Our sweet-and-spicy Caribbean shrimp bowl combines cauliflower rice, veggies, pineapple and mango with adobo seasoning for a tropical, grain-free meal.
Looking for a tropical pick-me-up on a gray day or a fresh-tasting meal to enjoy beneath a blazing sunset? Look no further than this Caribbean shrimp bowl recipe. It’s so chock-full of veggies and island-inspired flavors, you might not even notice that it uses riced cauliflower as a low-carb base.
A broccoli coleslaw mix speeds up the prep time and softens quickly in the pan along with sweet pepper and onion. As these savory vegetables steam with just a splash of oil, they absorb the spicy adobo seasoning and red pepper for a twinge of extra heat. The sweet pineapple and mango and the slightly briny shrimp contrast with the spice to create a well-balanced tropical meal. This low-calorie dinner recipe is ready in 30 minutes, and you’ll leave the table feeling pleasantly full of its sunny flavors.
Caribbean Shrimp Bowl Ingredients
- Oil: Extra virgin olive and coconut oil are good cooking oils for this recipe. The latter adds a light flavor that’s typical of Caribbean cuisine.
- Raw shrimp: Uncooked shrimp are best for this recipe; they’ll release their briny juices into the pan as they cook and create a lightly flavored sauce for the vegetables. Buy fresh or frozen uncooked large shrimp (26-30 per pound).
- Riced cauliflower: Cauliflower rice makes this a grain-free, all-in-one Caribbean shrimp bowl. You don’t need to thaw this rice alternative in advance or pull out a saucepan to steam it separately; the package’s frozen contents go straight into the pan with the other vegetables.
- Broccoli coleslaw mix: Broccoli coleslaw mix is an excellent time saver for prep. Broccoli slaw typically includes broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and carrots, all shredded to a uniform consistency.
- Sweet pepper: Red peppers taste sweeter than green ones and add bright pops of color to this festive salad. You can use yellow or orange peppers, but they won’t stand out as dramatically against the mango and pineapple.
- Onion: A yellow onion suffices here, but other types of onions—Maui, Vidalia or Walla Walla—also taste delicious with these tropical flavors.
- Seasonings: Adobo seasoning, black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes and sea salt flavor this dish. Some commercial adobo blends are heavily salted, so you may not need the extra sea salt.
- Pineapple: Cut a pineapple into cubes if it’s fresh and ripe, or drain a can of unsweetened pineapple chunks if the pineapples in the produce section seem too green. Pineapple is not among the fruits that keep ripening after being picked, so what you buy is as ripe as it will get.
- Mango: Fresh mangoes, on the other hand, ripen on the counter and become sweeter and softer over a few days. Peel a mango and chop it into cubes, or leave the skin on, cut the flesh into a grid and invert the peel so that the cubes pop up like hedgehog quills.
- Cilantro: If you can’t get enough cilantro, pile on the fresh herb, or dial it back and replace some or all of it with fresh basil or chives. Whichever you use, the fresh herbs should be added right at the end of the cooking time or at the table so that they stay bright green.
Directions
Step 1: Cook the shrimp
In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp, and cook and stir them until they just turn pink, three to four minutes. Remove the shrimp from the pan and keep them warm.
Editor’s Tip: Since there will be lots of veggies in the skillet, choose a larger one than you might use for just shrimp. Shrimp are done when they curl into a C shape and turn an opaque pink.
Step 2: Cook the vegetables
In the same skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the cauliflower rice, broccoli slaw, sweet pepper, onion, adobo seasoning, black pepper, red pepper flakes and salt. Cook, covered, over medium heat until the vegetables are crisp-tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
Step 3: Heat the fruit and shrimp
Stir in the pineapple, mango, cilantro and sauteed shrimp and heat through. Serve the shrimp bowl with additional cilantro if desired.
Caribbean Shrimp Bowl Variations
- Replace the coleslaw: Chop broccoli florets and shred carrots and cabbage as the freshest replacement for the broccoli coleslaw mix. Instead of shreds, julienne broccoli stalks and carrots to give the shrimp bowl extra crunch and contrast with the soft pineapple and mango. Large vegetable chunks might need additional steaming time.
