How To Cook The Best Garlic Butter Shrimp

Cooking crustacean shellfish is not an easy task. You have to preserve its boldness and freshness from the sea taste. Shrimp is one of the most popular crustacean shellfish you can find anywhere, both in public markets and seafood stalls in mall supermarkets.

It is fascinating to know that there are a lot of wonderful recipes to choose from specifically the freshest shrimp recipes that you can cook inside your home. Making it a special, superb, and delicious dinner dish to serve your loved ones.  

In this food blog, you can discover and learn how to cook shrimp dishes particularly butter garlic shrimp with different variations using different types of cooking methods. So let’s dig in! 

What is Garlic Butter Shrimp?

Garlic Butter Shrimp is one of the most well-known shrimp recipes in the world, particularly in the Philippines. This favorite shrimp recipe has an absolutely delicious flavor combination of fresh from the sea taste, buttery, and garlicky boldness. You can make and serve this easy and delicious garlic butter shrimp recipe in less than 20 minutes!

Butter and Garlic are the two main ingredients of this delicious dish. And combining this two in a large skillet to make garlic butter shrimp recipe creates a great strong aroma that makes you feel really hungry!

What is Shrimp with Garlic sauce made of?

Garlic butter sauce is made of butter (unsalted butter), garlic, and white wine. You can also add a little amount of olive oil to support the butter which adds good flavor to the shrimp scampi. You can also add sea salt or kosher salt, fresh lemon juice, freshly ground black pepper, red pepper flakes (optional), and chopped fresh parsley. 

How do you make Garlic Butter Prawns?

To make garlic butter shrimp, first, you have to prepare all the ingredients you need to execute this lovely and easy garlic butter shrimp dish. Purchasing fresh shrimp is easy especially when you are near the public market. You can either use fresh or frozen shrimp as per your preference.  

First, Prepare shrimp. Peeled and deveined the raw shrimp. If the shrimp is frozen, make sure you properly thaw shrimp before you peeled and deveined it. 

If wondering how to thaw shrimp, you have to get cold water and fill a large bowl with it. Remove the frozen shrimp from the refrigerator and on their packaging so you can easily thaw the shrimp. Avoid using hot water when you thaw shrimp because it will change the texture of the prawns. Remember, only use cold water. Let sit for about 20 to half an hour, or until the raw shrimp are fully thawed.

In a bowl, put the raw shrimp and marinate it in various seasonings for less than 15 minutes. Set aside. 

Then, minced garlic squeezed lemon juice, and chopped a generous amount of fresh parsley. 

Heat the pan or large skillet, after 15 minutes, melt butter. Then, saute fresh minced garlic over low heat until golden brown. Note: you can add garlic more depending on your preferred taste. 

And then, you can toss the marinaded shrimp into the large skillet. Season it with a generous amount of salt (you can use deveined kosher salt or simply sea salt), ground black pepper, and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Add remaining butter along with a small amount of parsley, Italian seasoning (optional), and cayenne pepper (optional) if you prefer. 

You can also add a very small amount of chicken stock to the butter garlic sauce before tossing the shrimp. Stirring occasionally is important to avoid overcooking the protein.  

After 5-7 minutes of cooking, add the freshly chopped parsley on top.

You can now transfer it onto a serving plate. Serve immediately and enjoy! Surely your family will say “this shrimp dish is soooo delicious!”

Ways to cook Garlic Butter Shrimp

Seafood is a very delicate protein to cook. You have to know the perfect ways to cook it beautifully and not ruin the dish especially shrimp since overcooking it is not an option. So, here are some of the ways to execute the dish wonderfully:

Instant Pot

Cooking in an instant pot is a bit different from the Stovepot method. Instant pot makes every dish cook way quicker and faster than all of the ways of cooking it. Just like a stovetop, you can easily saute all the ingredients here on medium-high heat and still ensure that the freshness of the butter garlic shrimp is on. It will not take too much of your time as well when using this method.

Stovetop

The stove-top cooking method is one of the most convenient and easy ways to cook the shrimp dish especially when you make it with sauce. You can cook the dish carefully and you can ensure that the dish and protein will not be overcooked using this cooking method. 

You could easily saute all the ingredients together with medium-high heat and create a delicious, elegant garlic butter shrimp sauce dish for a few minutes.

Baked

Baking the butter garlic prawns dish is another way of keeping its natural and succulent flavor enriched along with different types of seasoning you will put in it. You don’t need to constantly mix and sautee it. All you have to do is to marinate the shrimp along with the other spices and set the timer and the microwave or oven do the work. It helps you to avoid overcooking it.  

Stir fry

Stir-frying the dish is another cooking technique in which you are frying all the ingredients in a small amount of melted butter in medium-high heat or very hot oil while being tossed or stirred in a wok. This is a traditional way or technique of cooking particularly in China. 

Variations

You cannot enjoy eating dishes without trying different varieties that have different spices and flavors. So, here are the variations of butter garlic prawns:

Chili Garlic Butter

This variation of Garlic Butter prawns is best for spicy food lovers. Instead of a plain buttery and garlicky taste, you can add more chili pepper, red pepper flakes, cajun seasoning, minced garlic, rice vinegar, salt and pepper. It will create a hot and fragrant flavor just like Sriracha. Its spiciness is on a different level. 

Honey Garlic Butter Shrimp

Are you a honey lover person and can’t get enough of honey in every food you eat? Well, this variation is the best for you. The yummy and mouthwatering flavor of butter and garlic works perfectly with honey. You can enjoy eating jumbo shrimp along with the honey garlic butter sauce. You can also marinate the protein with honey, soy sauce, fresh garlic, and a little lemon wedges to balance the flavor. 

