Spicy Caribbean Shrimp with Mango-Chile Sauce

Last Updated on December 4, 2023 by Carne Diem

Protein: Shrimp

Origin: Taste of the Islands

Method: Grill, Oven, or Stovetop

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This spicy Caribbean shrimp recipe is packed with tropical flavors like mango, pineapple, ginger, habanero, and Scotch bonnet. This shrimp recipe brings the heat and is perfect for making on your grill, but also works when pan sautéing the shrimp with the spicy sauce.

We came up with this recipe for Caribbean Fire Shrimp a couple summers ago during a bumper year for our garden peppers. We have always loved making fresh salsas and sauces with homegrown ingredients and this recipe has become one of our favorites. It is, without a doubt a spicy shrimp recipe, but we find the sweetness of the tropical fruits balances the spice well. We like to make this in large batches and then can the rest for use throughout the year.

Making the Spicy Caribbean Style Shrimp

To make the sauce you will need diced mango and pineapple, onion, brown sugar, ginger, apple cider vinegar and assorted chiles. The spice level of the dish can be adjusted by changing the ratios of the spicy and mild chiles used.

Preparing the Mango-Chile Sauce for the Shrimp

Gather your ingredients and dice the onion. You will also want to remove the stems and seeds from all of the peppers and peel the ginger. It would not be a bad idea to wear gloves when handling the hot peppers and wash your hands really well after touching them.

We use an assortment of peppers from our garden for this recipe, some of which may be difficult to find depending on where you live. The key is to use a mix of sweet and hot peppers.

Mild Chiles: For the mild peppers, we use small sweet peppers and an Anaheim pepper that are typically easily found in stores. We also use either Mad Hatter peppers or shishito peppers. Shishitos are becoming easier to find in markets as well and are one of our favorite peppers to snack on. If you can't find mad hatter or shishitos then serranos would be a good substitute.

Hot Chiles: For the spicy peppers, we use a mix of scotch bonnet and Caribbean red habaneros. These may be more difficult to source so if you cannot find them, replace them with traditional habaneros. We also use 1-2 jalapenos in the sauce as well.

Blend the fruit hot sauce.

Add the peppers, onion, and ginger to a food processor and pulse until the peppers are finely chopped. You want everything to be evenly sized so you may need to scrape the sides of the bowl a couple times and pulse again to get a nice even consistency.

Finally, add in the liquid ingredients, brown sugar, and mango and pineapple with their syrups. Blend in the food processor until nice and smooth. This recipe will make more than you need for a meal, but it keeps very well so we always can it for use throughout the year. You will typically need about 2 cups (1 pint) of the sauce for about 20 shrimp.

Preparing the Caribbean Fire Shrimp

For this recipe, you can use either shell on shrimp or shelled shrimp. Both work well. Our choice typically depends on the cooking method we choose.

Marinate the shrimp in the sauce for at least 4 hours or overnight. Reserve about a half a cup of the sauce for basting the shrimp.

Cooking Options for the Spicy Caribbean shrimp

There are 3 ways we typically prepare the shrimp, so use the option that works best for you.

Salt Block Caribbean Shrimp: Our favorite method is to cook them on a salt block. We find this method is best with shell on shrimp because the shrimp tend to pick up a lot of the salt, but after you remove the shells to consume the shrimp, the salt level is perfect. For this method, preheat an oven to 350 degrees and preheat the salt block along with the oven. You will want to place the salt block on a pan or cookie sheet to prevent your oven from becoming a mess.

Cook the shrimp for about 5-7 minutes then flip the shrimp and baste with the reserved sauce. Continue to cook until the shrimp are cooked through, typically another 5-10 minutes depending on the size of the shrimp. When the shrimp curl into a "C" shape you will know they are done.

Grilled Spicy Caribbean Shrimp: If you do not have a salt block, you can also cook the shrimp on a grill. Remove the shrimp from the marinade and, if desired, skewer the shrimp. Grill over medium high heat for about 2-3 minutes per side until cooked through. When grilling the shrimp, we like to baste a couple times during the cook because you will lose some sauce into the fire.

Sauteed Shrimp: The final cooking option for cooking the spicy mango shrimp is to simply sauté them in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the shrimp in a skillet or cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. When using this method, we typically cook the shrimp with the additional reserved sauce, and prefer to use shelled, tail on shrimp.

Serving the Caribbean Shrimp

This recipe pairs perfectly with our Caribbean Rice and Beans or Puerto Rican Arroz Con Gandules: Rice with Pigeon Peas. The coconut milk helps cut a bit of the heat and works perfectly with the fruitiness of the dish. The shrimp also work well as a spicy appetizer for meals like our Jamaican Jerk Chicken Rasta Pasta or Grilled Red Snapper Escovitch.

Looking for more Caribbean inspired dishes? Check out some of our most popular island recipes:

• Roasted Chicken and Shrimp Curry Stuffed Coconuts
• Grilled Jamaican Jerk Chicken
• Grilled Jamaican Beef Patties
• Jamaican Style Cast Iron Oxtail Stew
• Coconut Mai Tai
• Smoked Pernil- Puerto Rican Roast Pork Shoulder
• Caribbean Roast Pork Sandwich
• Grilled Cubano
• Kalua Pork: Hawaiian Pulled Pork

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