Garlic Butter Shrimp 🧈🌱🍋
This is a gorgeous, restaurant-style dish that’s surprisingly quick and easy to prepare — about 10 minutes from start to finish. It’s buttery, bright with lemon, perfectly seasoned, and juicy. The flavor is simple but bold, and the presentation looks like you spent far longer on it than you did.
Because the recipe is so straightforward, use the freshest ingredients you can find. If you’re using frozen shrimp, thaw them completely in the refrigerator before cooking. Fresh lemon juice makes a big difference here; bottled lemon juice can taste metallic or overly acidic, while fresh juice is bright and clean.
This recipe is reliable for entertaining or a speedy weeknight meal. It pairs well with pasta, rice, crusty bread, or a simple green salad. The sauce is perfect for sopping up with bread or tossing through spaghetti for a quick shrimp pasta.
Here’s a quick trick:
Before you cut the lemon, press and roll it on the counter or a cutting board while applying firm pressure with your hand. Rolling softens the membranes and makes the lemon easier to squeeze, so you’ll get more juice out of each fruit.
Tip: If you don’t have clarified butter on hand, you can use ghee or make a small batch of ghee at home by gently simmering unsalted butter until the milk solids separate and brown, then straining. Clarified butter or ghee resists burning and gives a clean, rich butter flavor.
Yields: 4 servings
Ingredients:
- 4 tablespoons clarified butter or ghee, divided
- 1 lb raw jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined (leave tails on if you like)
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- Juice of 1 large fresh lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (adjust to taste)
- A handful of chopped fresh parsley
- Additional lemon wedges for serving
Instructions:
1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add half of the clarified butter or ghee and allow it to melt and warm through.
2. Add the shrimp in a single layer and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook the shrimp without moving them for about 2 minutes. Flip and cook another 1–2 minutes, or until the shrimp are pink, curled, and opaque. Remove the shrimp from the skillet, transfer to a plate, and cover to keep warm.
3. In the same skillet, add the chopped garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Be careful not to let the garlic brown.
4. Stir in the fresh lemon juice, crushed red pepper flakes, and the remaining clarified butter or ghee. Let the sauce warm and combine for a few seconds so the flavors meld.
5. Return the cooked shrimp to the skillet and toss gently in the lemon-garlic butter sauce so each piece is coated. Add the chopped parsley and toss once more to distribute the herbs evenly.
6. Serve the shrimp immediately, with extra lemon wedges on the side. This dish is excellent over pasta, rice, or with crusty bread to soak up the sauce. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator and reheated gently.
Enjoy!
❤ Rachel
