my husband and sons liked it, I didn’t have tomato sauce so I substituted Sofrito instead and they said it had good flavor.
Jenise G
December 31, 2022 at 2:03 pmI’m excited to make this tonight for NYE but I’m nervous because I’m making for about 12 adults 😬. Should I just triple all the ingredients? Can I make the sauce a few hours earlier and just add the shrimp (& a few chunks of lobster 😜) a few minutes before serving? I appreciate the help!
Coco and Ash
December 31, 2022 at 2:04 pmHi! No need to be nervous 🙂
You can easily double the sauce and make it ahead of time. Then just heat it back up and add the seafood when ready to eat!
Jenise Gato
December 31, 2022 at 2:17 pmThank you for the prompt response! Double or triple 🤔? Thanks again & happy new year 🎊!!
Coco and Ash
December 31, 2022 at 2:18 pmIt makes a lot of sauce but if it were me, I’d rather triple it and have left overs 😃
William P
May 21, 2023 at 9:16 pmWow, a lot of arguments about different variations of the dish. Lighten up people it’s only food and Cubans love to eat!
My mom’s family are all from Cuba. My mom and a lot of her generation were some of the first born here in the US.
I’ve eaten picadillo 3 or 4 ways, ropa vieja a couple ways, boliche a couple different ways. All at my grandma’s table. While I never saw my grandma use hot sauce I’ve seen family members use hot sauce on certain dishes. Like food anywhere there are regional variations to every dish.
Im sure if I would have prepared it correctly it would have been excellent. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can substitute for the wine (or cooking sherry) it makes the dish.