Easiest Weeknight Skillet Shrimp — Quick, Delicious and Family-Friendly

by Dorothy Reinhold on September 23, 2019


Print This Post Print This Post Weeknight Skillet Shrimp, with big flavors from an easy pan sauce, will be on the dinner table in 20 minutes, and will wow your family. Quick, easy and delicious!

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

Ingredients for Weeknight Skillet Shrimp on ShockinglyDelicious.comFirst, as always, assemble your ingredients so you know you have everything you need (or can hunt around for substitutes).

Raw shrimp go into the skillet sauce for Weeknight Skillet Shrimp on ShockinglyDelicious.comToss the sauce ingredients in the skillet, and when it is bubbling, toss in the raw shrimp. (Raw shrimp are grey.)

Shrimp cook in the pan for Weeknight Skillet Shrimp on ShockinglyDelicious.comLet it cook on one side for a minutes…

urn shrimp in skillet for Weeknight Skillet Shrimp on ShockinglyDelicious.com…and then turn the shrimp using a tongs so the other side cooks, as well.

Shrimp get pink when cooked for Weeknight Skillet Shrimp on ShockinglyDelicious.comShrimp pinks up when it is cooked.

Weeknight Skillet Shrimp Recipe on ShockinglyDelicious.comServe 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!

Weeknight Skillet Shrimp

Prep Time: 7 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Weeknight Skillet 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

  1. In a colander, rinse frozen shrimp under cold water. Leave in colander to drain well.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Serve spooned over hot cooked rice, sprinkled with chopped parsley for pretty. (Oops, I forgot the parsley while taking these photos!)
  5. 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.

https://www.shockinglydelicious.com/weeknight-skillet-shrimp/

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Easiest recipe Weeknight Skillet Shrimp on ShockinglyDelicious.com

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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
Weeknight Skillet Shrimp from Shockinglydelicious.com

Weekend Skillet Shrimp from Shockinglydelicious.com

Raw shrimp start out gray and pink up when they are cooked.

Weeknight Skillet Shrimp from Shockinglydelicious.com

A quick stir in the skillet and dinner is done. Pan sauce glazes the shrimp…yum.

Weeknight Skillet Shrimp hero

{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }

Barb September 24, 2019 at 4:07 pm

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!

Reply

Dorothy Reinhold September 24, 2019 at 8:20 pm

Barb,
I adore the angel hair pasta idea, and completely agree!

Reply

Karen September 24, 2019 at 12:33 pm

I’m pretty sure I’d eat these on the weekend too. I mean, shrimp!

Reply

Dorothy Reinhold September 24, 2019 at 3:46 pm

Karen,
You crack me up. Eat ’em any day you like!

Reply

susan | the wimpy vegetarian September 24, 2019 at 9:18 am

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!

Reply

Dorothy Reinhold September 24, 2019 at 3:46 pm

Susan,
You’re right. It’s a bit of a secret ingredient!

Reply

Kristi Toomey January 26, 2015 at 3:46 pm

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! 🙂

Reply

Dorothy Reinhold January 27, 2015 at 10:39 am

Kristi,
Am so happy you tried it, and to hear of your success! Wahoo!

Reply

Mrs.M June 5, 2013 at 9:35 am

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!

Reply

Dorothy Reinhold June 5, 2013 at 6:07 pm

Mrs. M,
So glad you gave this a whirl! It doesn’t get easier than this for dinner, does it?

Reply

julie April 8, 2013 at 4:15 pm

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!!

Reply

Dorothy Reinhold April 8, 2013 at 7:06 pm

Julie,
How fantastic that it worked so well for you! Thanks for letting me know!

Reply

AL April 2, 2012 at 1:36 pm

Easy Shrimp dish

Reply

Connie Kaiser September 23, 2011 at 7:10 pm

I am trying this one this weekend!

Reply

thais palmer September 23, 2011 at 1:00 pm

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!!!

Reply

Dorothy September 23, 2011 at 1:03 pm

Thais,
Thank you for those kind words! If you start with the right recipe, you are more than halfway home to some great eating!

Reply

Grace June 30, 2011 at 5:45 pm

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.

Reply

Camille April 4, 2011 at 5:36 pm

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.

Reply

Dorothy April 5, 2011 at 11:23 am

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

Reply

Camille April 5, 2011 at 2:32 pm

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 🙂

Reply

Kate March 21, 2011 at 11:14 am

I am a non shrimp person but that dish could nearly convert me !

Reply

Dorothy March 21, 2011 at 11:37 am

Kate,
You and I are soul sisters!

Reply

Bruce Vittetoe March 21, 2011 at 8:40 am

Thanks! I was just wonder how I should cook shrimp this week. Then your post shows up in my Google Reader. Perfect!

Reply

Dorothy March 21, 2011 at 9:39 am

Bruce,
It was a harmonic convergence!

Reply

Gail Storti March 21, 2011 at 8:25 am

This looks so delicious. I’m going to make it this week! Think I’ll try cilantro instead of the Italian parsley.

Reply

Dorothy March 21, 2011 at 9:39 am

Gail,
Cilantro would be a great sub!

Reply

Nancy@acommunaltable March 20, 2011 at 7:50 pm

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!!

Reply

Dorothy March 21, 2011 at 6:23 am

Nancy, yes, that’s one of the benefits of this recipe — these are regular pantry and fridge items! Gotta love that.

Reply

Karen March 20, 2011 at 12:50 pm

Would you say this was spicy? I’m worried my kids will balk at the Worcestershire.

Reply

Dorothy March 21, 2011 at 9:41 am

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.

Reply

Caron Peck August 28, 2013 at 11:21 am

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

Reply

Dorothy Reinhold August 28, 2013 at 2:34 pm

Caron,
You can do this. I have confidence in you! Come back and tell me how it went.

Reply

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