Today’s recipe is a 20-minute entrée: Sautéed Lemon Garlic Shrimp with Parsley. It’s super simple, paleo and gluten-free!
In keeping with the fast recipe I have today, I also have a fast post. All I wanted to say is remember a while back how I went on and on about sugars and the boiling point of water and water evaporation? Wait, before your eyes glaze over, I won’t go into that again, but I will say that the stuff I said in that post totally comes into play when you make this lemon garlic shrimp recipe.
Tips on How to Cook Shrimp
If you don’t feel like re-reading that post, here is the one paragraph takeaway and how it applies to today’s shrimp recipe. To brown the shrimp and keep them from releasing all their juice into the pan, you’ll want to make sure you heat up your pan before you add the shrimp. You can even add a shrimp to test if the oil is hot. If you do and it doesn’t really sizzle sizzle sizzle, then you should wait a minute before adding the rest of the shrimp. You also don’t want to overcrowd the pan. So make sure you use a 10-inch skillet, not an 8- or 9-inch.
If you do those two things your shrimp will sauté, turn lightly golden, retain all their sweet shrimpy juicy goodness. Not only that, but the garlic will also taste better because it is fried and not boiled. You’ll be rewarded with sweet, plump and lightly golden sautéed shrimp in massive amounts of garlic and parsley with a bit of bright lemon flavor to make the whole thing come alive.
To choose the best shrimp make sure you check here first. Check to see if your shrimp is labeled STP (or STPP) free. While the FDA recognizes Sodium Tripolyphosphate as generally recognized as safe, the use of it to preserve moisture content in seafood dramatically increases the sodium content. Not only that, but I’ve also found that seafood that’s treated with it will not achieve a good sear.
Shrimp is the most popular seafood in the US. To learn more about it, this article from EatingWell about shrimp farming is a good one.
How to Make This Lemon Garlic Shrimp
Once you’ve cooked the shrimp using the tips I just shared with you, push them to one side and tilt the pan slightly so the oil pools on the other side. Add the minced garlic to the oil and fry until it just turns brown (don’t cook it any longer, or else the garlic will burn and turn extremely bitter). Then, mix the shrimp and garlic together until the shrimp is fully coated. Spread the shrimp out so it’s evenly covering the pan and squeeze the lemon juice on top. Sprinkle with parsley and pepper, then remove the shrimp from the heat.
You can enjoy this shrimp in garlic sauce as is, or serve it atop pasta like I did. This lemon garlic shrimp would also taste divine alongside rice (regular or cauliflower rice would pair nicely here) or on a hearty salad. If possible, enjoy this shrimp right away or eat it cold later on. Reheated shrimp has a tendency to turn a bit rubbery, so I’d avoid reheating this shrimp if I were you.
More Easy Shrimp Recipes:
Rosemary Garlic Shrimp and Tomato Kebabs
Spicy Shrimp and Cheese Grits with Tomato
Shrimp and Edamame Power Salad in a Jar
Sweet Potato Noodles with Shrimp and Cilantro Pesto
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PinDescription
This lemon garlic shrimp is an easy weeknight meal that takes only 20 minutes to make. It’s paleo and naturally gluten-free.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs frozen16-20 ct. peeled and deveined shrimp, defrosted
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ cup roughly chopped Italian Parsley
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pat shrimp dry.
- Heat oil in a large cast-iron skillet over high heat until shimmering but not smoking. Add shrimp and sprinkle with salt. Let cook, until bright pink and starting to brown on the bottom, about 2 minutes.
- Push shrimp to one side of the skillet, and tilt skillet to allow oil to pool on the open surface of the skillet. Add garlic to the oil and stir. Cook, stirring the garlic only until the it is fragrant and just starting to brown. Stir the garlic into the shrimp and stir to coat the shrimp with the garlic. Redistribute the shrimp mixture onto the surface of the skillet. Drizzle lemon over the shrimp and stir to coat. Continue cooking until the shrimp is just cooked through, 40 seconds to 2 minutes.
- Add parsley and black pepper, stir to coat and remove from the heat . Serve hot.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 1/4 cups
- Calories: 291
- Sugar: 0 g
- Sodium: 370 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 1 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 55 g
Keywords: lemon garlic shrimp, shrimp in garlic sauce
This looks gorgeous! My kind of meal!
Thanks so much Aggie. Have a great day!
Not only is shrimp + garlic pretty much one of my favorite food combos ever, I liked reading your tips for sauteeing the shrimp and the tips on find the best/most sustainable shrimp out there.
So glad you like it my friend!
That is such a great tip about cooking the shrimp. Heating the pan makes all the difference in the world for achieving those perfectly seared shrimp. What a great dish!
Ah thank you so much Dara~ Hope you have a great day.
Wow! That’s a beautiful dish of shrimp and pasta! Amazing photos, Katie!
Thanks so much Bill! Have a great day.
Quick question (as I have never cooked shrimp before…eek!): it calls for frozen shrimp, but I assume it needs to thaw before cooking?
Yes, defrost them in a colander under cool running water, tossing them around ever so often. It takes about 4 minutes.
This looks and sounds like a yummy dish! I would love to try making this sometime.
We LOVE shrimp in our house! As a matter of fact it’s what’s for dinner tonight. This simple recipe with amazing flavor is perfect for those busy weeknights.
★★★★★