This Garlic Butter Shrimp recipe features roasted shrimp infused in garlic butter with a touch of honey, made within 15 minutes in a single skillet. Topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese and served with a side of toasted baguette or pasta, this dish is truly the winner to satisfy your weeknight cravings.
A skillet full of heavenly goodness ✨
Garlic and butter – two of the greatest pleasures in life. Coupled with shrimp, which has always been my obsession, this dish truly brings together all the heavenly flavor combinations in one skillet.
Garlic butter shrimp has always been my go-to choice at seafood restaurants, but I could never justify the hefty price put on such a simple dish.
This dish is my absolute go-to for the busy days as it calls for the simplest ingredients to bring everything that I love in one skillet. The flavor combination is to die for – especially with a touch of honey and lemon which truly brings the sauce to life.
The result? A pan full of buttery garlicky goodness to be served with a side of toasted baguettes or your choice of bread. It also goes wonderfully over some pasta or steamed rice. The choice is all yours!
What do you need to make Garlic Butter Shrimp?
Making this dish is incredibly easy, and calls for simple ingredients found in most kitchens, similar to the Spanish Garlic Shrimp recipe that I’ve shared at the start of the blog, but a different set of aromas.
Here are the ingredients you will need for this recipe:
- 20 large shrimp, to be deveined and peeled, leaving the tails intact. Seasoned with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper.
- The added convenience to this recipe is the ease of preparing the shrimp, which can be defrosted in just a few minutes in cold water.
- Softened butter, garlic, and parsley. We will be mixing these three components together to form a flavorful garlic butter paste which will be added into the skillet. I recommend using room-temperature butter, as it will be a lot easier to form a creamed mixture.
- Honey and lemon juice to add extra flavors. These extra additions truly bring the dish to the next level.
- Grated parmesan cheese and parsley for garnish
- Toasted baguettes and/or pasta for serving
So long as you have these simple ingredients on hand, the cooking process will be incredibly seamless and easy.
Essential tips and tricks
Though this is one of my most simple recipes to date, to best prepare and serve this dish, here are some things you may want to consider:
- After defrosting the shrimp, remove excess water and season with salt, pepper, and a touch of cayenne pepper (optional) to let the flavors sink in. I would recommend doing this process first, before preparing the other ingredients.
- Leave the shrimp tails intact for added flavor and texture.
- I like to leave the tails intact to have the shells add flavor to the sauce, also for its crunchy texture obtained over the frying process. I found that it personally goes wonderful with the toasted baguette pieces, but it’s up to you to serve the shrimp completely peeled after the cooking process.
- Use room temperature butter. The highlight of this recipe is the flavorful garlic-butter paste to be infused into the dish. The softer your butter is, the easier it will be to create a creamed mixture.
- Use a cast-iron skillet, so that the dish stays warm for the entire duration of serving. The highlight of this recipe is the roasted shrimp that’s straight out of the pan, and serving in a cast iron will maintain the desired temperature. I used my 8-inch round cast iron pan, which was perfect for this dish.
- If you’d like to check out the list of cookware that I use, you can view them here.
I hope you enjoy the recipe, and please leave me a comment below or message me on Instagram for any questions! ღ
Easy Garlic Butter Shrimp
Ingredients
- 20 large shrimp deveined and peeled, leaving tails intact
- salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to season the shrimp
- 2 tbsp butter softened at room temperature
- 3 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tbsp parsley finely chopped
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1-2 tbsp lemon juice adjust based on preference
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- grated parmesan cheese for garnish
- toasted baguette slices and/or pasta for serving
Instructions
- Defrost shrimp if needed and pat dry to remove excess water. Season with salt, pepper, and a touch of cayenne pepper if desired. Set aside.
- Combine softened butter, minced garlic, and parsley in a bowl to form a creamy paste.
- Add oil into a skillet on medium heat, followed by the shrimp. Cook until the shrimp turns pink in color, then add the prepared garlic-butter paste. Stir around and cook until the shrimp are evenly coated with the sauce, about a minute or two.
- Stir in honey and lemon juice, and remove from heat once everything is thoroughly combined. Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese and parsley, and serve warm with a side of toasted bread and/or pasta.