15-Minute Pan-Seared Shrimp "Encacahuatado" (Spicy Peanut-Chipotle Shortcut)
My abuela used to spend all Sunday roasting peanuts and grinding chiles for her legendary encacahuatado. I love that woman, but this is a Tuesday mole, not a wedding mole. Between school pickup and subway delays, we are not suffering for dinner.\n\nThis 15-Minute Pan-Seared Shrimp "Encacahuatado" is my Brooklyn shortcut to that deep Oaxacan comfort. The inspiration hit me hard last week when I stared into my pantry, desperate for a win before someone asked for a snack. I saw a half-empty jar of roasted peanuts and a can of chipotles in adobo. Ándale. The flavor logic is simple: a quick blender sauce that hits a screaming-hot skillet right after you flash-sear some large shrimp.\n\nWhat makes this special? The massive payoff. You get a rich, creamy peanut sauce hugging plump shrimp, just begging for crunchy cabbage and a heavy squeeze of fresh lime to wake the whole dish up.\n\nMake it yours:\n* Pantry Mode: Natural peanut butter (the runny kind!) works perfectly if whole peanuts are MIA.\n* Bodega Mode: Swap the chipotle for whatever hot sauce you have, plus a tantito of tomato paste to fix the base.\n\nTaste it—then decide if it needs more salt. Serve immediately with warm corn tortillas.
Featured Recipe
15-Minute Pan-Seared Shrimp "Encacahuatado" (Spicy Peanut-Chipotle Shortcut)
A Tuesday night miracle that tastes like a Sunday project. We are taking the rich, nutty logic of an Oaxacan encacahuatado (peanut mole) and running it through a Brooklyn weeknight filter: a quick blender sauce that hits a screaming-hot skillet right after we flash-sear some large shrimp. Creamy, spicy, crunchy, done.
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Timeline
Ingredients
- 1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined(Thawed if frozen, tails on or off)
- 1 tbsp avocado oil or olive oil(For the hard sear)
- 1/2 cup unsalted roasted peanuts(Bodega Mode Swap: 3 tbsp natural, unsweetened peanut butter)
- 1/2 cup canned fire-roasted tomatoes(With their juices)
- 1-2 whole chipotle peppers in adobo(Plus 1 tbsp of the adobo sauce)
- 1 large clove garlic(Peeled)
- 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth(Or water, to thin the sauce)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar(The acid that wakes up the peanut butter)
- 1/4 tsp Mexican oregano(Crushed in your palms)
- 2 cups green cabbage(Thinly sliced or shredded)
- 1 whole lime(Halved)
- 1 tsp kosher salt(Divided use)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper(Freshly ground)
- 8 whole corn tortillas(Warmed on a comal or in the microwave)
- 1 tbsp adobo sauce(mentioned in step 2)
Instructions
- 1
Lay 1 lb large shrimp flat on a double layer of paper towels. Pat them bone-dry. Season all over with 1/2 tsp kosher salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Do not skip drying them; wet shrimp steam in the pan, and we are here for a hard sear.
2 min
Tip: If your shrimp were frozen, make sure they are fully thawed and squeeze out any hidden water.
- 2
In a blender, drop in 1/2 cup unsalted roasted peanuts, 1/2 cup canned fire-roasted tomatoes, 1 chipotle pepper in adobo (add a second if you like it spicy!), 1 tbsp adobo sauce, 1 large clove garlic, 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, and 1/4 tsp Mexican oregano. Blend until completely smooth. Taste it—then decide. Need more salt? Add a pinch.
3 min
Tip: Bodega Mode: If you don't have whole peanuts, dump 3 tablespoons of natural peanut butter right into the blender.
- 3
In a small bowl, toss 2 cups green cabbage with the juice of 1/2 lime and 1/4 tsp kosher salt. Massage it lightly with your hands so it softens up slightly. Set aside—this bright crunch is our texture contrast to the rich peanut sauce.
3 min
Tip: Do this before you turn the stove on. Once the shrimp hit the pan, things move at lightning speed.
- 4
Heat 1 tbsp avocado oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering and almost smoking. Drop the shrimp in a single layer. Leave them alone! Sear undisturbed for 2 minutes to build a crust, flip, and cook for 1 more minute until just opaque. Quickly remove the shrimp to a plate.
4 min
Tip: You want that skillet screaming hot. If it's too cool, the shrimp will just slowly boil in their own juices.
- 5
Lower the heat to medium. Pour the blended peanut sauce directly into the hot, empty skillet. It will sputter and immediately smell incredible—ándale, that's flavor. Stir constantly for 2 minutes as it darkens and thickens. Toss the shrimp back into the sauce for 30 seconds just to coat. Pull off the heat immediately.
3 min
Tip: Frying the blended sauce in the hot shrimp oil "cooks" the raw garlic and blooms the chipotle heat.
- 6
Serve straight from the skillet alongside 8 corn tortillas (warmed) and your limey cabbage slaw. Cut the remaining 1/2 lime into wedges for squeezing over the top.
2 min
Tip: Build a taco with the warm tortilla, a smear of extra sauce, a couple of shrimp, and a fistful of crunchy slaw. We are definitely not suffering for dinner tonight.
Chef's Notes
Real flavor, real life: A traditional encacahuatado simmers slowly and uses a whole litany of dried chiles and spices. This is our Tuesday night cheat code. By blending canned fire-roasted tomatoes and smoky chipotles with peanuts, we mimic that complex depth in under 5 minutes. The secret is frying the sauce in the shrimp fat—don't wash that pan out before you pour the blender in!
María “Mari” Santiago
Oaxacan comfort, Brooklyn shortcuts, weeknight bright.
María “Mari” Santiago was born in Oaxaca, where her earliest kitchen memories are measured in scent: chiles toasting on a comal, cinnamon and chocolate blooming in mole, and the warm, nutty snap of a tlayuda folded in half for the walk home. She learned by watching—first her tías, then her abuela—picking up the small, practical rules that never made it into written recipes: how to tell when the garlic is *just* right, how to rescue a too-spicy salsa, and why you always taste the broth before you add the salt. Now in Brooklyn, Mari cooks the food she grew up on while raising two little kids and juggling real-life time limits. Her style is “real flavor, real life”: traditional Oaxacan and everyday Mexican dishes—moles, caldos, frijoles, enfrijoladas, salsas, and crispy tlayudas—made weeknight-friendly with smart shortcuts, brighter salsas, and more vegetables without losing the soul of the dish. She’s not precious about rules, she’s big on swaps, and she’s on a mission to prove that you can cook deeply flavorful Mexican food with what you can actually find at a normal grocery store (and still get dinner on the table before a meltdown). Mari’s recipes read like a friend texting you from the produce aisle: clear, funny, and unpretentious, with a side of abuela wisdom. If there’s a hard-to-find ingredient, she gives you a realistic alternative, tells you what will change (and what won’t), and keeps the focus where it belongs—on food that tastes like home, even when home is a small Brooklyn kitchen.