This Easy Shrimp Ceviche Is My Favorite No-Cook Summer Dinner

I could eat shrimp ceviche every single day and never tire of it. The mix of colors, flavors, and textures — between the sweet shrimp, ripe summer tomatoes, creamy avocado, chopped red onion, fresh jalapeño, and citrus juices — guarantee no two bites are the same. Plus, you get to scoop it all up with salty, crunchy tortilla chips.

Although ceviche is often enjoyed at restaurants, it’s actually the perfect summer meal to make at home. Simply toss together the ingredients (except for the avocado!) and stash in the fridge to marinate and “cook.” I like to serve it as a light dinner, but it’s also great as a snack or for lunch.

As with all simple summer recipes, the key is not in the technique but in buying the best ingredients available to you. This is the time to use ruby red summer tomatoes, the jalapeño from your patio garden, and the best shrimp you can buy — which may actually be frozen shrimp if you aren’t cooking oceanside.

Get the recipe: Easy Shrimp Ceviche with Avocado

Although classic ceviche is made by marinating raw seafood in citrus juice, this recipe has you poach it in hot water first. This ensures you’ve killed any lingering bacteria, which is important if you’re not able to obtain super-fresh shrimp.

Don’t worry: The process is still super fast. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, then turn off the heat and add peeled and deveined shrimp. Poach the shrimp until they are just cooked through. Drain and, once the shrimp are cool enough to handle, chop into 1/2-inch pieces.

Combine the shrimp, diced tomatoes, red onion, jalapeño, cilantro, and salt in a large bowl. Add freshly squeezed lemon and lime juices, then toss to combine. Refrigerate for one to four hours. When ready to serve, dice a ripe avocado and toss gently with the ceviche. Serve with sturdy tortilla chips.

1. Buy the best shrimp — fresh or frozen. If you’re lucky enough to have a reputable source for freshly caught shrimp, fresh is your best bet. If you’re landlubber serving ceviche away from the docks, opt for frozen shrimp. Domestic, wild-caught shrimp is the best choice for flavor and sustainability.
2. Shrimp size doesn’t matter. The recipe calls for medium shrimp, but when I’m shopping I choose the best wild-caught American shrimp I can find (at the best price!), no matter the size. If you stray from the size indicated here, the poaching time may vary, but that’s it.
3. Skip the poaching step with freshly-caught shrimp. This recipe provides the safety net of poaching so you can make ceviche with fresh or frozen shrimp. When I’m sitting seaside and buying fresh, locally-caught shrimp, I let the acid do the cooking for me. I add slightly more acid — from three lemons and four limes — and let the ceviche marinate overnight or until the shrimp are opaque.

At Kitchn, our editors develop and debut brand-new recipes on the site every single week. But at home, we also have our own tried-and-true dishes that we make over and over again — because quite simply? We love them. Kitchn Love Letters is a series that shares our favorite, over-and-over recipes.