- Use homemade seasoning: Make a salt-free adobo seasoning blend from onion and garlic powder, dried oregano, paprika, cumin and freshly ground black pepper or crushed red pepper. A splash of lime juice or apple cider vinegar enhances these spices.
- Drop or increase the shrimp: With all of the vegetables and fruit in this Caribbean bowl, simply leave out the shrimp to make it vegan. Shellfish lovers might appreciate an additional half or full pound of shrimp, especially if you want to stretch the meal to feed more people.
- Rice the cauliflower yourself: Just a couple of minutes in a food processor turns a fresh head of cauliflower into homemade cauliflower rice. Fresh riced cauliflower might need extra cooking time compared with a frozen package, so saute it in the oil until it sizzles before you add the other vegetables and steam the mixture.
- Serve regular rice: Steam white or brown rice separately to serve under the Caribbean shrimp, or toss some leftover rice directly in the pan toward the end of cooking (it only takes a few minutes to heat up).
- Put sauce on the side: Serve a creamy or juicy sauce on the side, like lime dip or a pineapple salad dressing.
How to Store Caribbean Shrimp
Store leftover Caribbean shrimp in an airtight container in the refrigerator. For easy work-from-home lunches, divide the leftovers into separate containers, with one portion in each. Caribbean shrimp lasts up to four days in the fridge.
How do you reheat Caribbean shrimp?
Reheat Caribbean shrimp with a bit of oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. If overcooked, the cauliflower rice may turn mushy and the shrimp may become rubbery, so toss and stir the ingredients constantly and remove them from the pan as soon as they’re warm.
Caribbean Shrimp Bowl Tips
Can you use frozen shrimp for Caribbean shrimp bowls?
Caribbean shrimp bowls are delicious with frozen shrimp. You can cook frozen shrimp straight from the freezer, but we prefer an oven broiler to a stovetop burner. Let them thaw slowly in the refrigerator overnight or more quickly under cold running water.
One downside of cooking frozen shrimp is that they are sometimes plumped up by preservatives, and have undergone extra handling, especially those sold in bags marked “E-Z peel.” Look for untreated frozen shrimp for superior flavor and texture. Once you learn how to clean shrimp, you’ll remove whole shells as quickly as easy-to-peel ones.
What else can you serve with Caribbean shrimp bowls?
Caribbean shrimp bowls and other meals in a bowl usually stand on their own. If you can’t resist adding a side dish, go for a crisp, fresh sugar snap pea salad or quick pickled radishes. Kick off the meal with a crunchy starter like pickled green beans with smoked salmon dip or a creamy one like crab-stuffed avocado. For a festive meal, serve these Caribbean-inspired bowls with rum-based pina coladas or nonalcoholic mango lassi.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or coconut oil, divided
- 1 pound uncooked shrimp (26-30 per pound), peeled and deveined
- 2 cups frozen riced cauliflower
- 1 package (12 ounces) broccoli coleslaw mix
- 1 large sweet red pepper, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon adobo seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup cubed fresh pineapple or unsweetened pineapple chunks, drained
- 1 cup chopped peeled mango
- 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
Directions
- In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Add shrimp; cook and stir until shrimp turn pink, 3-4 minutes. Remove and keep warm.
- In the same skillet, heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Add cauliflower rice, broccoli slaw, red pepper, onion, adobo, pepper, pepper flakes and salt. Cook, covered, over medium heat until vegetables are crisp-tender, 8-10 minutes. Add pineapple, mango, cilantro and shrimp; heat through. Serve with additional cilantro if desired.
Loading Popular in the Community
After switching to a paleo diet a few years ago, we have started eating tons of veggies for almost every meal—yes, even breakfast. We’ve gotten used to swapping in cauliflower, broccoli and kale in place of carbs like rice or potatoes. This bowl is literally chock-full of veggies and has tons of Caribbean-inspired flavor! Plus, it is so simple to make and uses one skillet! —Courtney Stultz, Weir, Kansas
Recipe Creator
Community Cook
