Quick Shrimp Tostada Appetizer

Making a quick shrimp tostada appetizer doesn’t get any easier than this. It’s one of the easiest appetizers to make because the ingredients are so simple and easy to find. Especially in California.

It’s enough to serve at a small gathering as an appetizer or have it for dinner at home all by itself. You can definitely serve it with regular tortilla chips or saltine crackers instead of tostada shells, but I thought I’d share with you what I used here because this is the first time I use this particular brand of tostadas.

They are nothing like tortilla chips. In fact, they are much thicker than chips, which makes them perfect for piling on literally any kind of toppings. For being so small, you would think they’d break apart easily after one small bite, but they don’t! That’s what I liked about them. You can safely walk around with one in your hand and not worry too much about taking a bite and having pieces of it break off in your hands.

Another thing I wanted to say about this shrimp salad for tostadas is that you don’t have to use the same olive oil that I used here. You can use whatever EVOO you have at home, or eliminate it completely if you don’t have any.

In the Fall of 2017, I attended the International Food Blogger Conference in Sacramento and went on an excursion with the Olive Oil Commission of California and Cobram Estate. I signed up for it so that I can learn more about olive oil and how it’s made, but did not expect to love the product as much as I do today.

You can read about what I learned here: How To Quickly Spot Good Quality Olive Oil

Since then, I’ve been using Cobram Estate’s EVOO almost exclusively when cooking for three reasons.

1. The olives come from my home state of California.
2. The quality of it is outstanding! There are a few other comparables on the market but I’ve chosen this one as my number one go-to because of the flavor. It’s clean and smooth on the palate and tastes fresh. Open the bottle, take a big whiff, and you instantly get that fresh cut grass smell that is characteristic of good quality olive oil.
3. Every bottle comes with its own collapsible pourer. Whaaaaaaat?!! Yup! Entirely C O L L A P S I B L E. Twist off the lid and out pops a pourer. When you’re done using it, close it back up with the same lid it came with.

That might seem like a silly reason to love a brand, but that little added bonus to me is golden. It shows that they care not only about their product but also their customers.

Oh, and by the way, I wasn’t paid to say any of this. I did receive a discounted ticket to attend IFBC, but you already know I wouldn’t be sharing something I didn’t love and use in my own home.

Now let’s get to that recipe, shall we?

You’re going to need one cucumber, one pound of cold water shrimp (thawed), two avocados, cilantro, two Roma tomatoes, two green onions, fresh lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, and sea salt.

Prep the first six ingredients and add them to a large bowl, then drizzle olive oil and lemon juice evenly over the ingredients. Sprinkle a heavy pinch of sea salt over it all before mixing. That’s it!

Other seasoning ingredients you can add and experiment with are garlic salt, sliced jalapenos, Tapatio or Tabasco sauce, clamato juice, and red onion.

As always, I encourage you to start with the base and experiment from there adding a little bit of the extras at a time.

Enjoy!!