My Go-To 10-Minute Sautéed Shrimp

This 10-Minute Sautéed Shrimp is about as easy as it gets and flavor-packed! It’s a simple and quick recipe for how to cook shrimp on the stove that is gluten-free, low carb, and paleo-friendly! Serve with rice or pasta, roasted veggies, on top of a salad, next to mashed potatoes, or on its own!

Lexi’s Easy Shrimp Recipe

If you’ve ever had a perfectly cooked piece of shrimp, then you know just how incredibly tender, juicy, and delicious it can be. The key is to figure out how you can make perfect restaurant-grade shrimp right in your own kitchen.

10-Minute Sautéed Shrimp Recipe to the rescue! My family loves this easy shrimp recipe! We make it all the time.

This sautéed shrimp recipe is made up of shrimp, a few simple seasonings, a squeeze of lemon juice, and butter or oil for sautéing! It’s a simple, fool-proof method for achieving perfectly cooked, super flavorful shrimp. 

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Ingredients Needed

Here is an overview of the ingredient list. Keep scrolling for the full recipe.

• Shrimp: you’ll need deveined, detailed, and cleaned large shrimp. You can buy it already prepped or prep your own.
• Seasonings: I use a simple, yet immune-boosting blend of turmeric, garlic powder, sea salt, black pepper, and paprika.
• Lemon: gives the shrimp a delicious bright tanginess! You can omit but trust me, it’s yummy!
• Oil or Butter: either will work to sauté the shrimp but I love using butter.

P.S. You can also load this dish up with fresh garlic, or keep it simple with our seasoning blend!

How to Season Shrimp

You can season shrimp in so many different ways! I use a simple blend of turmeric, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and paprika. This blend adds tons of flavor but keeps the shrimp versatile enough to be served in a number of different ways!

Spice It Up Differently:

Try one of these other spice blends to switch it up!

• Taco Seasoning
• Cajun Seasoning
• Classic Salt and Pepper, with a squeeze of lemon!
• Teriyaki Sauce

What Shrimp to Buy

I always have a bag of frozen shrimp on hand. It makes for a super easy dinner any night of the week! You can use fresh or frozen shrimp that’s deveined, detailed, and cleaned. If you want to clean and prep your own shrimp, that’s totally fine but I like to keep my prep to the minimum, especially in this easy shrimp recipe.

I also prefer to buy wild-caught, MSC-certified shrimp since it’s the most sustainable option over farm-raised shrimp, but use whatever works best for you!

Different Shrimp Sizes:

As for sizes, you can use any size shrimp you have or that you like, but just note to adjust cooking time slightly, as needed!  Large shrimp will take roughly 2 minutes per side, whereas you’ll add an extra minute for extra large shrimp or jumbo shrimp.

Shrimp Tails On…Yay or Nay?

It’s totally up to you. For this dish, I go for convenience and no tails! Now in some dishes, leaving the tails on helps enhance flavor. In this dish, you can go either way, with no difference made. Just remember to remove tails before serving because in my opinion, it’s really the worst when shrimp is served with the tails on!

How to Sauté Shrimp

1. Season the shrimp: Gently pat the shrimp dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture. Place into a bowl, then add in all of the seasonings along with 1 tablespoon of oil.
2. Cook, garnish, and serve: Heat additional oil in a skillet over medium heat, then add in shrimp. Cook 1-2 minutes per side turning with tongs (or a spatula if smaller shrimp is used), then squeeze lemon juice over the shrimp and toss gently to combine.

How Do You Know When Shrimp is Done?

There are a couple of key ways to tell if your shrimp is done cooking:

1. Color: Fully cooked shrimp will go from gray to opaque pinkish white. 
2. Shape: Perfectly cooked shrimp will curl into a loose C shape. 

Keep in mind that shrimp cooks very quickly. You want to keep a close eye on it so it doesn’t over-cook. To avoid over-cooked shrimp, remove the shrimp from the skillet right when the flesh is opaque and pink all the way around, with no gray bits left. 

Is It Okay to Pan-Fry Frozen Shrimp?

If you have frozen shrimp rather than fresh, I recommend thawing it before cooking it for the best results.

How to Thaw Shrimp

• Know you’re going to make this shrimp recipe? Take out your shrimp the day before: Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator.
• Didn’t take it out of the freezer in time? No problem! Thaw shrimp the day of: Use this simple method to quickly thaw frozen shrimp:

1. Place the frozen shrimp into a large bowl with cold water.
2. Let the shrimp sit for about 15 minutes, stirring every so often to break up any pieces that have frozen together.
3. Pat dry and proceed with the recipe as instructed.

Tips

• Dry completely. Make sure you pat the shrimp dry thoroughly before you cook it. You want it to get a slight crisp on the outside. If there’s too much moisture, it will steam rather than fry.
• Don’t overcrowd your pan. You can cook in batches if needed!
• Don’t over-cook. Remember that shrimp cooks very quickly (usually just 1-2 minutes per side depending on shrimp size) and over-cooked shrimp takes on an unpleasant rubbery texture, so watch it closely!

Let’s Make It a Meal!

This sautéed shrimp is ultra flavorful but versatile enough to be served with a number of different dishes:

• Toss it with your favorite pasta, like pasta with Easy Vodka Sauce or Spinach Basil Pesto pasta!
• Serve it over a salad, like my favorite chopped Greek Salad or Easy Homemade Caesar Salad
• I love pairing easy sauteed shrimp with Coconut Rice, Cauliflower Rice or The Best Cooked Rice
• Perfectly pairs with Mashed Potatoes
• Serve with some Roasted Veggies or Air Fryer Asparagus with Lemon and Parmesan
• Add it to a Potato Chowder
• Try it with some Herb and Garlic Quinoa
• With an easy Cabbage Slaw

How to Store

Cooked shrimp will last in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days. Think… add to a salad or have leftovers for lunch! To reheat, warm over low heat in a skillet until heated through. You can also eat your shrimp cold!

More Shrimp Recipes You’ll Love

• Easy Shrimp Curry
• 20-Minute Tequila Lime Shrimp
• Tropical Mango Shrimp Ceviche
• Healthy Coconut Shrimp
• One Pan Shrimp and Green Beans
• Spicy Shrimp and Citrus Salad

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