Camarones A La Diabla (Mexican Shrimp In Red Sauce) Recipe
There are a lot of ways to prepare shrimp, especially in Mexican cuisine. Breaded, stewed, browned, and grilled, shrimp's endless versatility and easy accessibility makes it a perfect protein for tacos, tostadas, enchiladas, and stews. Shrimp pairs especially well with the spicy chiles common in Mexican cooking, serving as a solid base for both smoky guajillo and hot jalapeño.
A la diabla is the Spanish phrase for "of the devil," referring to food that is extremely hot (and red, usually). Named after the infamously evil pitchfork-wielding bad guy, dishes by this name are a combination of spicy ingredients simmered with tomato that leave a lasting heat dancing on your tastebuds well after the meal has ended. Shrimp is the perfect protein for this saucy dish, and this recipe written with Michelle McGlinn combines the juicy shellfish with three different kinds of chiles for a heat that is smoky, sharp, and lingering all at once. The dish isn't hard to prepare, either, coming together in less than 30 minutes for a weeknight meal that is devilishly good.
Gather the ingredients for camarones a la diabla
You'll need a few dried chiles to start this dish, and we recommend using guajillo and chiles de árbol, which will offer smoky, intense heat. You'll also need chipotles in adobo, which are a similar smoky heat but do not need to be rehydrated with the other two. From there, you'll need water, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, olive oil, tomato sauce, cilantro, and shrimp. We recommend large peeled shrimp with the tails still on for maximum flavor, but any shrimp will work in this stew.
Step 1: Boil the chiles
Bring the chiles and water to boil in a saucepan over medium heat.
Step 2: Simmer and soften the chiles
Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until peppers are softened, about 10 minutes.
Step 3: Add the ingredients to a blender
Add the peppers and water, onion, garlic, chipotle chiles in adobo, salt, pepper, and cumin to a blender.
Step 4: Blend until smooth
Blend until smooth, adding water as needed.
Step 5: Heat olive oil in a skillet
Add olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat.
Step 6: Cook the shrimp
Add the shrimp and cook until pink and opaque on either side, about 5 minutes.
Step 7: Stir in the sauces
Add the tomato sauce and the pepper puree and stir to combine.
Step 8: Simmer and reduce
Bring to a simmer and reduce until thick, about 5 minutes.
Step 9: Top with cilantro to serve
Transfer the saucy shrimp to a serving platter and top with cilantro.
- 2 large guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 4 chiles de arbol, stemmed and seeded
- 1 cup water
- 1 white onion, quartered
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 chipotle chiles in adobo
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 cups tomato sauce
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro, for topping
- Bring the chiles and water to boil in a saucepan over medium heat.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until peppers are softened, about 10 minutes.
- Add the peppers and water, onion, garlic, chipotle chiles in adobo, salt, pepper, and cumin to a blender.
- Blend until smooth, adding water as needed.
- Add olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add the shrimp and cook until pink and opaque on either side, about 5 minutes.
- Add the tomato sauce and the pepper puree and stir to combine.
- Bring to a simmer and reduce until thick, about 5 minutes.
- Transfer the saucy shrimp to a serving platter and top with cilantro.
Can I use fresh tomatoes instead of tomato sauce in camarones a la diabla?
There's no one right way to make camarones a la diabla, as long as you end up with a bright red, spicy, saucy dish. Using tomato sauce or puree offers a super-saucy shortcut that effectively removes the need to roast, blend, and simmer fresh tomatoes — great for those who need dinner on the table in a pinch. For a fresher taste, though, and for those with more time to spend cooking, you can easily add fresh tomatoes to this dish instead.
Grab four to six Roma tomatoes and halve them before adding to a blender. For a deeper flavor, roast the tomatoes in the oven while the chiles are rehydrating, caramelizing the edges and softening the insides. Blend the tomatoes with the chiles, onion, garlic, and seasonings together, adding the water as needed (the tomatoes will have plenty of liquid on their own). Transfer the blended tomato mixture to the skillet with the shrimp and reduce as written. This sauce will be thinner than the jarred tomato sauce, but will have the bright, fresh flavor of fresh tomatoes.
How can I adjust the heat level in camarones a la diabla?
If you like the idea of a spicy dish but your heat tolerance is still low, making this dish less spicy is easy: Omit the peppers. The least spicy chile pepper used in this recipe is the guajillo, so begin with these when adding heat back in. Next, add a spoonful of adobo sauce or one chipotle chile. These are less hot than chiles de árbol and are easier to adjust while cooking because they can be added at any time. When you're ready for the full heat of diabla, add in the chiles de árbol.
On the other hand, if this recipe is too mild for you, you can add more heat in. This time, begin at the inverse, first adding a few extra chiles de árbol before adjusting the heat with the chipotles in adobo. For even more heat, you can also add your favorite hot sauce. We recommend adding Tabasco, which blends well with chipotles and guajillos and is commonly used in diablas.