Cuban Shrimp Creole (Enchilado de camarones)

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!

Print Recipe

5 from 6 votes

Cuban Shrimp Creole (Enchilado de camarones)

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time25 mins

Course: dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: Cuban

Servings: 4 people

Author: Coco and Ash

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.