Shrimp soup, shrimp sandwich, shrimp salad, shrimp stew, shrimp pasta. If you cannot watch Forrest Gump without getting slightly envious, this list is for you. Here are 24 shrimp recipes that cover the whole spread: twenty minute scampi, a sheet pan Cajun dinner that feeds six, grilled margarita kebabs, kung pao, tempura style camaron rebosado, spring rolls, lettuce wraps and half a dozen shrimp pastas. Shrimp is the one protein that goes from raw to done in about three minutes, which makes it the fastest dinner in the freezer and also the easiest thing in the world to overcook. Every recipe here links out to the full ingredient list and method. Even if you think you do not like shrimp, a couple of these might change your mind!
1. Browned Butter Honey Garlic Shrimp
Browning the butter is the whole recipe. Melt and swirl four tablespoons for roughly three minutes, until the foam subsides and it starts to smell nutty, before the honey, lemon juice, soy sauce and three cloves of garlic go in for half a minute. Twenty one ounces of shrimp sear about two minutes a side, in two batches so the pan stays hot, and the reserved sauce goes back over everything at the end. Twenty minutes, four servings. Serve it over rice or with a salad, and do not walk away while the butter browns.
Get the full tutorial at Cafe Delites.
2. Easy 20-Minute Shrimp Scampi
Twenty minutes, one skillet, and the shrimp go in and come out again before the sauce is even built. A pound of large shrimp cooks about a minute a side in olive oil until just pink and gets set aside, then butter, three cloves of garlic and a pinch of hot pepper flakes go into the same pan, with a third of a cup of dry white wine or chicken stock to lift everything off the bottom. Lemon juice, chopped parsley and eight ounces of spaghetti finish it. Taking the shrimp out early is the part people skip, and it is the reason theirs come out rubbery.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
3. Lemon Garlic Butter Shrimp with Asparagus
Fifteen minutes, one pan, and about 309 calories a serving, which is why this one earns its place. Cook a pound and a half of shrimp in butter with garlic, Italian seasoning, onion powder and a quarter teaspoon of smoked paprika, a minute or two a side, then move them under foil while a pound of asparagus takes over the pan. The shrimp go back in, half a lemon gets squeezed over the top, and that is dinner. Cover the shrimp while they rest so they stay hot; nobody wants a lukewarm shrimp.
Get the full tutorial at With Peanut Butter On Top.
4. Kung Pao Shrimp
Better than the takeout version and quicker than waiting for it. Onion, red and green bell pepper cook for a few minutes, then a pound of shrimp for three or four more, then four to six dried red chilies and half a cup of roasted peanuts. The sauce is whisked in a small bowl while that happens: two tablespoons of soy, a tablespoon of hoisin, two teaspoons each of sesame oil and sugar, two teaspoons of cornstarch and two tablespoons of water. It thickens in under a minute once it hits the pan. Twenty minutes, four servings, and the chili count is how you set the heat.
Get the full tutorial at Dinner at the Zoo.
5. Grilled Shrimp With Garlic Cilantro Sauce
The sauce is the reason to make this. A whole head of garlic roasts at 400 degrees until the cloves are soft and sweet, then gets crushed into a cup of chopped cilantro, the juice of a lime, olive oil and two tablespoons of harissa. A pound and a half of shrimp cook on a screaming hot cast iron skillet or grill and get tossed in that sauce the second they come off. Twenty minutes, up to six servings. If cilantro is not your thing, the recipe says basil, parsley or mint work in its place, which is a rare and welcome bit of honesty.
Get the full tutorial at The Mediterranean Dish.
6. Teriyaki Shrimp Broccoli Stir Fry
Homemade teriyaki takes about two minutes to stir together and beats the bottled version comfortably: a quarter cup of light soy, three tablespoons of honey, rice vinegar, minced ginger and garlic, chilli flakes, two teaspoons of cornstarch and three quarters of a cup of water. The shrimp stir fry on high heat for two to three minutes, the broccoli and whatever other vegetables you have go in next, then the sauce boils and thickens around everything. Thirty minutes, three portions, best over steamed rice. Half a pound of shrimp is 500 grams if your bag is metric.
Get the full tutorial at My Food Story.
7. Grilled Margarita Shrimp Kebabs
Jumbo shrimp, sixteen to twenty per pound, marinate in olive oil, garlic, minced jalapeno, two teaspoons of brown sugar and a full lineup of smoked paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder and cumin, with two teaspoons of tequila if you want it. The brown sugar is what gives you those caramelized edges off the grill. Three to four minutes a side and they are done. The trick worth copying is threading a folded slice of fresh lime between the shrimp on the skewer, so it steams them as they cook.
Get the full tutorial at A Farmgirl's Dabbles.
