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Weeknight Skillet Shrimp, with big flavors from an easy pan sauce, will be on the dinner table in under 20 minutes, and will wow your family. Quick, easy and delicious!
I might not be the biggest shrimp fan, but my family is. What’s a non-shrimp girl to do when the family is clamoring?
Weeknight Skillet Shrimp, with big flavors from an easy pan sauce, atop a pile of steamed rice, with some steamed green beans or broccoli along for the ride. A leftover roasted chicken thigh or grilled sausage for me, with the same sides, and we have dinner on the table in under 20 minutes.
Seriously, from the time you reach in the freezer to get the bag of shrimp, you can have a delicious shrimpy dinner that will wow your family on a weeknight, in just minutes. Add another couple of minutes if you have to pause to open and taste the wine or yell at your 3rd grader to get a move on the homework.
How to make Weeknight Skillet Shrimp
First, as always, assemble your ingredients so you know you have everything you need (or can hunt around for substitutes).
Toss the sauce ingredients in the skillet, and when it is bubbling, toss in the raw shrimp. (Raw shrimp are grey.)
Let it cook on one side for a minutes…
…and then turn the shrimp using a tongs so the other side cooks, as well.
Shrimp pinks up when it is cooked.
Serve it over rice, with some steamed broccoli or green beans or whatever green veggie you like.
While the shrimp is cooking, rinse the broccoli spears before you throw them in the microwave And, OK, maybe tack on a couple more minutes if you forgot to make the rice the day before and you don’t have any left over. Throw that in the rice cooker as soon as you walk in the door and before you start anything else, or call your spouse or kids from the car and tell them to put the rice cooker on while you are driving home.
And then call my kids for dinner, because they are ALWAYS up for shrimp!
With big flavors from an easy pan sauce, shrimp can go from frozen to dinner in about 10 minutes. It's a lifesaver for quick dinners, with leftover brown rice.
Ingredients
- 1 pound large to extra-large (16-20 count or 31-40 count) frozen raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails left on
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (zest the skin first)
- 2 tablespoons white wine (or use tangerine juice or orange juice)
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- Pinch of salt
- A few grindings of black pepper
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
- Tabasco, to taste
- Garnish: 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
- Hot cooked brown rice
Directions
- In a colander, rinse frozen shrimp under cold water. Leave in colander to drain well.
- In a 12-inch skillet, heat oil, butter, lemon juice, wine, Worcestershire, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon zest and a squirt of Tabasco (if desired), until butter is melted and mixture is bubbling.
- Add drained shrimp and sauté for a minute, turning over with a tongs, and then continuing to saute for another minute or two, until shrimp turn pink and are cooked. Shrimp start out grey (raw), and turn pink when cooked.
- Serve spooned over hot cooked rice, sprinkled with chopped parsley for pretty. (Oops, I forgot the parsley while taking these photos!)
- Serves 3.
Notes
Recipe source: Dorothy Reinhold | Shockingly Delicious
Fresh shrimp: You may certainly use fresh/unfrozen shrimp instead of frozen. I call for frozen because it is often more available, and often cheaper, but use what you prefer.
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This was originally published March 20, 2011 and has been updated, refreshed and republished today.
Some old photos of the dish from 2011, for nostalgia
Raw shrimp start out gray and pink up when they are cooked.
A quick stir in the skillet and dinner is done. Pan sauce glazes the shrimp…yum.
Welcome to my kitchen!
At ShockD, you’ll find scrumptious, tried & true, "scary good" recipes, tips and coaching to make YOU a fabulous home cook! Don't blame me if you need a 12-step program to wean yourself away!
E-mail me: Dorothy.Reinhold@gmail.com
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I love an easy and quick shrimp dish like this. I might be more inclined to throw it over some angel hair pasta because angel hair is my go to since it only takes 3 minutes to cook!
Barb,
I adore the angel hair pasta idea, and completely agree!
I’m pretty sure I’d eat these on the weekend too. I mean, shrimp!
Karen,
You crack me up. Eat ’em any day you like!
