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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!

easy shrimp recipe


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. 

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!

how to sauté shrimp

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

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.
easy shrimp recipe

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:

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

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how to sauté shrimp

My Go-To 10-Minute Sautéed Shrimp

4.94 from 15 votes
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. Serve with rice or pasta, roasted veggies, on top of a salad, next to mashed potatoes, or on its own!
Servings 2
Prep Time 4 minutes
Cook Time 6 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound medium shrimp deveined and cleaned
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2 lemon juiced (about 1 tablespoon)
  • Oil or butter for sautéing

Instructions

  • If frozen, defrost your shrimp (see note).
  • Pat your shrimp dry and add shrimp to a medium-sized bowl. Add in turmeric, garlic, salt, pepper, and paprika.
  • Heat oil or butter in a skillet over medium heat, and add in your shrimp so they are lined evenly on the skillet (avoid overcrowding).
  • Cook for 1-2 minutes per side, until opaque and cooked through. They cook quickly, so don't overcook!
  • Squeeze lemon over the shrimp and toss to combine. Taste and adjust salt as desired.
  • Serve hot and enjoy!

Notes

  1. Thawing your frozen shrimp:
    1. Know you’re going to make this shrimp recipe? Take out your frozen shrimp the day before and thaw it overnight in the refrigerator.
    2. Didn’t take it out of the freezer in time? No problem! Place the frozen shrimp into a large bowl with cold water. Let the shrimp sit for about 15 minutes, stirring every so often to break up any pieces that have frozen together. Pat dry and proceed with the recipe as instructed.
  2. You can add tons of fresh garlic if you'd like! Add this in step 3, let sautè for 1 minute, before adding in your shrimp.
  3. Shrimp 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.
  4.  

Nutrition

Serving: 1/2 recipeCalories: 337kcalCarbohydrates: 3gProtein: 56gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 453mgSodium: 1000mgFiber: 1g
Keyword: easy shrimp recipe, how to sauté shrimp, sautéed shrimp, sautéed shrimp recipe
Course: Dinner
Method: Stove Top
Author: Lexi


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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This recipe was so delicious and quick. My husband and three daughters loved it too. It has a nice kick to it, but nothing my three year old couldn’t handle. This was a nice change and addition to our monthly dinners. I will be making this often.

  2. 5 stars
    Absolutely phenomenal AND easy! What a delicacy and treat for our family. This recipe comes together super fast and is so delicious.

  3. 4 stars
    Thank you for the recipe. Convenient and simple, was out of paprika, subbed chili powder, and added chopped pineapple. Served with coconut rice and summer vegetables. Will make again, thank you! 🙂

  4. I would love to make this dish but I have to stay away from turmeric because I’ve had kidney stones. Is there something else I can use? Or could I just omit it? (I wasn’t sure if it would change the taste too much if I omitted it.) Thanks!

  5. 5 stars
    This was such a quick & easy recipe. Thank you for the tips on how to defrost quickly and how to pat dry. My 9 year old is picky and asked for 2nds of the shrimp!

  6. 5 stars
    This was super easy and delicious! We paired it with coconut rice and broccoli like the picture above and it was a perfect quick weeknight dinner!

  7. 5 stars
    We made this last night for dinner and it was amazing!!! Definitely want to make it again! So easy and so flavorful!

  8. 5 stars
    These shrimp were not only super simple to prepare but absolutely delicious! I made them for the first time tonight and will 100% be adding them to my meal rotation. Thanks for this awesome recipe Lexi!!!

  9. 5 stars
    This was a delicious and easy week-night recipe! The whole family loved it. We will definitely be making it again!