8. Cajun Shrimp Sausage Sheet Pan
This is a low country boil that never touches water. A pound and a half of baby potatoes get boiled for fifteen to twenty minutes first, because they will not cook through otherwise, then go on the pan with four ears of corn cut into thirds, a pound of sliced andouille and a pound and a half of shrimp. Half a cup of melted butter with garlic, smoked paprika, cayenne and thyme goes over everything, and it bakes at 425 for twenty minutes. Serves six off one sheet pan, with lemon slices and hot sauce on the side.
Get the full tutorial at Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch.
9. Low Carb Cauli-Rice & Shrimp
Five minutes of work and three servings out of it. Warm a quarter cup of coconut oil in a skillet, then tip in a fifteen ounce bag of thawed precooked shrimp and a twelve ounce bag of frozen cauliflower rice, with garlic powder, onion powder, dried cilantro and cumin. Fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper at the end. That is genuinely all of it. Because the shrimp are already cooked, you are only warming them through, so keep the heat moderate and stop as soon as the cauliflower is tender.
Get the full tutorial at That's Low Carb.
10. Garlic Butter Shrimp
Eight tablespoons of butter, used in two goes, is what makes this taste like a restaurant plate. Two of them melt with five cloves of garlic for about a minute, two pounds of shrimp cook until pink and no longer translucent, then the heat drops and the rest of the butter melts in with a third of a cup of chicken broth. Covered, five minutes. Parsley on top. It takes about thirty minutes start to finish, which is a good ratio for something that rich. All that butter and broth is a sauce, so have bread ready.
Get the full tutorial at New South Charm.
11. Camaron Rebosado
Filipino battered prawns, and the batter is the lesson. A pound of tiger prawns get shelled with the tails left on, then salted and hit with a tablespoon of lemon juice. The batter is a cup and a half of flour with a teaspoon and a half of baking powder, one egg and a cup of ice cold water, and the ice cold part is not a suggestion, it is what keeps the coating light instead of heavy. Fry them in three inches of oil held at 375 degrees, three or four minutes to a batch. Forty minutes, four servings, sweet and sour sauce alongside.
Get the full tutorial at Salu Salo Recipes.
12. Garlic Butter Shrimp Pasta
A recipe written for two people, which is rarer than it should be. Four ounces of spaghetti, twelve ounces of shrimp and six tablespoons of butter used in three separate goes: one to cook the shrimp, two with the garlic and red pepper flakes, and the rest whisked in at the end off the heat to make the sauce glossy. Chardonnay, lemon zest and the juice of half a lemon go in as well, and whisking that cold butter in off the heat is the classic restaurant move that makes the whole thing taste expensive. Twenty five minutes, and two plates that look like a night out.
Get the full tutorial at Girl Gone Gourmet.
13. Party Shrimp
Two pounds of shrimp, one packet of dry Italian dressing mix used straight from the envelope, three tablespoons of oil, a tablespoon of paprika, half a teaspoon of garlic powder and half a teaspoon of cayenne. It all goes in a zip top bag to marinate, then onto a lined sheet pan and under a high broiler on the top rack for five minutes. That is it. They are good hot and they are good at room temperature, which is the whole reason this is a party recipe and not just a dinner. Cocktail sauce on the side if you want it.
Get the full tutorial at South Your Mouth.
14. 20-Minute Skinny Sriracha Shrimp and Broccoli
Whisk the sauce together cold, with low sodium soy, fresh orange juice, a tablespoon and a half of sriracha, brown sugar, grated ginger, five cloves of garlic, sesame oil and a teaspoon of cornstarch. Two pounds of shrimp cook for about three minutes, four cups of broccoli florets for three or four more, then the sauce goes in and thickens in a minute or two. Twenty minutes, four servings. The recipe’s own tip is the useful one: buy shrimp already peeled, because peeling them yourself adds about seven minutes to a twenty minute dinner.
Get the full tutorial at Baker by Nature.
15. Sensational Blackened Shrimp
These are baked, not blackened in a smoking skillet, which means no scorched pan and no setting off the smoke alarm. A pound of raw shrimp gets drizzled with a tablespoon of olive oil, then two teaspoons of blackened seasoning, salt and pepper, and goes on a cooling rack set over a baking sheet at 400 degrees for eight to ten minutes, undisturbed. Twenty five minutes total, six servings. The rack is the part that matters, because it lets the heat get underneath and keeps them from sitting in their own liquid.
Get the full tutorial at Hostess At Heart.
16. Shrimp Spaghetti Aglio Olio
Five ingredients and twenty five minutes: 250 grams of spaghetti, three tablespoons of olive oil, a tablespoon of finely minced garlic, a teaspoon of chilli flakes and 250 grams of shrimp, with parsley and grated parmesan to finish. The garlic goes into the oil on a low flame and stays there until it is fragrant and pale, never brown. The shrimp get three to four minutes, then a quarter cup of reserved pasta water reduces for about two minutes into a sauce that actually clings. Four portions from one pan and a pot.
