A quick, tasty recipe for baked shrimp with butter, garlic, and Parmesan. They are the ultimate healthy fast food – they’re ready in just ten minutes!
This is one of my favorite shrimp recipes. It’s so tasty and it’s so very easy to make.
This simple recipe dresses the shrimp in a tasty mixture of butter and seasonings. Cooked to perfection and ready in just ten minutes, shrimp are a super healthy fast food.
Seriously, making this recipe at home is faster than going through a fast-food restaurant’s drive-through!
The ingredients you’ll need
You’ll only need a few simple ingredients to make this tasty shrimp recipe. The exact measurements are listed in the recipe card below. Here’s an overview of what you’ll need:
- Raw shrimp
- Melted butter
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- Spices: garlic powder and red pepper flakes
- Grated parmesan
How to make baked shrimp
It’s so easy! This is one of my easiest recipes, which is why I make it so often. Scroll down to the recipe card for the detailed instructions. Here are the basic steps:
- Arrange the shrimp on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Coat them with the butter and sprinkle with the salt, pepper, spices, and parmesan.
- Bake in a preheated oven until cooked through, about 8 minutes at 400°F.
What if my shrimp are still frozen?
I love shrimp and make them for my family once a week. I always have frozen shrimp on hand, but I’m not very good at remembering to defrost them.
Luckily, defrosting shrimp is easy! Fill a large bowl with cool water. Add the shrimp. Replace the water once or twice, gently separating frozen shrimp that have stuck to each other.
They should be fully defrosted in about 10 minutes. Drain them using a colander, then dry on paper towels.
If you just defrosted your shrimp and they are very cold, the melted butter will harden as soon as you mix it into the shrimp. That’s OK – it will melt back in the oven.
But when this happens, I do quickly spray the top of the shrimp with olive oil before placing them in the oven, just to make sure they don’t dry out.
Another option is to use olive oil instead of butter when using just-defrosted shrimp. I tried this recipe with olive oil and it’s excellent.
How long do you bake shrimp in the oven?
I bake large ones for about 8 minutes in a 400°F oven. This is one of the best things about this recipe (and about shrimp in general). They are ready super fast!
Are baked shrimp healthy?
I think they are very healthy, although shellfish is possibly not as healthy as finfish.
Actually, almost any shrimp recipe is healthy, unless they are breaded and deep-fried (these keto “breaded” shrimp are a tasty exception). And this is especially true if you use sustainable, wild-caught, local U.S. shrimp.
And while current research says that butter is fine for healthy people, some still disagree. If you’re one of them, you can use olive oil instead.
What about leftovers?
You can keep leftover baked shrimp in the fridge, in a shallow airtight container, for up to 3 days. But I try to use them up the next day.
I reheat them very gently, covered, in the microwave on 50% power. Sometimes I use them cold in a salad or serve them with some cocktail sauce.
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Baked Shrimp
INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/2 lb. large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt (not fine salt)
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Arrange the shrimp in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet.
- Pour the melted butter on top of the shrimp and toss to coat.
- Sprinkle the shrimp with the kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, crushed red pepper and Parmesan.
- Bake until the shrimp are pink and opaque, about 8 minutes. If you want the Parmesan to brown, finish by broiling the baked shrimp for about 1 minute.
- Transfer the baked shrimp to a serving platter and spoon the pan juices on top. Serve immediately.
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Vered DeLeeuw, LL.M., has been following a healthy real-food diet and blogging about it since 2011. She has taken 
