Garlic Butter Shrimp is one of my favorite easy go-to meals. It only takes 10 minutes to prepare and I can customize the amount, making just for myself or for the whole family.
What You’ll Need
Garlic Butter Shrimp uses only 6 ingredients, many of which you will already have in your pantry, and takes only 10 minutes from start to finish. A full list of ingredients with measurements for this recipe is available in the printable recipe card below.
- Shrimp- Your biggest concern will be picking shrimp and not all shrimp are created equal. I’ll included a handy shrimp section below to help you find the shrimp for you. For dishes like this, I do opt for medium shrimp. You can go bigger, but medium size shrimp are perfect for one-bite.
- Unsalted butter
- Fresh garlic
- Coarse sea salt
- Ground black pepper
- Flat leaf parsley
- Grape tomatoes
- Fresh lemon
Picking the Shrimp
The flavor, color and texture of your garlic butter shrimp will be determined by the type of shrimp you select. From there, the size will dictate how long they need to be cooked.
- White shrimp: Either caught wild or farmed, white shrimp tend to have less flavor than pink. The flavor they do have has been described as nutty or sweet. They are better with rich and flavor-forward sauces and spices.
- Pink shrimp: Most come from the gulf and these have a shrimp-ier flavor. They are mild and sweet and do best with mild and delicate sauces so you can actually taste the shrimp.
- Brown shrimp: Another contender for shrimp flavor, these are sometimes mislabeled as white shrimp because the shells tend to be greyish as well. They do turn pink when cooked and do best in hearty sauces because of their firm texture.
- Royal red shrimp: They have a bright red shell and often look like little lobsters. They have sweet, tender meat and can be subbed for recipes calling for chopped lobster or langostinos.
- Tiger shrimp: These are the big boys of shrimp and are sometimes called prawns. They have sweet, buttery meat and best served by themselves for a shrimp cocktail or with a light sauce.
- Rock shrimp: They have a spiny shell that is rough instead of smooth. The are smaller, but their meat is also comparable to lobster and great as a substitute.
Make it A Meal
This dish is magical because of its versatility. Serve it alone for a low carb meal. But if you want to soak up the buttery sauce, white rice or red quinoa, buttered noodles or a bed of cauliflower rice. I also love almond rice pilaf. Serve over pasta for a shrimp scampi type of meal, it just needs white wine.
Serve alongside a leafy green salad and a good loaf of crusty bread with garlic bread spread or bread dipping oil.
5S Philosophy 👩🏻
- Salt – I like to use coarse sea salt to bring out the other flavors of this garlic butter shrimp. Make sure to use unsalted butter to keep the salt content down.
- Seasonings – Add Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes or
aleppo pepper to take the flavor up a notch. - Swaps – Omit the tomatoes or cooked separately to really blister them. Swap parsley for cilantro, thyme, rosemary or even mint. Swap shrimp for seared scallops.
- Sauces – Double the butter for a saucier mix. You can also add lemon zest in the butter sauce for a zestier taste.
- Senses – Sizzling and aromatic, garlic butter shrimp burst with juicy tenderness, rich buttery flavor, and a savory garlic aroma that lingers long after each bite.
Garlic Butter Shrimp Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound medium shrimp , raw and peeled and patted dry
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup grape tomatoes , halved
- 4-5 garlic cloves , minced
- 2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley , roughly chopped
- Coarse sea salt & ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. If the skillet isn't cast iron or non-stick, then give it a quick spritz of non-stick cooking spray.
- Add the raw shrimp, cooking for approximately 2-3 minutes on each side, depending on size. Cook until the shrimp are slightly opaque and the tails curl.
- Reduce the heat to low and add the butter, garlic, parsley and tomatoes. Stir until melted, approximately 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve over quinoa, pasta, rice or anything else you love.
- If you've tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or star ratings.
Nutrition
Storage and Freezing
Store any leftovers of this easy recipe in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Reheat in a skillet over low heat until just warmed. It can be reheated in the microwave, but this tends to make shrimp rubbery.
If you were using fresh shrimp, it can be frozen, but even most “fresh shrimp” were previously frozen, so I tend to shy away from doing this.
More Great Shrimp Recipes
Shrimp is one of my family’s favorite seafood dishes. These are some of my best shrimp recipes.
I always jump on any recipe that involves garlic butter shrimp and this one did not disappoint!! So easy to make, I love that it was even easier with store bought quinoa!
Garlic butter shrimp with quinoa sounds like an easy dinner to make. I have to buy that minute ready quinoa. It’s a time saver!
We love a protein-rich healthy dinner here and this was exactly that! Delicious garlicky prawns and quinoa – one of the best combinations ever 🙂
This shrimp is so delicious and perfect for meal prepping!
That’s a fantastic meal!! Love the garlic butter on my dishes – it enhances the flavors..
Meals like this are just great! Quick, easy but not compromising any flavours! Delicious!
Looks like a delicious recipe. I love how quick it is to get on the dinner table!
My husband and I love fast and easy meals — because it’s just the two of us — and we’d love to spend less time cooking — and more time enjoying the meal. Great idea here with the minute rice too.
Loved the idea how you served these with 1 minute quinoa. Dinner done easy!!
Saving this, this is a great weeknight meal recipe. We all love shrimp in our house so I can tell this is already a winner. Thanks for sharing your recipe!