Get the full tutorial at My Food Story.
17. Spicy Creamy Shrimp Pasta
Two cups of heavy cream, and the recipe is specific that it should be at room temperature, along with the half cup of dry white wine. Cold dairy hitting a hot pan is how cream sauces split, so that detail is doing real work. Onion softens for five minutes, garlic, paprika, cayenne and thyme go in, the shrimp cook separately for one to two minutes a side and get kept warm, and a pound of spaghetti joins the sauce with a quarter cup of pasta water. Fifty minutes, four servings, half a cup of parmesan and lemon juice at the end.
Get the full tutorial at Cooking On The Ranch.
18. Shrimp And Broccoli Penne
The broccoli cooks in the pasta water for the last three to four minutes, which saves a pan and means it comes out tender rather than raw or mushy. A pound of shrimp, patted dry and seasoned, sauté for three or four minutes total in olive oil with four grated garlic cloves, and the whole lot gets tossed with eight ounces of whole wheat penne, the zest and juice of a lemon and the remaining olive oil. Thirty minutes, four servings, parmesan and chili flakes to finish. Patting the shrimp dry is what gets you color instead of steam.
Get the full tutorial at The Lemon Bowl.
19. Baked Butter Garlic Shrimp
Five tablespoons of softened butter get smeared across the bottom of a baking dish, three or four crushed garlic cloves are sprinkled over it, and a pound of medium shrimp go on top in as close to a single layer as you can manage. Season them, bake at 425 degrees for seven minutes, stir, then allow seven to ten minutes more. The maker’s own warning is the useful one: thaw frozen shrimp first, because cooking them from frozen makes them rubbery. Toss the cooked shrimp and all that butter sauce with pasta and you have dinner instead of a side.
Get the full tutorial at Real Life Dinner.
20. Pasta with Shrimp and Spinach
Scaled properly for two, and on the table in twenty minutes. Four garlic cloves and half a red chilli go into olive oil for thirty seconds, 200 grams of king prawns follow for two to three minutes until they turn pink, then two chopped vine tomatoes and a generous handful of baby spinach for one more minute so the spinach only just wilts. Toss through 125 grams of cooked spaghetti with black pepper and two tablespoons of grated parmesan. Thirty seconds for the garlic is precise on purpose; any longer and it burns in that much oil.
Get the full tutorial at My Gorgeous Recipes.
21. Vietnamese Healthy Spring Rolls
Ten to twelve shrimp, cut in half lengthwise so they lie flat and show through the wrapper, julienned cucumber and carrot, buckwheat noodles, lettuce, coriander and mint. The rice paper goes into very warm water for ten to fifteen seconds only, which is the part everyone gets wrong: leave it longer and it turns to glue before you have filled it. The peanut sauce is a quarter cup of peanut butter, soy, chili garlic paste, a teaspoon of cornstarch and a cup of water, simmered three to five minutes. Thirty minutes, four servings.
Get the full tutorial at Watch What U Eat.
22. Thai Shrimp Cake
Two tips here that are worth more than the recipe. First, spread the chopped shrimp on a plate and chill them in the freezer for fifteen minutes before mixing, which is what gives the cakes their springy texture rather than a pasty one. Second, fry one test cake first, because red curry pastes vary enormously in salt and you want to know before you cook the whole batch. Eight ounces of shrimp, two tablespoons of red curry paste, an egg, fish sauce, coconut milk, chopped long beans and Thai basil. Two minutes a side, seventeen minutes total, five servings.
Get the full tutorial at Rasa Malaysia.
23. Mango Shrimp Lettuce Wraps
Frozen mango chunks get sautéed in butter for a minute or two, pureed with a tablespoon of Thai sweet chili sauce, then returned to the pan to cook half a pound of shrimp for three to four minutes. That mango puree is the sauce, the marinade and the sweetness all at once. Diced fresh mango, avocado, red onion, cilantro, green onion and lime juice make a salsa that goes on top, and butter lettuce leaves are the wrap. Twenty minutes, four servings, no bread and no stove time to speak of.
Get the full tutorial at Easy Peasy Meals.
24. Parmesan Basil Shrimp & Rice
A pound of shrimp cooks for three to four minutes in four tablespoons of butter with two teaspoons of minced garlic, then a cup and a half of cooked white rice goes straight into the same pan. Half a cup of shredded parmesan, three tablespoons of chopped fresh basil and a quarter cup of milk or cream get stirred through until the rice thickens and turns creamy. Twenty minutes, four servings, one skillet. It is a risotto result without any of the stirring, and leftover rice from the night before makes it faster still.
Get the full tutorial at Pumpkin 'N Spice.
