Caldo de Camaron is a tomato based Mexican shrimp soup flavored with ancho and pasilla chiles and vegetables in a lightly spicy broth.
Caldo de Camaron (Mexican Shrimp Soup)
By Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime
My recipe of the day is for caldo de camaron, or Mexican shrimp soup, with the Fish Friday Foodies blogging group.
I love the flavors in a Mexican seafood soup so enjoy having it when I can. Perfect timing that Fish Friday is having the monthly recipe posting, and the topic is for International soups.
Cold Weather Warmer
We got snow recently although it likely won’t last. But regardless, it will still be cold for months now. And nothing better to warm us up than a soup imbued with the flavors of pasilla and ancho chili.
Chili Pepper Prep
You can buy both of those in the jar or grind them yourself- generally they get toasted up, torn apart, the seeds removed, and then ground in a mortar or spice grinder.
Alternatively, you can soak them in hot water and then puree to make a paste. It all comes out the same. I generally grind mine with a spice mill so I can have it all ready if I make enchilada sauce or chili or something. Having to stop and prep last minute is a lot like finding you are out of an ingredient and have to run to the store. I hate that.
Forgiving with Tweaks
You can vary the vegetables in this if you like but these are the ones I prefer. Carrots and onion are very common in all soups as part of the mirepoix, but the addition of zucchini or calabacitas as that variety is called, is very apropos.
Fish Friday Foodies
Soups Around the World
- A Quick Tom Yum Goong by Sneha’s Recipe
- Bacalhoada (Portuguese Salt Cod Stew) by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Broget Fish Soup (Broget Fiskesuppe) by Sid’s Sea Palm Cooking
- Caldo de Camaron (Mexican Shrimp Soup) by Palatable Pastime (You are Here!)
- Cullen Skink by Caroline’s Cooking
- Moqueca (Brazilian Fish Stew) by Making Miracles
- Portuguese Fish Stew (Caldeirada de Peixe) by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Provencal Seafood Bisque by A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Shrimp and Poached Egg Stew by Food Lust People Love
Caldo de Camaron
You Might Also Like:
Caldo de Mariscos
Meatball and Noodle Soup (Sopa Albondigas con Fideo)
Shrimp and Cheese Chiles Rellenos
Chayote and Cuitlacoche Enchiladas
Green Poblano Hot Sauce
Caldo de Camaron
Caldo de Camaron (Mexican Shrimp Soup)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds large shrimp peeled and deveined
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup diced carrot
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
- 8 ounce can tomato sauce
- 6 cups water
- 3 Knorr Caldo de Camarón bouillon cubes
- 1 medium russet potato peeled and diced
- 1 medium zucchini diced
- 3 teaspoons ground pasilla chili pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground ancho chili pepper
- 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 fresh lime cut into wedges
Instructions
- Prep shrimp and set aside.
- Heat oil in a soup pot and saute the onion, carrots and garlic with the bay leaf,salt, pepper and oregano until onion softens.
- Stir in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, bouillon cubes, potato, zucchini, and both types of chili pepper and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
- Add shrimp to the pot and cook for 2-3 minutes or until opaque and cooked through.
- Serve with lime wedges and garnished with chopped cilantro.
Notes
Sue, this look amazing. I would love a bowl right now. Yes, for breakfast! It’s chilly outside and that looks deliciously warming. Thanks for joining me this month.
I eat soup for breakfast all the time. Not really weird. I’m not really a cereal girl and if I get tired of eggs and things it can be a go to.
Excellent recipe. I did not use the bouillon ancho chiles used chipotle. Made a veggie stock, no potatoes, used organic zucchini for a lower carb version. I had rock cod and through it in with the shrimp. Best soup ever.
Those shrimp look amazing. I want to pluck them out of my screen. This sounds delicious.
Thanks!
That is my kind of soup right there. Looks wonderful
Bill loved it. He snatched up the leftovers like nobody’s business for his lunch.
What if you can’t find the bouillon cubes?
Replace three cups of the water with three cups of shrimp stock.
This soup is so delicious! I was raised up on very rich, thick, greasy seafood gumbo with a roux…To me, this is just as tasty and has less fat and calories with the BIG seafood taste.
Are the peppers in this recipe spicy?
It’s mildly spicy, in the range of something like Texas chili.
Can you freeze shrimp soup?
Yes, it will lose some quality over fresh of course. The zukes and potatoes would take it the hardest. I’d fish those out first.
DELICIOUS!!! Super rich and flavorful. I felt like I was eating at a real taqueria. So fast and easy to make, too. I made this exactly according to the recipe except that my grocery store didn’t have the shrimp bouillon so I used 3 tsp of the Knorr Caldo con Sabor de Pollo (chicken) powdered bouillon. I’m sure it would have been even better with the Caldo de Camaron bouillon. I think that it is really important to use both types of chili powder as per the recipe for that nice, rich flavor. My only suggestion would be for salt-sensitive people to start with 1 tsp salt and add more at the end if needed as it was plenty salty (but I like it like that).
Thank you!