Garlic Butter Shrimp with Sprite

This type of variation is one of the most common. You can simply marinate the prawn in sprite soda and add more jarred garlic for about 10 minutes. The shrimp can absorb the sweetness and bitter flavor of the soda which will add a more wonderful taste to the dish. To balance this, you can add a good amount of salt and pepper. 

Lemon Garlic Butter Shrimp

Just like the honey and sprite flavor, if you want the protein to absorb the tangy yet unique flavor, you have to marinate the shrimp with lemon juice. You can also add the lemon wedges to the mixture you will use to marinate. Leave the shrimp in the mixture for about 10-15 minutes. 

When cooking the dish, do the same way but add more lemon flavor until your taste buds are satisfied with the flavor. 

Garlic Butter Shrimp with Bacon

Bacon and Shrimp is the best combination ever! The dish is simple yet exceptional, but adding bacon can give a great twist and richness to it. It will have a different texture as well because of the bacon's crispiness and bold flavor. But if you want the shrimp to be on the crunchy side and complemented with bacon, you can add panko bread crumbs and deep fry the shrimp before tossing it into the sauce.

Sweet and Spicy Butter Shrimp

Sweet and spicy shrimp is one of the most well-known dishes in the Philippines. This dish is popular because of the homemade sweet and spicy sauce consisting of banana ketchup, chili flakes, garlic, sugar, cajun seasoning (optional but best to add), salt, and pepper. Normally this flavor commonly uses pork and chicken. But since shrimp is delicate, it is perfect to try on. 

Troubleshooting

You must know how to cook the dish properly to avoid ruining a great dish. That, here are some of the ways to save this wonderful dish: 

Butter alone can make the protein easily to getting burnt or turn brown. But, you can mixed oil with butter to prevent butter to be burnt easily. 

You know that baking soda and salt brine will improve the juiciness and texture of shrimp, but you can add a little amount of sugar to the mixture for faster caramelization once it touched the pan. 

Do not use hot water when thawing or defrosting frozen shrimp. It will be soggy and ruin the texture. 

Trivia 

Did you know that garlic butter sauce can be used as well as pasta sauce? Yes, you read it right! You can use it in a variety of pasta. There are approximately 350 different types of pasta including spaghetti, penne, ravioli, linguine, rigatoni, capellini or angel hair pasta, etc. 

In Spain, there is a similar dish that the main ingredients consist of fresh shrimp (jumbo shrimp or prawns), garlic, and butter or olive oil. The spices are some sort of pepper and it is called Gambas al ajillo. 

Best serve with 

Crustacean shellfish like prawns have this moist, tender, and sweet flavor that can be served with varieties of side dishes. A complete meal will only happen when you serve perfect pairs of side dishes on your menu. Here are just some of the sides you can serve with the dish: 

Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes are the most popular type of staple food because of their creamy, smooth, and authentic flavor. This dish is made of boiled potatoes, milk, butter, salt and pepper. Moreover, it is perfectly served as a side dish to any vegetable, meat, or seafood dish. 

Garlic Bread

The buttery and garlicky sauce of the dish will never go wrong to serve with garlic bread. Its flavor really complements and is suitable to each other. If you are not a fan of rice (yellow rice), this side dish is best to serve you along with the main prawn menu. 

Green Beans

Shrimp and green beans- a perfect combo! This vegetable side is the best partner for the menu since it will give a balance of taste and flavor. This is must try!

Steamed Brocolli

Steamed broccoli is another vegetable dish that is suitable for buttered shrimp. It is easy to prepare. You can also add this to make a shrimp salad made from the dish. 

Fried Rice

This side dish is probably the most obvious choice to partner with the cooked shrimp menu, especially if you are serving the protein over a bed of rice.

Substitutions

There are two options or substitutions of ingredients you can use to cook shrimp or this garlic butter shrimp cooks dish. 

Oil 

Cooking Oil is essential for all types of cooking whether you are frying, baking, sauteing, or other types of cooking. There are different types of cooking oil that you can buy in the market including olive oil, palm oil, soybean oil, canola oil (rapeseed oil), corn oil, peanut oil, and other vegetable oils. Oil can be used to add flavor to different aromatic foodstuffs such as chilies, herbs, or garlic. 

On the other hand, oil is not only used for cooking. It also has health benefits. According to Mayo Clinic, certain oils contain high saturated fats, these include palm oil, coconut, and palm kernel oil. But, they also highlighted different types of cooking oils that have a high level of unsaturated fats like peanut oil, olive oil, soybean oil, and canola oil (rapeseed oil) are healthier.

Butter

Butter is a dairy product made from churned cream or milk from animals most particularly from cows, goats, sheep, etc. It is used for baking, sauce-making, frying, sautéing, and other cooking methods. 

Since the dish, you will be cooking is garlic butter shrimp, butter is the best choice to use. 

Equipment

You cannot be cooked shrimp dishes without equipment. So here are the things you need to prepare before cooking shrimp: 

Use a large skillet, saute pan, or wok and gas stove or electric stove. 

When preparing the ingredients, use bowls and plates. For cutting, mincing, or chopping use knives and chopping boards.

You can use a pot as well if you are using the method of instant pot and microwave or oven if you are baking it. 

Storage

When storing shrimp cooks dishes specifically garlic butter shrimp, you have to use an airtight container before putting it in the refrigerator to maintain the freshness of the dish. The storage life of this dish will take 2-3 days when refrigerated. 

Conclusion

If you are a seafood lover and love to eat shrimp, this garlic butter shrimp recipe is the best choice for your recipe tonight. Whether you use fresh shrimp or frozen shrimp for this absolutely delicious dinner dish, surely you will never go wrong with this delicious recipe to serve with your family. Make sure to share this yummy recipe with your friends, family, and colleagues. Thank you for sharing!

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