Asopao de Camarones

Spice up your weeknights with this Puerto Rican asopao de camarones (shrimp stew). This flavorful Caribbean seafood dish is made by cooking shrimp and rice in a tomato and seafood based broth. This homemade shrimp stew recipe is always a hit with family and friends!

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Keyword: asopao de camarones, asopado de camarones, puerto rican asopao de camarones, shrimp stew, dominican asopao de camarones

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 30

Total Time: 45

Servings: servings

Calories: 353kcal

Ingredients

1 lb shrimp peeled and deveined
2 tbsp lime juice for shrimp
1/2 tsp ground black pepper for shrimp
1 tbsp salt divide between shrimp and stew
1 tsp granulated garlic for shrimp
1 cup long grain rice
water to soak the rice
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup tomato paste
4 cups seafood broth
1 red bell pepper chopped and diced
1/2 onion chopped and diced
4 garlic cloves minced
1/3 cup sofrito
1 packet sazon with culantro and achiote
1/2 tsp oregano or to taste
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes or to taste
1/4 tsp ground cumin or to taste
1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped + more for garnishing

Instructions

First, start by soaking the rice in a bowl with 2 inches of water above the rice for at least 1 hour. Drain the water from the rice before cooking.
Peel, devein and remove the tails from the shrimp. Skip this step if you purchased shrimp that’s already been peeled and deveined. Discard the tails unless you’re going to use them for a seafood broth later on.
Season the shrimp with lime juice, salt, black pepper and granulated garlic. Set aside for now.
Chop and dice the onion, red bell pepper and mince the garlic cloves. Chop the cilantro as well and set aside.
In a large pot over medium high heat, add olive oil.
Once the olive oil is hot, add the red bell peppers and onion. Saute until the onions are translucent in color.
Add the minced garlic cloves and saute for just 30 seconds so it does not burn.
Immediately add the tomato paste and seafood broth. Stir quickly to combine.
Add the Sazon, cumin, oregano, sofrito and crushed red pepper flakes. Give everything a quick stir and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to medium low and add the drained rice and chopped cilantro. Cook for 12-15 minutes or until the rice is completely cooked through. Stir occasionally so you don’t burn the bottom.
At this point, I recommend tasting the broth for salt and add more if necessary.
Once the rice is cooked through, add the shrimp and cook for another 5-7 minutes or until the shrimp is pink and opaque in color.
Finally, top with more fresh cilantro if desired, serve and enjoy!

Notes

If the shrimp stew is too thick for your liking, add water 1/4 cup at a time until you reach your desired consistency. Keep in mind that this dish does thicken up quite a bit as it cools down.
The crushed red pepper flakes give this recipe quite a little kick. If you don’t like spice, simply omit it. You may also substitute it for your hot sauce of choice.
Use long grain rice for this recipe like this arroz Carolina brand.
I used large shrimp like this one for this recipe. I recommend using medium to large for best results. Remember that as shrimp cooks, it does get smaller.
Use seafood broth like this one for this recipe. Alternatively, you can substitute it for chicken or vegetable broth but your dish won’t have that authentic seafood flavor.
This recipe moves quickly so try to prepare all the ingredients ahead of time.

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