starter
Vatapá
Bahia's rich, golden paste of bread, coconut milk, dendê oil, dried shrimp, and groundnuts — used as a stuffing in acarajé or served alongside rice.
⏱ 50 min🔥 310 kcalMedium
★4.6(234)
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Brazilian Shrimp Recipes
8 recipes using shrimp — Feijoada, churrasco, brigadeiros — bold, tropical and communal.
These 8 brazilian shrimp recipes are ready in about 64 minutes on average, with 310–580 kcal per serving, and 13% are rated easy enough for a weeknight. Every recipe includes exact ingredient quantities, step-by-step instructions and full nutrition per serving.
8
recipes
64 min
average time
421 kcal
avg per serving
13%
easy recipes
How Brazilian cuisine cooks with shrimp
Brazilian food is bold and communal, from smoky churrasco to coconut-rich seafood moquecas and the slow-cooked comfort of feijoada. When Brazilian cooks work with shrimp, they reach for garlic, lime, coriander, dendê (palm) oil, coconut and malagueta chilli, and the techniques that come up most across these recipes are simmering, frying, marinating and steaming.
Sweet, quick-cooking shellfish that go from raw to ready in two or three minutes — perfect for fast, high-heat dishes. In this collection it's most often cooked with coconut milk, onion, garlic, white onion, dend and dried black-eyed peas. The dishes here span brazilian classics ready in as little as 36 minutes to slower, more involved cooking that rewards a relaxed afternoon.
Reader favourite: Moqueca Baiana (Bahian Coconut Fish Stew) is the highest-rated dish in this collection at 4.9★ from 950 ratings.
8 Brazilian Shrimp Recipes
✨ Newdinner
Moqueca Baiana (Bahian Coconut Fish Stew)
The shining centerpiece of Afro-Brazilian Bahia cooking — firm white fish and shrimp simmered in coconut milk, palm oil, tomato and pepper, finished with cilantro and lime over white rice.
⏱ 50 min🔥 520 kcalEasy
★4.9(950)
dinner
Vatapá
Bahian creamy shrimp stew with peanuts, coconut milk, and dendê oil — Afro-Brazilian masterpiece.
⏱ 75 min🔥 580 kcalMedium
★4.8(1,240)
dinner
Moqueca Baiana (Brazilian Seafood Stew)
Rich Bahian fish stew with coconut milk, dendê oil, peppers and lime — a treasure of Afro-Brazilian cuisine.
⏱ 60 min🔥 380 kcalMedium
★4.8(7,600)
starter
Acarajé
Crispy Bahian black-eyed pea fritters fried in dendê oil, split open and filled with shrimp vatapá and caruru.
⏱ 90 min🔥 310 kcalHard
★4.8(3,400)
✨ Newsnack
Acarajé (Bahian Black-Eyed Pea Fritters)
Sacred street food of Bahia: crispy black-eyed pea fritters deep-fried in dendê palm oil, split and filled with vatapá, camarão seco and caruru.
⏱ 90 min🔥 480 kcalHard
★4.8(920)
✨ Newsnack
Acaraje (Brazilian Black-Eyed Pea Fritters)
Crisp black-eyed pea fritters deep-fried in dende oil and split open for a spicy shrimp and pepper filling, a sacred Bahian street food.
⏱ 60 min🔥 360 kcalMedium
★4.5(32)
✨ Newdinner
Brazilian Shrimp and Coconut Rice (Arroz de Camarao)
Smoky paprika shrimp simmered in coconut milk over rice, inspired by Bahia's seafood cooking.
⏱ 36 min🔥 430 kcalMedium
★4.6(62)
Choosing & preparing shrimp
How to choose
Look for firm, translucent flesh with a clean sea smell — never ammonia. Shell-on shrimp keep more flavour; larger counts (fewer per kilo) mean bigger shrimp.
Prep & storage
Peel and devein, leaving the tail on for presentation if you like. A quick brine firms the texture; pat dry before searing so they brown rather than steam.
When is it done?
Cook just until they curl into a loose C and turn opaque pink — a tight O means they're overdone and rubbery.
Nutrition
Very lean and high in protein, with selenium, vitamin B12 and iodine for few calories.
Classic flavour partners: garlic, lemon, chilli, butter, ginger, parsley
Brazilian Shrimp Recipes — FAQ
How long do Brazilian shrimp recipes take to make?
Most of these 8 Brazilian shrimp recipes are ready in around 64 minutes from start to finish. The quickest, Brazilian Shrimp and Coconut Rice (Arroz de Camarao), takes about 36 minutes, while the slower-cooked dishes run up to 90 minutes.
How many calories are in Brazilian shrimp dishes?
Across this collection they range from about 310 to 580 kcal per serving, averaging 421 kcal — Vatapá is the lightest option at 310 kcal.
What is the easiest Brazilian shrimp recipe for beginners?
Moqueca Baiana (Bahian Coconut Fish Stew) is a great place to start — it's rated easy and comes together in about 50 minutes. 13% of the recipes here are beginner-friendly.
What goes well with shrimp in Brazilian cooking?
In these recipes, shrimp is most often paired with coconut milk, onion, garlic, white onion, dend and dried black-eyed peas. Brazilian kitchens also lean on garlic, lime, coriander, dendê (palm) oil, coconut and malagueta chilli.
How do I know when shrimp is properly cooked?
Cook just until they curl into a loose C and turn opaque pink — a tight O means they're overdone and rubbery.
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