Easy cilantro lime shrimp ready in 15 minutes! Jumbo shrimp cooked in a zesty cilantro lime sauce. Inspired by Costco’s cilantro lime shrimp. Serve it cold, with pasta, in salad, or in lettuce wraps for quick meal!
Try these tender jumbo shrimp cooked in a fresh, herbaceous cilantro lime sauce! It’s a quick and delicious low carb meal that only takes 15 minutes to prepare.
I was inspired by Costco’s cilantro lime shrimp but I wanted to make a version that had a lot more cilantro flavor. What I came up with is a fresh cilantro lime sauce made with tons of cilantro, olive oil, garlic, and a handful of other herbs I had on hand.
This sauce is so versatile you can switch up the ingredients and swap out the herbs for ones you have available. I added a few springs of basil and parsley that I had in the fridge.
It also makes an excellent dipping sauce and marinade!
This is one of my go to recipes when I have leftover herbs in the fridge and want to use them up before they go bad. I almost always have cilantro and parsley on hand since I love the flavor and they brighten up any dish.
How to Make Cilantro Lime Shrimp
First make the cilantro lime sauce by blending together all the ingredients in a food processor. No need to chop them up ahead of time. This only takes a few minutes to make!
Next heat your pan over medium high heat and then add in the cooking oil. When the pan is hot, add the shrimp. When the shrimp is almost fully cooked, stir in the cilantro lime sauce and saute it all together until the shrimp is fully cooked.
Serving Suggestions
This easy shrimp recipe is super versatile and can be used as a base for other dishes! Make this a part of a low carb meal – it’s keto friendly and gluten free! Or use this cilantro lime shrimp in:
- tacos
- wraps
- pasta
- salad
- low carb lettuce wraps
- serve as a cold appetizer
- or just serve it next to rice!
Have leftover cilantro lime sauce?
- use it as a marinade – it goes great with seafood, chicken, and beef. Hint: if marinating seafood, don’t let it sit for longer than 30 minutes as the acid from the lime will ‘cook’ the seafood
- make a salad dressing – whisk in some olive oil and vinegar
- make a creamy dip – mix with mayo or sour cream
- serve over any grilled protein or veggies
- make cilantro lime rice – mix a spoonful with cooked rice
- add to sandwiches, burritos, scrambled eggs
- roasted veggies – toss some veggies in the leftover sauce and roast in the oven!
Store leftovers in an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. The fresh herbs will lose some of their flavor so it’s best to consume this the day it’s made.
I hope you enjoy this recipe!
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15 Minute Cilantro Lime Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 lb jumbo shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1 Tablespoon avocado oil for cooking
Cilantro Lime Sauce
- 1 bunch cilantro about 1 ½ to 2 cups including stems
- ¼ medium onion about ⅓ cup
- 4 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ juice and zest of half a large lime add more depending on taste
- salt to taste
Optional Sauce Ingredients:
- pinch of red pepper flakes optional for spice
- 1 large jalapeno, deseeded optional for spice
- a handful of any other herbs – basil, parsley, scallions, chives, etc add any other herbs you have on hand, about ¼ to ⅓ cup
Instructions
Make the Cilantro Lime Sauce
- Leaving out the olive oil, add the remaining ingredients for the cilantro lime sauce into a food processor and pulse several times until it's finely chopped. Next, slowly drizzle in the olive oil while the motor is running to combine the mixture into a sauce. Set aside.
Cook the shrimp
- Heat a pan to medium high heat and add the cooking oil. Once the pan is hot, add the shrimp to the pan and cook until the shrimp begin to turn pink, about 1 to 1½ minutes. Add the desired amount of the cilantro lime sauce to the pan, and saute it together until the shrimp is fully cooked, about another minute or two.
- Serve immediately with extra sauce and lime wedges on the side.
Notes
- Store leftovers in an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. The fresh herbs will lose some of their flavor so it’s best to consume this the day it’s made.
- Leftover Shrimp?
- make tacos or burrito bowls
- low carb lettuce wraps
- serve over salad
- serve as a cold appetizer
- Leftover Cilantro Lime Sauce?
- use as a marinade
- serve over any protein or grilled vegetables
- turn it into a dressing – add oil and vinegar
- make it a dip – add mayo or sour cream
- add to sandwiches
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is an estimate, calculated using online tools.
Nancy
The cilantro lime sauce is so tasty – it works so well with the shrimp, and we have also tried it with some chicken for the kids! It is really full of flavour, and so quick to prepare… my kind of dinner!!
Jamie
Thanks Nancy! I’m so happy to hear the whole family loves it!
Dannii
This was really good. I added parsley to this and lemon juice instead of lime and it was awesome!
Nart
I made this and it was so delicious, Jamie! Thanks for such a great recipe. I’m making this again for the weekend!
Julia
I used these cilantro lime shrimps in tacos and it was delicious! I love the zesty flavours with lime and cilantro together. Thank you!
Bhawana
this shrimp was definitely easy to make and the cilantro lime sauce was tasty!
Briana
This shrimp so much better than the costco cilantro lime shrimp! I won’t be buying it again considering how easy it was to make this.
Sara
This was SO GOOD, and so perfect for us during the week when we are trying to eat healthier! I paired this with roasted brussels or asparagus (just simple seasoned, because the cilantro lime sauce has so much flavor!)
Rick
this turned out sooo good! I added extra lime juice and a touch of water to get the sauce going in the food processor. the flavor was really fresh and went great with the shrimp!