Cilantro Lime Shrimp Bowls
Published 1/30/2024 • Updated 8/6/2024
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Enjoy our ultimate cilantro lime shrimp bowls, a unique and flavorful dish that’s a must-try! Packed with succulent shrimp, zesty cilantro lime crema, and a medley of fresh ingredients, this dish is a delicious blend of flavors and textures that’s sure to impress.
These cilantro lime shrimp bowls are one of our OG recipes on Fit Foodie Finds, and one that all 3 of us have made some variation of for years. We decided she needed a little photo refresh, and isn’t she gorgeous?!
What really sets these cilantro lime shrimp bowls apart from the rest is its incredible fusion of flavors and textures. The shrimp is seasoned with zesty lime and garlic, paired with a fresh and bright tomato salad and topped with a Greek yogurt crema offering a delightful blend of spicy and fresh.
What You Need for Cilantro Lime Shrimp Bowls
Shrimp: We’re seasoning jumbo shrimp with lime zest, garlic and salt. It’s a simple combination that is oh so flavorful.
Tomato salad: You’ll need roma tomatoes, sweet corn, cilantro and a few pantry spices.
Rice: We’ve made this recipe with white rice, brown rice and even our cilantro lime rice. Choose your own adventure here and prepare your go-to rice!
Greek yogurt crema: Whatever you do, do not skip this crema! It’s simple to make with a combination of Greek yogurt, mayo, cilantro, lime and hot sauce — mmm!
Easy Substitutions and Swaps
Choosing shrimp: we used uncooked jumbo shrimp in these bowls, but a smaller variety of uncooked shrimp will also work. If you choose a smaller size shrimp, it will impact the cook time.
Tomato salad: Roma tomatoes are great for this recipe because they hold their shape and have great flavor. Cherry tomatoes would be an easy alternative.
Make it spicier: Our Greek yogurt crema calls for 2 teaspoons of hot sauce, but if you like things spicier, feel free to up this to a tablespoon.
Storage
Store any leftovers in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days. Keep the crema separate until serving to maintain freshness.
Meal Prep
These cilantro lime shrimp bowls are perfect for meal prep. Simply prepare the recipe as written and store the crema separately from the rest of the bowl. Add the crema, additional fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice when serving.
try it!
Easy Cilantro Lime Rice
If you like Chipotle’s cilantro lime rice, you are going to love this dish! You can make it with white rice or brown rice and it’s great for meal prep.
Serving Suggestions
This recipe calls for white rice, but you can change it up and serve these shrimp bowls with cilantro lime brown rice, quinoa, or even cauliflower rice.
Cilantro Lime Shrimp Bowls
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs. jumbo shrimp, uncooked, peeled, deveined, tails removed, and thawed
- 2 teaspoons sea salt, separated
- 1.5 tablespoons lime zest, ~1 small lime
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 lbs. Roma tomatoes, quartered and halved*
- 10 oz. sweet corn, thawed or freshly cut off the cob
- 3/4 cup chopped cilantro, separated
- 1.5 tablespoons fresh lime juice, separated
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 4-5 cups cooked white rice*
- 2 large avocados, sliced
Greek Yogurt Crema
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoons hot sauce
Instructions
- Pat the shrimp dry and transfer them to a bowl. Season the shrimp with 1 teaspoon salt, lime zest, and garlic. Toss the ingredients together and refrigerate.
- Prepare the tomato salad. Toss the tomatoes with ½ teaspoon of salt and let them sit for 10-15 minutes to draw out excess moisture.
- Transfer the tomatoes to a sieve and drain the moisture from them. Add them to a bowl.
- Add the corn and ½ cup cilantro to the tomatoes and toss. Add 1 tablespoon of lime juice, cumin, 1 tablespoon of avocado oil, apple cider vinegar, and the remaining salt to the salad. Toss to combine. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Remove the shrimp from the refrigerator and let them sit at room temperature for 5 minutes.
- Heat the remaining avocado oil in a large skillet over medium/high heat.
- When the oil is hot, add the shrimp to the pan. Cook the shrimp for 2-3 minutes on each side or until the shrimp begins to curl and turn pink. Remove the shrimp from the pan so they stop cooking. Toss with ¼ cup of chopped cilantro and ½ tablespoon of lime juice. Set aside.
- Mix all of the ingredients for the crema in a bowl until combined.
- Remove the tomato salad from the refrigerator and toss. Salt to taste.
- Separate the tomato salad, shrimp, rice, avocado, and crema into 4-6 bowls and serve.
Tips & Notes
- Rinse 2 cups of long-grain rice under cold water until the water runs clear.
- Add the rice to the Instant Pot and add 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt. Mix and cook the rice for 4 minutes on high pressure. Once the timer goes off, let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes. Release the remaining pressure and fluff the rice.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Made this with chicken instead of shrimp. I marinated and grilled the chicken in a cilantro lime marinade. Fantastic!!
SO GOOD. I need to do that!
I love how your blog is about healthy easy, delicious food, and also travel! You are inspiring, and gorgeous photos!!
Theodora
I like to make my salads for the week on Sunday night. Do you think this would stay good in the fridge for a few days? I don’t have a lot of experience with cooking and storing [cooked] shrimp, but I do love the way it tastes and know its full of wonderful protein.
It absolutely would! I do it all the time with this recipe. I separate everything out into containers (shrimp in one, rice in one, etc.) and then I assemble the day of! Will last for 3-5 days for sure!
When you store it separately do you still dress the veg? I’m thinking they’d get soggy …
maybe put the dressing on the morning you’ll eat it? Thanks!
I’m making this tonight, but maybe using an avocado dressing since I don’t have Greek yogurt on hand and not going back to market! Lolol. Also using tri-colored pearl couscous because we’ve eaten so much rice lately. I’m having shrimp and my husband is having fresh tuna! Should be awesome! It’s 95 degrees outside at 6:30pm. In NC.
After seeing this post and craving it for days I finally made it and it did not disappoint! So fresh and tasty. Thanks for a great recipe!
So glad you loved it! Such a nummy and refreshing meal 🙂
I’m totally not a cilantro person, but this bowl looks so amazing and tasty!!
I really do that your foot feels better soon! I can imagine that it’s a bother 🙁 anyhow, these shrimp bowls sound amazing! Now you’ve got me craving it HARD.
thanks for making me laugh! love your sense of humor and great recipes.
🙂
Great recipe. This is a perfect basic for any add – ins. Greek yogurt dressing. Yum!
You should give your doc a call and see if you can take the boot off for sleeping! When I broke my 5th metatarsal I was in a boot for 6 weeks, but since sleeping is non-weight bearing I was able to take it off!
Hmmmmm I think maybe he was just apprehensive at the beginning, but now that it’s stronger I’m sure it’s fine!
Gorgeous, Lee! I’m not a shrimp girl, but this should be great with chicken, too. I’ll give it a shot and let you know how it turns out : )
Hope your foot is starting to feel a little better this weekend! Can’t believe you’re 4 weeks in. You’re almost there!
You could totes sub for chicks!