“Sometimes you just want to feel like you’re sitting by the sea, your hair going a bit wild in the salty air, and your shoulders soaking up the sun,” writes culinary whiz Suzanne Lenzer in her book Peckish. “And if you actually are, well, all the better. But if you aren’t, here’s the thing to do: Get some fresh shrimp and crab, a few avocados, and a bag of good chips. In just a few minutes (as long as it takes to boil the shrimp and mix a quick tequila-laced cocktail sauce), you’ll be mentally transported south of the border.”
Yes, this shrimp and crab cocktail is as easy and tasty as it sounds — you don’t even need to fuss over the shellfish. Says Lenzer, “No, you don’t need to bother peeling or deveining the shrimp, but yes, you do want to use a really generous amount of Old Bay in the boil.” (You don’t have to tell us twice — there’s nothing as heavenly as properly seasoned shrimp.)
Lenzer serves the seasoned crab in avocado halves, but says, “I often find I have more crab than avocados. I remedy this excess by putting the rest of the crab in a small bowl on the side for scooping with the chips,” Lenzer notes. (Sounds like the perfect solution to us.) The chef recommends serving this up alongside a margarita, but regardless of your beverage preference, you’ll feel like you’ve zipped right down to Baja.
Communal Shrimp and Crab Cocktail via Baja
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Old Bay
- 1 small white onion, quartered
- 2 pounds large unpeeled shrimp
- 1 cup ketchup
- About 6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (from 3 to 4 limes), plus more for serving
- 2 tablespoons tequila
- ½ teaspoon Tabasco, or similar hot sauce, or to taste
- Pinch of cayenne, or to taste
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pound cooked fresh lump crabmeat
- 3 or 4 stems cilantro, leaves picked and chopped
- 3 avocados, halved and pitted
- Tortilla chips for serving
Instructions
- Fill the bottom of a large bowl with ice. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the Old Bay and the onion. Working in batches so as not to overcrowd the pot, add the shrimp and poach them until pink and opaque, about 2 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the shrimp from the water and transfer them to the bowl of ice. When all the shrimp are cooked, put the bowl in the fridge.
- While the shrimp chill, make the cocktail sauce by combining the ketchup, 2 tablespoons of the lime juice, the tequila, and the hot sauce. Season the mix with cayenne, salt, and black pepper, adjusting the flavors as you see fit.
- In a small bowl, season the crab with 2 tablespoons of the lime juice and salt and black pepper. Add the cilantro and toss well; taste and add more lime juice or salt and pepper if needed. Season the top of each avocado half with a bit of salt and black pepper and the remaining lime juice (this will also help them from browning) and then spoon the crab mixture into the avocado halves. Serve the shrimp on a tray surrounding the cocktail sauce and alongside the crab-filled avocado halves and tortilla chips.
Excerpted from PECKISH by Suzanne Lenzer. Copyright © 2025 by Suzanne Lenzer. Used by permission of Rodale Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
