Easy Mexican Ceviche Recipe

This recipe was originally published in 2019 as a sponsored collaboration with Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are my own.

My easy seafood ceviche combines cooked shrimp and scallops, ready-to-eat imitation crab, lime juice, avocado, cilantro, red onion and RO*TEL Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies. It’s a colorful make-ahead appetizer for a holiday gathering or a casual meal with tortilla chips.

At our home, holiday celebrations always include seafood! With the highlight being our Christmas Eve Feast of 7 Fishes. While we aren’t Italian we love the tradition of eating 7+ different types of seafood for good luck.

And one of our favorite ways to incorporate a few different types of seafood into one appetizer is with my Easy Seafood Ceviche during our holiday feast!

And it’s the perfect holiday decor too, with all the red & green colors!

What is Ceviche?

Ceviche has many names including cebiche, seviche, or sebiche. The origin is debated but thought to have its roots in Peru. It is a seafood dish traditionally made with raw fish marinated in citrus juice. Citrus changes the texture of seafood, but does not replace cooking with heat for food safety. This recipe uses fully cooked, cooled shrimp and scallops. It also includes tomatoes, onion, cilantro and some form of spice or pepper.

How to Make Ceviche

Making ceviche is so easy! Here’s what you need:

• Seafood: fully cooked and cooled shrimp and bay scallops, plus ready-to-eat imitation crab
• Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
• Finely Chopped Red Onion
• Lots of Cilantro but Parsley can be used if you prefer
• Avocado, to give your ceviche creamy texture. Cucumbers work great too.
• RO*TEL Diced Tomatoes & Green chilies are my secret ingredient to making Easy Ceviche at home!

Canned diced tomatoes with green chilies add tomato flavor and a little heat without extra chopping. Use Original, Mild or Hot RO*TEL according to your preference.

For this version, start with fully cooked shrimp and scallops, then cool them before adding the lime juice. Raw or undercooked seafood can carry harmful bacteria and parasites; lime juice does not reliably make it safe to eat.

If you are starting with raw shrimp and scallops, cook them thoroughly before chilling: the flesh should be pearly or white and opaque. See the FDA seafood safety guidance. Keep the seafood refrigerated at 40°F or below, including while it marinates. Choosing wild-caught seafood does not remove the risks of eating it raw.

Marinate the cooked, cooled seafood in lime juice in the refrigerator for about 2 hours for flavor, then add the remaining ingredients. Fold in the avocado close to serving. The marinating time is for flavor, not a cooking or safety step. The recipe timing assumes your seafood is already cooked and cooled; allow extra time if you start with raw seafood.

Just before guests arrive, I divide servings into plastic cups for serving.

Then carefully arrange them in a tree! I use 9 cups as the base to get started.

And don’t forget to recycle your RO*TEL can by using it as a pot for a plant or a mini holiday tree!

Original, Mild or Hot RO*TEL can be used in my Easy Seafood Ceviche.

And I always serve ceviche with lots of crispy tortilla chips instead of forks. It’s like a wonderful combination of salsa and chunky guacamole with loads of seafood!

For more ways to use imitation crab, try my spicy kani salad or herbed seafood salad, or browse my imitation crab recipe collection for more lunch and dinner ideas. For a gluten-free version, check the imitation crab, canned tomatoes and serving chips for gluten-free labeling.