Garlic butter shrimp is an amazing appetizer or an easy one-pan dinner for two. Serve with crusty bread for soaking up the buttery rich, garlic and herb sauce!
Garlic Butter Shrimp
I've got my eye on easy, one pan recipes that I can pull together with one eye on my daughter and one eye on the stove. Because, I'm keeping in mind that soon, I'll have two kids to keep my eyes on! That leaves me zero eyes to watch dinner cook, hah!
This one pan garlic butter shrimp is something I make when I want a dinner that's a little less expected but feels so fancy. If I've got a great loaf of sourdough or a baguette to use up, the sauce with this one pan shrimp is the only thing I deem worthy!
Can we talk about shrimp? I've got to make the case for wild, sustainably caught shrimp. No, this isn't a paid conversation in any way, but I live near the gulf coast, and I can actually smell the difference between wild shrimp and farmed shrimp a mile away.
Why I buy wild shrimp:
- Wild shrimp smell like the ocean breeze in the morning; farmed shrimp smell fishy and often have a weak color.
- Wild shrimp are easier to clean--their little intestines are sometimes missing completely. Farmed shrimp are, in a word: YUCK.
- Wild shrimp are healthier for the environment, as farmed shrimp operations often pollute the very waters the shrimp are being raised in.
Sorry for that little tangent, but if you taste wild gulf shrimp once, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about!
Also, in case you'er wondering, I buy frozen wild shrimp! Shrimp (and most ocean-caught fish) is frozen the same day it's caught right on the boat, and it's super fresh! Not only do I love the convenience of having
Garlic butter shrimp recipe
The garlic butter sauce for this shrimp clocks in at 6 fat cloves of garlic. But before you're scared away or think I'm a monster, garlic mellows as it cooks! We're starting with melted butter in a skillet, and when we cook garlic low and slow like this, we bring out its lovely flavor while mellowing any pungency.
Don't be afraid of the quantity of garlic in this recipe, friends!
Speaking of skillets, I use a 10" cast iron skillet to make this garlic butter shrimp. I love the way cast iron seasons and sears my food. This is the exact skillet I use, but mine is a dark teal color
The only type of skillet I probably wouldn't cook this recipe in is a non-stick skillet, and I say that because I like the way protein slightly sticks to a skillet and then releases. When this happens, it forms brown bits, or a 'frond' on the bottom of the pan. The brown bits add excellent flavor to pan sauces!
Speaking of pan sauces, I like to pour the extra sauce into a small dish to serve alongside the shrimp. Then, I gluttonously dunk each shrimp in it before devouring, and any leftovers get large hunks of bread dragged through it.
I hope you try this one-pan garlic butter shrimp! Let me know if you serve it as an appetizer or over pasta as an easy dinner for two. Have you seen my collection of dinner recipes for two?
Garlic Butter Shrimp
Garlic butter shrimp, an easy one-pan meal that's great as an appetizer or served over pasta.
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh, wild shrimp
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6 cloves of garlic, minced
- salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- fresh parsley, for serving
Instructions
1. Rinse, peel, and de-vein the shrimp. If you can get your fishmonger to do this for you, even better!
2. In a 10" cast iron skillet (or similar), melt the butter over low heat.
3. Add the minced garlic to the pan, and cook while stirring until fragrant, about 45 seconds.
4. Add the shrimp to the pan, and cook while stirring occasionally until the shrimp curl up and turn orange. It should only take about 5 minutes.
5. Turn the heat off, and sprinkle the shrimp generously with salt, freshly ground black pepper, and chopped fresh parsley.
6. Remove the shrimp from the skillet to a plate, and serve the remaining pan sauce in a small dish alongside.
Notes
Try to use wild shrimp over farm-raised for better flavor.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 598Total Fat: 39gSaturated Fat: 23gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 570mgSodium: 2462mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 3gSugar: 0gProtein: 53g
Deanna says
All I needs is some fresh baked sourdough bread and I’ll eat the entire recipe for 2 by myself. Looks amazing! (And fronds are on palm trees, fond is on the pan)
Christina Lane says
haha! That's an amazing typo. Frond! I might not fix that because it makes me laugh :)
RossC says
This is an absolute "YES" recipe.. Thank you.. :O)
Nifty Recipe says
Looks super easy to make and extremely delicious! I would really love to make this at home!