This lovely dish of garlic butter shrimp is delicious, easy to make, and ready in less than 20 minutes, making it ideal for a quick weeknight dinner.
I regularly make several shrimp recipes, including sautéed shrimp, grilled shrimp, and boiled shrimp. This garlic butter shrimp recipe is especially flavorful and is one of the recipes I make most often. It's the simplest recipe - shrimp cooked with garlic, butter, and lemon juice - and it's ready fast. Most importantly, it's delicious, and my entire family enjoys it.
Ingredients
See the recipe card for exact measurements. Here are my comments on some of the ingredients.
- Fresh garlic: I use fresh garlic cloves, peel them, and thinly slice them.
- To season: Kosher salt, black pepper, and a small amount of cayenne pepper that adds a subtle kick.
- Raw shrimp: I use extra-large shrimp (21-25 pieces per pound). Large shrimp (31-40 pieces per pound) work, too.
- Lemon juice: It's important to use fresh lemon juice.
- Chopped parsley: It's not just a pretty garnish. It adds wonderful flavor. Sometimes, I use cilantro instead of parsley.
Instructions
The detailed instructions and step-by-step photos are included in the recipe card. Here's a quick overview.
Cook the shrimp and garlic in butter.
Stir in lemon juice.
Divide the shrimp between plates and sprinkle them with chopped parsley. That's it! Dinner is served.
Recipe Tips
- The butter will brown and caramelize as you cook, giving the dish an amazing flavor. If it browns too much, reduce the heat to medium.
- Another trick for preventing the milk solids in the butter from burning is to add a tablespoon of olive oil in addition to the butter or use ghee (clarified butter) instead of butter.
- In the video below, I add the garlic with the shrimp. However, I have found that allowing the garlic to cook for a couple of minutes before adding the shrimp is better. This enables the garlic to brown without overcooking the shrimp. The recipe below is written accordingly.
- It's best to sprinkle the dish with chopped parsley after you've plated it. Adding the parsley to the pan will cause it to wilt. It looks and tastes better when sprinkled on the finished dish. So, in the video, I add parsley directly to the pan, but sprinkle more on the finished dish.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, but you'll need to defrost them first. If you haven't defrosted them overnight, place them in a bowl filled with lukewarm water for 5-7 minutes, replacing the water once or twice. Drain them thoroughly on paper towels.
I recommend using extra-large or large shrimp in this recipe. You can use smaller shrimp, but they'll be ready in 2-3 minutes.
I don't recommend it. In many of my recipes, jarred minced garlic works fine (although it's not as tasty as fresh garlic). But here, the garlic is the star of the show, so I highly recommend using fresh garlic cloves and slicing them thinly rather than mincing them.
Provided you refrigerate the leftovers promptly in a shallow, airtight container, you can keep them for up to four days. Reheat them gently, covered, in the microwave at 50% power, or use them cold in a shrimp salad!
Serving Suggestions
I usually serve this saucy dish over cauliflower rice, shirataki noodles, zucchini noodles, or hearts of palm pasta.
If you don't mind the carbs, you can serve it over pasta (regular or gluten-free), as shown in the photo below.
Another option is to serve it with thick slices of almond flour bread to soak up the buttery sauce.
It's also delicious when served on raw spinach or arugula leaves, as shown in the photo below. The hot buttery sauce wilts the leaves just enough so that they're not completely raw.
Recipe Card
20-Minute Garlic Butter Shrimp
Video
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter - unsalted
- 6 garlic cloves - thinly sliced
- 1 pound shrimp - extra-large, 21-25 count per pound, peeled and deveined
- ½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt - or ¼ teaspoon of any other salt, including Morton kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 medium lemon - juiced; or ½ large lemon
- 2 tablespoons parsley - chopped
Instructions
- Heat the butter in a large 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until foaming, about 2 minutes.2 tablespoons butter
- Add the garlic cloves. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the shrimp. Sprinkle them with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Cook, stirring often, until the shrimp are pink and opaque and the garlic is browned, about 4 minutes.6 garlic cloves, 1 pound shrimp, ½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Turn the heat off, add the lemon juice, and toss to coat.1 medium lemon
- Transfer the shrimp to plates and drizzle them with the remaining pan juices. Serve immediately, garnished with chopped parsley.2 tablespoons parsley
Notes
- Seasonings, especially salt, are guidelines. Adjust to taste.
- The butter will brown and caramelize as you cook, and will give the dish an amazing flavor. But if it browns too much, simply reduce the heat to medium.
- Another trick for preventing the milk solids in the butter from burning is to add a tablespoon of olive oil in addition to the butter. Or you could use ghee (clarified butter) instead of butter.
- In the video, I add the garlic together with the shrimp. However, I have found that it's better to allow the garlic to cook for a couple of minutes before adding the shrimp. This enables the garlic to brown without overcooking the shrimp.
- Another recommendation is to sprinkle the dish with chopped parsley after you've plated it. Adding the parsley to the pan will cause it to wilt. It looks - and tastes - better when sprinkled on the finished dish. So in the video, I add some parsley directly to the pan, but then I sprinkle some more on the finished dish.
- Provided you refrigerate the leftovers promptly in a shallow, airtight container, you can keep them for up to four days. Reheat them gently, covered, in the microwave at 50% power. Or use them cold in a shrimp salad!
Nutrition per Serving
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Disclaimers
Most recipes are low-carb and gluten-free, but some are not. Recommended products are not guaranteed to be gluten-free. Nutrition info is approximate - please verify it. The carb count excludes non-nutritive sweeteners. Please read these Terms of Use before using any of my recipes.
Claudette Harrow says
Shouldn't you remove the shell on the shrimp before preparing them?
Vered DeLeeuw says
Hi Claudette,
The recipe calls for peeled and deveined shrimp.