Easy peasy is how I like to do week-night dinners, and this is PERFECT! It’s amazing the extra flavor a little dash of worcestershire sauce can bring to any dish too!
Susan,
You’re right. It’s a bit of a secret ingredient!
We made this tonight for dinner. We put it on a bed of parmesan and garlic rice and served it with a side of edamame. The kiddos LOVED it….and I’m one happy mama because it was a healthy dinner. Thanks! 🙂
Kristi,
Am so happy you tried it, and to hear of your success! Wahoo!
I’ve been cooking and learning new recipes for over 25 years. I love shrimp but for some reason, was always fearful to cook it! I recently bought a bag of raw shrimp, deciding it was time to overcome my trepidation. I googled ‘shrimp in a skillet’ and this recipe came up. I threw the ingredients together as I read them on my laptop and……DELISH! YUM! TASTEY! Can’t wait to buy more shrimp! Can’t wait to serve it to my family! I used Terry Ho’s shrimp sauce that I dipped the shrimp in, but it’s delicious on it’s own. I, too, didn’t use wine, but fine without! Thanks!
Mrs. M,
So glad you gave this a whirl! It doesn’t get easier than this for dinner, does it?
I was looking for a shrimp recipe at 4:30 in the afternoon for supper, found this recipe started at 5:00 with noodles and had supper on early at 5:45. We all loved it!!! The only thing I didn’t have was the white wine, it was yummy anyway!!
Julie,
How fantastic that it worked so well for you! Thanks for letting me know!
Easy Shrimp dish
I am trying this one this weekend!
Dorothy Reinhold just saved my day with this fabulous shrimp recipe. I have tried many of her tried and true treasures, but this one actually impressed my best friend, who is a gourmet foodie. She also recommended a amazing appetizer for Prosciutto Rolls that IS Shockingly Delicious. What I love most about her meals, besides being tasty, is that I can follow the recipe and make it — and I’m not a natural cook. She makes me look good. Thank you Dorothy!!!
Thais,
Thank you for those kind words! If you start with the right recipe, you are more than halfway home to some great eating!
Today was the third time I made this and it just gets better each time. And so quick and easy! This is on top of all my shrimp recipes. Thank you.
This looks great. I just got back from visiting my sister, Donna, in Tennessee where I sampled a popular local dish–shrimp and GRITS!! The shrimp looked a lot like your dish. Never had much curiosity about cooking grits, but they were really delicious. They are used as a little pillow for the shrimp, kind of like serving this dish over mashed potatoes or polenta instead of rice.
Hi Camille,
Polenta and grits are related, both being ground corn! There’s an interesting discussion over on Chowhound about the difference between them (different corn varieties, different grinds), but it is interesting that you thought of polenta when you tasted grits, because they are cousins. See this: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/586723
Ha! I read all about grits in gory detail on the chowhound site, thanks for the link. BTW, the shrimp was a big hit last night with my whole crew. Not so much the grits. Next time I will serve the shrimp with rice like you did and just order grits when I’m in Tennessee 🙂
I am a non shrimp person but that dish could nearly convert me !
Kate,
You and I are soul sisters!
Thanks! I was just wonder how I should cook shrimp this week. Then your post shows up in my Google Reader. Perfect!
Bruce,
It was a harmonic convergence!
This looks so delicious. I’m going to make it this week! Think I’ll try cilantro instead of the Italian parsley.
Gail,
Cilantro would be a great sub!
We are definitely a shrimp family and this is a perfect version for a busy weeknight!! Always have these ingredients on hand so this one is going on the menu soon!!
Nancy, yes, that’s one of the benefits of this recipe — these are regular pantry and fridge items! Gotta love that.
Would you say this was spicy? I’m worried my kids will balk at the Worcestershire.
Karen,
No, I would say this is not particularly spicy. It is flavorful, but not spicy. I just checked with my 9-year-old, and he said, “I don’t think kids would think it was spicy.” Leave out any drops of hot sauce if you are concerned.
My cooking efforts for my new husband haven’t been too successful l so far but going to try this tonight. I’ll let you know
Caron,
You can do this. I have confidence in you! Come back and tell me how it went.
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