Sautéed Shrimp

Sautéed shrimp is a quick and easy recipe to make juicy and flavorful shrimp in just 10 minutes. These shrimp have a great flavor from a perfect combination of butter, garlic, and simple seasoning.

At the end of a long day, the last thing most of us want to do is spend a lot of time making dinner. This is when I love back pocket recipes for quick and easy dinners like sautéed shrimp.

With just a few simple ingredients, a handful of seasonings, and a hot pan, you can create a flavorful family-friendly meal in about 15 minutes!

You can serve these easy shrimp with your favorite side dish, on top of a salad, tossed with pasta, or in tacos. We love these shrimp in tacos! They’re super easy to make and packed with flavor.

Best seasoning for shrimp

There are a lot of ways to season shellfish. The best way to season shrimp is with flavors that will balance out any taste of the sea water they came from. Citrus fruit like lemon and lime, garlic, herbs, are the flavor that will always compliments seafood. Simple seasonings like salt, pepper, and paprika are great options, because they balance out most flavors well and all go very well together.

If you like spicy flavors, blackened shrimp is another great recipe to try!

Ingredients for Sautéed Shrimp

• Raw shrimp– You can use either fresh or frozen, just be sure that it’s not pre-cooked. If you want to make a recipe using frozen shrimp, you’ll need to let it thaw completely first. Make sure to clean and devein shrimp before cooking as well or buy ones already cleaned and deveined.

• Cooking oil– Use any variety of cooking oil you like. I use canola for its mild, neutral flavor. Avocado oil, mild tasting olive oil, and vegetable oil are good choices as well.
• Unsalted butter– To keep the sodium lower and to prevent the dish from being too salty, unsalted butter is the best option.
• Fresh garlic cloves– Use fresh garlic, it always has the best flavor. So much better than buying garlic that’s already minced, pressed, or peeled.
• Fresh lemon juice– When it comes to creating fresh flavor, only a real lemon will do! Avoid using concentrated lemon juice because it really does have a different flavor.
• Seasonings– For this easy shrimp recipe, the seasonings are very simple: just a bit of salt, crushed red pepper flakes, paprika, and parsley.

How To Clean Shrimp

If the shrimp you buy isn’t already peeled and deveined, you will need to do that yourself. It isn’t difficult at all, but it can get messy, and honestly, removing its digestive tract isn’t very fun.

Cleaning the Shrimp

For an instructional video and step-by-step instructions on the process, refer to my post, “How to Peel and Devein shrimp“.

To take the shell off, start on the belly side and pull away grabbing the legs and the shell. Pull the shell away from the meat all the way around. You can choose to pull off the tails or leave them on. Keeping the tails on makes a nice presentation but it’s much easier to eat shrimp without tails. 

Use a paring knife or another small knife to slice just the top of the skin all along the back. Expose the dark, long string (aka the vein) that’s running along the back and gently pull it out.

Rinse the shrimp in cold water.

Once they are clean, pat them dry with paper toweling, then place them into a mixing bowl.

HOW TO MAKE SAUTEED SHRIMP

1. Toss with seasoning.

To the bowl of shrimp, add the smashed garlic cloves, lemon juice, salt, crushed red pepper flakes, parsley, and paprika. Toss everything together so each piece of seafood is evenly seasoned.

2. Preheat your skillet.

Searing meat, poultry, seafood, or any other type of food requires using a very hot pan. Place a dry, empty skillet over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes before you add anything to it. (Different stoves will take different amount of time to heat the pan.)

When the pan is hot, add oil and spread it around. 

3. Cook the shrimp.

Add the shrimp in one even layer and let them sear about 2 minutes, until opaque on that side.

Add butter before you flip the shrimp. If you add it too soon, the butter could over-brown and even burn.

Flip each shrimp onto the other side and let them cook another minute or two, until opaque on that side. Take them out as soon as shrimp are done.

NOTE: To prevent them from over cooking and becoming rubbery, remove the sautéed shrimp from the pan immediately after cooking.

4. Add garnish. For a pop of color and a nice plating presentation, garnish the dish with a little more parsley if you’d like.

5. Optional Step: Make a pan sauce.

This step is totally optional, but I highly recommend making a quick and easy pan sauce for the sautéed shrimp. It’s delicious, especially with a side of pasta!

This sauce is great to pour over shrimp and vegetables, or use it as a simple pasta sauce.

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1. Right after you take the shrimp out, melt a tablespoon of butter in the pan, then add 1/2 cup of white wine. Let it simmer and reduce by about half over medium heat. 
   
2. Whisk in 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice and a couple of tablespoons of vegetable or chicken stock. There will be a lot of flavor left in the pan from cooking the shrimp but you may still need a little bit of salt. Taste and add seasoning if necessary. 

Q&A and Recipe Notes

How long do shrimp take to cook?

On average, shrimp take 2-3 minutes to cook completely. Jumbo shrimp could take 4-6 minutes, depending on the actual size and thickness. You are looking for the shrimp to turn completely opaque to be done, and no more.

Storing and reheating

If you have any leftover shrimp, you can store them in the air-tight container, in the refrigerator.

Although, I don’t recommend reheating seafood, you can technically do it. Do note that reheated shrimp will not taste as good as fresh and the texture won’t be the same.

To reheat shrimp, preheat a cooking pan over medium heat and a little bit of butter if desired, and reheat shrimp just until it’s heathedr through. (DON’T use microwave to reheat shrimp, it will be rubbery.)

MORE SHRIMP RECIPES TO TRY

Avocado Shrimp Salad

Shrimp Alfredo

Shrimp Stir Fry

Cajun Grilled Shrimp

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