8 Quick Shrimp Dinners Ready in About 20 Minutes
A bag of frozen shrimp is my emergency dinner, the one I keep for nights when nothing else in the fridge looks possible.
Shrimp only need a few minutes in the pan, which makes them faster than most takeout.
The hard part is not overcooking them, and I’ve made more rubbery shrimp than I’d like to admit while learning that.
All eight of these are on the table in about twenty minutes.
1. Chili Garlic Shrimp
Shrimp cooked in a hot cast-iron skillet with olive oil, six cloves of garlic and chili flakes.
Fifteen minutes, four servings.
The garlicky chili oil left in the pan is the best part, which is why it’s served with crusty bread.
Get the pan properly hot first, so the shrimp sear instead of poaching in the oil.
2. Honey Lemon Shrimp
Shrimp in a quick pan sauce of honey, lemon juice and garlic, finished with parsley.
Fifteen minutes, two servings.
Three tablespoons of honey makes it sticky and sweet, and the lemon keeps it from tasting like dessert.
Serve it over rice or noodles so nothing in the pan goes to waste.
3. Lemon Pepper Shrimp
Shrimp tossed in flour seasoned with white and black pepper, garlic powder and onion powder, then crisped in butter and oil.
Lemon juice and zest go in for the last minute.
Twenty minutes, four servings.
The light flour coating is what makes them crisp, so pat the shrimp dry first or it turns pasty.
Frozen shrimp thaw under cold running water in a few minutes.
4. Chili Lime Shrimp
Shrimp marinated for ten minutes in lime juice, soy sauce, chili powder, cumin and paprika.
The marinade goes into the pan first and reduces into the sauce, then the shrimp go in.
Twenty minutes, four servings.
Ten minutes in the marinade is plenty, since lime juice starts to change the texture of shrimp if they sit in it too long.
5. Chipotle Shrimp Lettuce Wraps
Shrimp marinated in chipotle peppers in adobo, garlic, paprika, cumin, lime and honey, then seared and spooned into butter lettuce cups.
A creamy mango cilantro sauce goes on top, with red cabbage, radishes and fresh mango.
Twenty-three minutes, two servings.
Butter lettuce leaves are soft and cup the filling without cracking, which is why they work better here than romaine.
Chipotles in adobo vary in heat, so start with two and taste before adding a third.
6. Firecracker Shrimp
Shrimp in a glaze of chili garlic sauce, spicy chili oil, sriracha, white wine vinegar, honey, cayenne and lime.
Half the glaze goes on before cooking and the rest gets brushed on at the end.
About fifteen minutes, four servings.
It’s properly spicy, so rice or a cool cucumber salad on the side helps.
7. Old Bay Roasted Shrimp
The laziest one on the list, shell-on shrimp tossed with olive oil, garlic and Old Bay seasoning, then roasted at 400°F.
Lemon halves roast on the same pan and get squeezed over at the end.
Fifteen minutes, four servings, and only about five of those minutes are work.
Peeling them at the table is messy, so put out a bowl for the shells and plenty of napkins.
8. Blackened Shrimp
Shrimp coated in a homemade blackening spice of paprika, garlic and onion powder, thyme, oregano, basil, black pepper and cayenne, then seared in butter.
About twenty minutes, two servings.
Mixing your own blackening seasoning takes a minute, and you get to choose how much salt and heat goes in.
Make a double batch of the spice mix and keep it in a jar for next time.
Tips for Cooking Shrimp Quickly
Shrimp are done when they turn pink and opaque and curl into a loose C shape.
A tight O shape usually means they’ve gone a little too far.
Buying them already peeled and deveined saves most of the prep time.
Bigger shrimp take a minute or two longer, so watch the color rather than the clock.
Notes on Leftovers
Cooked shrimp keep three to four days in the fridge.
Warm them gently in a skillet for a minute or eat them cold over a salad, because a second round of high heat makes them rubbery.
If you want more ideas, try these garlic shrimp dinners for two or these easy shrimp pasta recipes.