After traveling to Puerto Vallarta recently, I was already beginning to miss Mexican food. The seafood there was so fresh and delicious. Let me say this isn’t a traditional Mexican dish that I know of, just inspired by those flavors.

For this recipe I had to settle for using frozen shrimp. I’m okay with this because good frozen raw shrimp still have that fresh taste when they’re cooked right. Always be careful to not over-cook your shrimp!

It’s a little strange how this recipe came to be, because I was initially shopping for ingredients to make Laksa soup. While shopping I came across some really good-looking Anaheim peppers and bought them without a dish in mind to make with them. I just thought to myself, if I can’t think of anything to make, at least I could chop the peppers up in eggs or something. That’s how this recipe came about on a whim.

Once I got home, I still had Mexico and all the great food on my mind. Starting to contemplate what to make for dinner I looked what I had on hand in the fridge and came up with this recipe. I already had frozen shrimp, garlic, shallots, cilantro, lime and chili but I did have to go to the store to buy some queso fresco. Does anyone else end up going to the grocery store more than once a day? It wouldn’t be a weekend for me without a couple trips to the grocery store.

I want to go on record and say I’m normally against cheese and seafood together but sometimes you have to make exceptions to the rule. Especially when it comes to shrimp and crab which either will work well in cheesy situations. Side note, keep a look out for my Netflix special titled: “Cheesy Situations”.

This recipe is easy, and turned out delicious. Great as an appetizer or side dish. I love when I don’t really have a plan, but the dish still comes together.

Ingredients

3 ea. Anaheim Peppers

½ lb. of 21-25 Ct Frozen shrimp, thawed

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

3 Cloves of Garlic, minced

½ Minced Shallots

½ cup Queso Fresco Cheese crumbled

¼ cup Cilantro

1 ea. Thai Bird Chili (optional)

1 tsp Paprika

½ lime juiced

Salt and Pepper

Directions

  1. Place a pan on med-high heat add olive oil, garlic, shallots, sauté until fragrant then add shrimp.
  2. Season shrimp with salt, pepper, paprika, lime juice and sauté until shrimp is starting a slight ‘C’ shape but still not fully cooked.
  3. Remove shrimp and sauce to a plate, sprinkle Queso Fresco and cilantro on top and let mixture cool.
  4. Bring 6 cups of water to a boil and add Anaheim peppers. Boil for 5-6 minutes and remove to a plate to cool. Carefully cut slit down the pepper to stuff.
  5. Set oven to bake at 450° and oil a small baking sheet or pan. Put shrimp on cutting board and cut into bite size pieces and return to plate or bowl to mix together with cheese.
  6. Remove seeds from peppers then spoon shrimp mixture into peppers, carefully divide mixture evenly between each.
  7. Slice bird chili and top each pepper and add parmesan cheese (Optional)
  8. Bake for 10 minutes then increase temperature of oven to broil shrimp and peppers for additional 5 minutes.
  9. Once peppers looked sufficiently browned on top, remove them from oven and let cool 2-3 minutes before eating.
Stuffed Shrimp Anaheim peppers with Goat Cheese Stuffed Portabello mushroom and Quinoa Cabbage Salad.

Shrimp Stuffed Anaheim Peppers

  • 3 ea. Anaheim Peppers
  • 1/2 lb. Thawed, Frozen Shrimp (21-25 count)
  • 1 tbsp. Olive Oil
  • 1 ea. Shallot (minced)
  • 1/2 cp. Queso Fresco (crumbled)
  • 1/4 cp. cilantro (chopped)
  • 1 ea. Thai Chili
  • 1/2 ea. Lime (juiced)
  • Salt and Pepper (to taste)

  1. Place a pan on med-high heat add olive oil, garlic, shallots, sauté until fragrant then add shrimp.

  2. Season shrimp with salt, pepper, paprika, lime juice and sauté until shrimp is starting a slight ‘C’ shape but still not fully cooked.

  3. Remove shrimp and sauce to a plate, sprinkle Queso Fresco and cilantro on top and let mixture cool.

  4. Bring 6 cups of water to a boil and add Anaheim peppers. Boil for 5-6 minutes and remove to a plate to cool. Carefully cut slit down the pepper to stuff.

  5. Set oven to bake at 450° and oil a small baking sheet or pan. Put shrimp on cutting board and cut into bite size pieces and return to plate or bowl to mix together with cheese.

  6. Remove seeds from peppers then spoon shrimp mixture into peppers, carefully divide mixture evenly between each.

  7. Slice bird chili and top each pepper and add parmesan cheese (Optional)

  8. Bake for 10 minutes then increase temperature of oven to broil shrimp and peppers for additional 5 minutes.

  9. Once peppers looked sufficiently browned on top, remove them from oven and let cool 2-3 minutes before eating.

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