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This spicy, chipotle-forward Mexican Shrimp Soup is packed with over 28 grams of protein while being low-calorie. It’s a simple broth-based soup made with a few veggies, bold seasonings, and shrimp. Ready in about 30 minutes, this soup is perfect for an easy dinner or quick lunch.
When I worked in Mexico, I had a bowl of chipotle shrimp soup almost every day. This soup is a simple recreation without complicated ingredients, but it tastes just as good! Shrimp is a great source of lean protein, plus it tastes delicious.
This soup tastes like something you’d get at a restaurant, but it can easily become part of your weeknight meal rotation.
If you love Mexican-inspired soup recipes, you will love my Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup and Healthy Chicken Enchilada Soup!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Only One Pot, Less Than 30 Minutes: This Mexican shrimp soup recipe comes together in one pot and only takes 30 minutes to make. It’s perfect for a weeknight meal or a quick weekend lunch.
- Simple Recipe with Bold Flavor: This soup only uses a few basic ingredients, so all the flavor comes from the chipotle powder and additional spices.
- Comforting and Nutritious: Nothing beats a bowl of warm soup on a bad day. It’s like a warm hug! It’s even better when the soup is full of protein without a lot of excess calories to help you feel satisfied, but stick to your health goals.
- Low-Calorie Soup: This healthy soup is lighter with under 300 calories. You can easily add calories by adding complex carbs or toppings to this recipe.
Ingredients
- Shrimp: Use fresh, cleaned, peeled, and deveined shrimp or thaw frozen shrimp for this recipe. You’ll need to pat the thawed shrimp dry since it will release a lot of water as it thaws. I also use shrimp to make this hot shrimp dip.
- Crushed Tomatoes: Use any can of crushed tomatoes. For extra spice, you can also use fire-roasted crushed tomatoes!
- Serrano Chili: This spicy Mexican shrimp soup gets its heat from a serrano chili.
- Chicken Broth: Use low-sodium chicken broth to keep the sodium in the soup low. Using chicken broth is way easier than making a homemade shrimp stock.
- Chipotle Powder: This seasoning is made from smoked, dried, and ground red jalapenos. It gives this soup its signature flavor.
- Seasonings: You’ll also need several more bold spices to create this flavorful soup, like onion powder, cumin, oregano, and coriander.
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
Variations & Dietary Modifications
- Add Veggies: This soup doesn’t have many veggies, so feel free to add more. Carrots, potatoes, celery, corn, and zucchini are all great options!
- Use a Different Protein: Swap out the shrimp for other proteins like chicken, ground turkey, or beans. Leftover crockpot chipotle chicken would be a great addition to the soup as well.
- Add Complex Carbs: Beans, lentils, rice, corn or diced potatoes would be great variations to this latin inspired shrimp soup.
- Adjust the Spice: Make your soup less spicy by skipping the serrano peppers and using jalapeño peppers instead.
How to Make Mexican Shrimp Soup
This spicy shrimp soup recipe is the perfect bold dinner. It’s packed with flavor, has over 28 grams of protein, and is still low-calorie. The only prep work is chopping vegetables!
- Step 1: Sauté the Veggies. Add the onion, garlic, and diced chili pepper to a large pot and bring it up to medium heat. Cook them for 2-3 minutes or until they begin to soften.
- Step 2: Add the Spices. Stir the softened vegetables and add the spices to the pot. Allow the spices to bloom in the hot pan with the veggies.
- Step 3: Pour in the Remaining Ingredients. Add the diced tomatoes, chicken broth, and water to the pot. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer.
- Step 4: Cook the Shrimp. Add the shrimp to the soup and cover the pot. Cook at a low simmer for 10-15 minutes until the shrimp curl into a “C” and turn opaque. Serve up bowls of soup with some tortillas made from cauliflower for dipping.
Expert Tips
- Cook at a Low Simmer: Shrimp turns tough and rubbery if you cook it too much. It’s best to cook the soup at a low simmer so the shrimp doesn’t cook too quickly and overcook.
- Sauté to Build Flavor: Sautéing the onion, garlic, and peppers before adding the other ingredients helps enhance their flavors and caramelize their natural sugars.
- Make Ahead: To make this soup 1-2 days ahead of time, make the broth first and cook everything through Step 3. Allow the soup to cool and refrigerate. Return the soup to a pan and heat it. When it’s hot, add the shrimp and cook over low heat until the shrimp is cooked through.
Serving Suggestions
This Mexican soup with shrimp tastes like a dish you’d order at your favorite restaurant, but it’s easy to make at home. It’s ready in just 30 minutes, so it’s perfect for a weeknight meal. There’s no need to make your own shrimp stock or dehydrate peppers.
- Top this low-calorie soup it with your favorite taco toppings, like avocado, fresh cilantro, jalapeño slices, or cheese. You can also add sour cream or Greek yogurt for more protein.
- Serve your soup with gluten-free tortillas or some corn tortilla chips for dipping.
- Add complex carbs like beans, lentils, rice, corn or diced potatoes.
- If you want a veggie side dish to go with your soup, try this street corn salad or cilantro jalapeño hummus. They are great for dipping with chips, too!
Mexican Shrimp Soup Recipe FAQs
Shrimp turn rubbery when they’re overcooked. The shrimp are done when they turn pink and curve into a “C” shape. The soup shouldn’t need to cook long after that happens.
This Mexican seafood soup is made with chipotle powder and serrano peppers, so it’s naturally a bit spicy. Decrease the spice by using jalapenos or skipping the peppers altogether.
Keep leftover shrimp in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Reheat leftovers over medium-low heat on the stove because the shrimp will overcook in the microwave. If the soup thickens during storage, add some more broth or water to thin it out. Do not freeze this soup, as the shrimp doesn’t freeze well.
More Delicious Mexican-Inspired Recipes
If you tried this Mexican Shrimp Soup recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below.
Mexican Shrimp Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb Shrimp, defined, thawed with tails removed
- 28 ounces Crushed Tomatoes
- ½ cup White Onion, diced
- 2 tablespoon Garlic, minced
- 1 Serrano Chili Pepper, diced, or jalapeño
- 4 cups Chicken Broth, low sodium
- 1 cup Water
- 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1 teaspoon Oregano
- 1 teaspoon Chipotle Powder
- 1 teaspoon Cumin
- ½ teaspoon Coriander , ground
- Tortilla Chips, Sliced Jalapeños, Fresh Cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Place onion, garlic and diced chili pepper in a large 7 quart pot and bring to medium heat.
- Cook 2-3 minutes until softened stirring occasionally. Add the spices to the pot and stir.
- Then add the diced tomatoes, broth and water. Bring the pot to a boil then immediately reduce to a low simmer.
- Add the shrimp and cover the pot. Cook another 10-15 minutes on a low simmer until shrimp is opaque. Garnish and serve!
Notes
- Cook your soup at a low simmer to avoid overcooking the shrimp and turning them tough.
- Sauté your peppers and onions in your soup pot before adding the other ingredients to enhance the flavors.
- Add complex carbs like corn, diced tomatoes, beans, lentils, or rice to your Mexican soup recipe as you like.
- Store leftovers for 2 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator, but do not freeze them.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Thanks for this recipe it turned out wonderfully!
This recipe is so flavorful and has the perfect blend of flavor and spice. I enjoy adding beans and corn to mine!
This is basically my dream flavor combo. I love shrimp. Add a Mexican-tex-mex-whatever you want to call it twist, and I’m in heaven!
You would love this I’m sure!
First of all, this better be on WTE meal plans because it looks so good! Second, they are building a Sprouts in walking distance of my house, do you think I can still justify that? lol