Fish ceviche

What it is and how to eat it

The Dictionary of Americanisms, which records it from Mexico to Argentina and Uruguay under the spellings cebiche, ceviche, sebiche and seviche, defines it as a dish of raw fish or shellfish in small pieces, macerated in sour lime or lemon juice (limón ácido) or sour orange juice and dressed with chopped onion, salt and hot chili pepper. In 2023 UNESCO inscribed the practices and meanings of its preparation and consumption, as an expression of Peruvian traditional cuisine, on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and notes that recipes vary from one region to the next. This page uses USDA's reference ceviche, 50% raw snapper plus lime and lemon juice, tomato, onion and jalapeño, which has 63 kcal and 10.5 g of protein per 100 g; with other fish, shellfish or sides the figures change.

A 150 g (5.3 oz) serving provides 15.8 g of protein and only 95 kcal, with 1.1 g of fat. The 2025 nutrition advisory on GLP-1 therapy lists fish among the low-volume proteins to encourage and suggests eating protein-rich foods first, so if it comes with corn, potato or tostadas, it helps to start with the fish. For anyone who should not eat raw fish, for the reasons explained below, the same dressing works with cooked fish or shellfish.

What the evidence says

The FDA advises pregnant women, children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems, a group in which it includes people with diabetes, to avoid raw fish and shellfish, and names ceviche specifically; it also notes that freezing fish kills parasites but not all harmful germs. Spain's Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and 2030 Agenda lists marinated fish, such as ceviche, among the home preparations that do not kill anisakis, a parasite of fish and cephalopods, and asks for the fish to be frozen first at −20 °C (−4 °F) or colder for five days, which only three-star or better freezers achieve; this is not needed for fish from rivers, lakes or freshwater farms. In bars, restaurants and other establishments that serve food, Spain's Royal Decree 1021/2022 requires fish, except inland-water fish, and cephalopods served raw or with a treatment that is not enough to kill anisakis larvae to have been frozen first at −20 °C or colder for at least 24 hours, or at −35 °C or colder for at least 15 hours, with an exemption for marine farmed fish certified free of parasites, and customers to be told so. With USDA's reference recipe, at 10.5 g of protein and 63 kcal per 100 g, protein supplies about two thirds of its energy, well above the 20% the EU requires for a "high protein" claim (Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006).

The sources for this section are listed under "Sources" at the end of the page.