Simple Keto Shrimp Ceviche

Ceviche is one of my favorite dishes and it’s easy to make. The fact that it’s keto friendly is a huge plus. Consisting of pretty simple ingredients, it’s a great meal to eat on your own or serve as a party platter for friends that will be sure to impress.

NET CARBS PER SERVING: 5G

Carbs per Serving (2 servings): 9g

Fiber: 4g

FULL NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION POSTED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE.

CEVICHE EXPLAINED

RECIPE CARD IS BELOW TEXT.

Ceviche is one of my absolute favorite meals, and today we’ll be making the Mexican variation of the dish which uses shrimp instead of fish. I’ve spent a few weeks in Mexico and every time I go out for dinner, I make it a point to try their ceviche. It’s such an interesting dish in the way that the meat is cooked and how the styles can vary. Ceviche can be made with nearly any seafood like shrimp, octopus, tuna, mackerel, tilapia, halibut, or mahi-mahi. The vegetables and herbs in it can also vary from something like olives and plantains to ginger root and sweet potato. It’s just such a wonderfully diverse dish that you can make any number of ways. For our purposes, we’re going as low-carb as possible to make it the perfect keto appetizer or side.

The most recent Ceviche I had in Mexico.

THE MEAT

As I mentioned before, ceviche has a pretty interesting and unique way of actually cooking the meat. It uses a process called denaturing, which is basically using a chemical reaction to cook the seafood. You’ll notice that once the meat has been marinating in the lime juice for long enough, it will appear firm and opaque just as if it was cooked by heat. Food safety is important for this dish, as “cooking” the food in citric acid doesn’t kill the bacteria in it. That’s why you want to make sure this dish is made with either fresh shrimp, or shrimp that’s been frozen below zero for long enough. If you’re worried about it, you can blanch the meat by dropping it in boiling water for two minutes before adding it to the lime juice marinade.

SERVING

Ceviche is a terrific dish because you can serve it as it’s own meal (maybe as a light lunch for the keto diet), an appetizer, a side, or even as a topping to grilled or pan-cooked white fish.

When it comes to the usual Mexican version of the dish, it’s normally served with either tostadas or salted crackers. Since we’re working with limited carb intake here, my favorite way of eating this dish is with sliced cucumbers. Cut the cucumber into slices and just use them like a chip. It works great and I love the refreshing taste of a cucumber. If you decide to spice up the ceviche with hot sauce or habaneros, the cool taste of the cucumber balances nicely with the heat.

SPICE IT UP (Optional Ingredients)

Now for the fun part. If you want to make this dish hotter you can add habanero peppers, green chilis, chipotle adobo, or other peppers. However, adding and swapping peppers will change the total carb count. Be sure to make your own adjustments to the nutrition facts located at the end of this recipe.

WHAT YOU NEED

Equipment and Utensils
- Mixing Bowls. For this recipe, you need at least two and you definitely need a large bowl to handle the pound of shrimp plus the other ingredients.
- Knife or Knife Set. I personally use and swear by Victorinox knives. When I was getting serious about cooking but still on a budget, almost every place online recommended their chef’s knife as the highest quality you can get for the lowest price.
- Cutting Boards. Obviously for this recipe you’re going to be doing a lot of prep work, and you’ll need two boards so you don’t cross-contaminate the raw shellfish with the rest of the ingredients.

Simple Keto Shimp Ceviche

Course Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 1 hour

Ingredients

1 pound Fresh, uncooked, and deveined shrimp Sliced to 1/4-1/2 inch pieces
1 cup Lime juice
1/2 Medium Red Onion Diced
1 Medium Sized Tomato (Recommend Roma) Diced
2 Avocados Pitted and diced
1 Jalapeno Seeded and diced
1/2 bunch Cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Once the shrimp is cut to a uniform size, combine with the 1/2 cup of lime juice in a mixing bowl. Cover, and place in the refrigerator for 45 minutes to an hour.
While the shrimp is in the fridge "cooking". cut up the onion, tomato, avocados, jalapeno, and cilantro and place them into a new bowl. Mix together.
Once the shrimp is done, we're going to either strain it or remove the meat with a slotted spoon (to cut down on total carbs). Gently mix the shrimp into our vegetable mixture.
Take two teaspoons of the leftover lime juice marinade and pour over top of our ceviche. Mix together, then salt and pepper to taste.
Plate and serve immediately. We recommend using sliced cucumbers as a chip instead of the usual tostada.