Camarones al Ajillo (Shrimp in Garlic and Guajillo Sauce)
Updated January 27, 2025
Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
- Total Time
- 25 minutes
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 15 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
2 pounds large or extra-large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails kept on
Salt and black pepper
¼ cup avocado or vegetable oil
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 to 3 large dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded, thinly sliced crosswise (about ¼ cup)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ cup fresh lime juice (from 2 to 3 limes)
Saltines or cooked rice, for serving (optional)
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
19 grams carbs; 380 milligrams cholesterol; 454 calories; 12 grams monosaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 21 grams fat; 1 gram fiber; 746 milligrams sodium; 48 grams protein; 2 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Season shrimp with salt and lots of black pepper.
- Step 2
Heat a large deep skillet over medium-low heat. Add oil and garlic and cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until the garlic is light golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Add chiles and cook until the oil turns a light ruby red but the chiles remain pliable, just 1 minute.
- Step 3
Add the shrimp in a single layer, turn the heat to medium, and cook undisturbed for 2 minutes. Stir the shrimp until they start to curl, 4 to 6 minutes more.
- Step 4
Add the butter and lime juice, stirring until the butter melts and coats the shrimp, about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and taste, seasoning with more salt if needed. Serve with saltines or rice on the side.
Private Notes
Comments
The flavors are good, but the guajillo method didn’t go well for me. I had to add a half cup of water and boil the peppers to release their flavor before adding the shrimp. The peppers were still too tough to eat, but too small in size to pick out. (They’re fresh from a local Mexican grocery.) I’ll make this again but pre-soak the peppers in the usual way or make the sauce in the blender in advance. I used a pound of shrimp with 2 peppers, 1.5 tbs chopped garlic, 1 tbs butter, 3 tbs lime juice, oil and salt.
Tails = handles.
yes - they are easy to find in any Mexican market and also online
Next time I will try thinly slicing peppers, but was lazy, so soaked and blended (very little water). We thought it was delicious. Could use a little more heat, so next time will try to add a another pepper to kick up the heat. Served over rice.
Not a fan! The peeling from the chiles never broke down and so we had to pick the skins off the shrimp. The guajillo chile has very little flavor or heat, so I would recommend chipotle in adobo if you want some heat. Recipe is super easy, but not making a future here.
This was great - just a note, I thought I had guajillo peppers, turns out I had ancho chiles. Since there wasn't time to go to the store and replace them, I took the seeds and stems from the anchos, cut them into pieces and then ground then in a mortar and pestle to soften them before adding them to the shrimp. The flavor ended up being really, really good - smoky and just a tiny bit spicy. The whole family loved it.