Garlic Shrimp with Chili

This is our classic recipe for Garlic Shrimp with Chili, cooked down in a delicious Butter Sauce. Everyone should have a great Garlic Shrimp recipe in their back pocket, and this one is exactly that! Easy to prepare and with amazing flavors, this classic dish is ready in under 15 minutes and is the perfect appetizer or lunch. Pair it with some beautiful crusty bread and it makes for an even heartier meal that’s best enjoyed along with a glass of your favorite Wine

Preparing the Shrimp

For our Garlic Shrimp with Chili recipe, we use large or Jumbo Shrimp. Honestly, just look for the biggest Shrimp you can in the store and go for those. Avoid buying any Shrimp that has already been cooked, and if possible, see if you can get some uncooked Shrimp that has been peeled and deveined

If you can only get your hands on whole Shrimp that’s totally fine. You will need to peel the Shells and devein the Shrimp before they are cooked. While this step will add about 10 minutes to your overall cook time, it is a relatively easy process

Check out our video here which shows you how to easily peel and devein Shrimp to prepare them for this dish

The secret to great Garlic Shrimp is loads of Garlic and loads of Butter!

It may seem like an obvious statement to make, but you really can’t add too much Garlic or Butter to this dish. In fact, I find that adding more Butter and Garlic than you think is necessary is the key to a great tasting plate of Garlic Shrimp

The way they prepare this dish in Europe (especially those famous Spanish Tapas Bars) is to literally have the Shrimp swimming in a pool of Butter that’s loaded with Garlic. The dish is then placed over a scorching hot fire and sizzles away until the Shrimp is cooked

Now, we don’t ask that the Shrimp gets completely submerged in Butter for our recipe, but we do ask that you add a lot. About 125g of Butter (or about 4 ½ oz.) of Unsalted Butter should do the trick to cook 12 Large Shrimp

For the Garlic, I recommend using at least half the Bulb or a relatively large Garlic Bulb. You’ll want to produce at least 2 tbsp. of finely chopped Garlic, so you may need a little less or a little more Garlic Cloves depending on the size of them

Use a medium sized frying pan or large Saucepan for this dish

It’s important to not use a massive frying pan when cooking our Garlic Shrimp with Chili Recipe. The reason being is we don’t want the Butter to be spread too thin in the pan. You want to ensure there’s enough Butter to coat the entire bottom of the pan. You can always add a little bit more Butter if needed to ensure a good, consistency coverage of Butter

How to cook the perfect Garlic Shrimp with Chili

I love this recipe for its simplicity. There’s very few steps, even fewer ingredients, yet the flavors are so amazing. To begin, melt your Butter in the pan over a medium high heat. We want the heat high to cook the Shrimp before the Butter burns

Once the Butter has melted, add your Garlic, Chili, and Scallions. Stir them around to coat in Butter and cook for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the Shrimp by placing them evenly all over the pan, ensuring they all get a good coverage in the Butter. Don’t overlap the Shrimp as this will impact their cooking time

Cook the Shrimp for 1 ½ minutes and then flip them over. They’ll be beautiful and pink at this stage. Give the other side about 1 minute and they’re done. Shrimp don’t take long to cook and they can run the risk of overcooking, becoming tough and rubbery

Once cooked, immediately serve the Shrimp. You don’t want to set them aside as they’ll continue to cook even when out of the pan. Capture as much of that Buttery, Garlic and Chili mixture from the pan and coat the Shrimp on its serving plate

Finish with a pinch of Salt and a generous squeeze of Lemon Juice and you’re delicious Garlic Shrimp with Chili dish is ready to eat!

An optional extra is to add some beautiful Charred Toast

When we enjoyed our Garlic Shrimp with Chili we served it alongside some charred thick-cut Sourdough toast. This is a great way to enjoy Garlic Shrimp, as it offers a beautiful vessel to serve the Shrimp that happens to taste delicious! It’s also a heartier meal, adding some nice carbs to the dish

Cut your Sourdough bread into thick slices and season each side generously with Olive Oil. Place the bread onto a frying pan set over medium heat and cook until the underside has toasted and turns golden brown. Then, flip it over and repeat on the other side

To serve, remove the Toast from the pan and season with a sprinkle of Salt. Place your beautifully cooked Garlic Shrimp on top of the Toast (we were about to get 3 – 4 Shrimp per slice) and then spoon over a generous heaping of the Butter Garlic and Chili mixture. Finish with some Lemon Juice and you’re ready to eat! An amazing Garlic Shrimp with Chili served over Crusty Sourdough Toast!

Garlic Shrimp with Chili Recipe

Ingredients

• 12 Large Shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 125g / 4 ½ oz. Unsalted Butter
• 2 tbsp. Garlic, finely chopped
• 1 Red Chili, finely chopped
• 2 Scallions, finely chopped
• Juice of 1 Lemon
• Salt
  
  

Charred Toast Ingredients (optional)

• 4 slices of thick cut Sourdough Bread
• 2 tbsp. Olive Oil
• ½ tsp. Salt
  
  

Instructions

1. Melt the Butter in a medium sized frying pan or Saucepan over medium high heat. Once melted, add the Garlic, Chili, and Scallions and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant
2. Place the Shrimp into the pan, trying to avoid any of them overlapping. Cook for 1 ½ minutes
3. Flip the Shrimp and cook for a further 1 minute until light pink on both sides. Once cooked, remove from the pan and place immediately on your serving plate
4. Scoop up the remaining mixture from the pan and pour over your Shrimp before serving
   
   

Charred Toast Instructions

5. Generously season both sides of the Sourdough Toast slices with Olive Oil then place directly onto a frying pan over medium heat
6. Cook for 3 – 4 minutes until golden-brown. Flip and repeat on the other side. Remove from the pan and season with Salt before serving
   
   

Recipe Notes

• You want enough Butter to coat the entire base of the pan. You can add a little more Butter if needed
• Here’s a simple video on how to peel and devein Shrimp if you are using whole Shrimp
  
  

These amazing Garlic Shrimp with Chili are so simple to make at home, yet the flavors are truly immense. The classic pairing of Garlic, Butter, and Chili is the perfect compliment to the delicious, sweet flavors of the Shrimp. Adding the Charred Toast adds a wonderful texture to the dish, as well as a beautiful way to present the dish on the plate

For more amazing Seafood appetizers such as this one, check out these tasty recipes of ours:

• Teriyaki Shrimp Skewers
• Panko Calamari Rings
• Salmon Tartare with Mint and Peas
• Shrimp and Mango Ceviche
  
  

Happy Cooking!