Served as a simple appetizer or an easy sheet pan dinner, these baked garlic shrimp crisped with a sprinkle of bread crumbs skip the butter in favor of heart-healthy olive oil.
How to Make Baked Garlic Shrimp
In my humble opinion, the best shrimp dishes don’t need a lot of extra bells and whistles. Rather than doctoring them up with layers of luxe sauces and ingredient flourishes (shrimp in Thai coconut sauce recipe, I’m looking at you!), a clean, Mediterranean-inspired marinade with simple seasonings is all shrimp really needs to become scrump-dile-itious before it hits the oven or the barbecue.
For this recipe, how about we keep it simple, okay?
These plump, baked garlic shrimp get a quick, 30-minute marinade before a light roly-poly toss in bread crumbs to infuse flavor and give them a bit of crunch. Pass them as an easy appetizer, add them to your favorite salad for lunch, or make them the centerpiece of a finger food dinner kind of night.
What’s In Garlic Baked Shrimp—No Butter!
Keeping with the style of Mediterranean cooking, I use heart healthy olive oil in this recipe—there’s no butter in these garlic shrimp. However, if that’s the style of recipe you’re searching for, you’ll get all the butter you’re craving in my BEST shrimp scampi recipe. Don’t forget the crusty sourdough for sopping up all that decadent sauce.
This recipe’s ingredient list is clean and lean, and listed below:
- 25-30 count large shrimp with shells and tails on
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Garlic
- Lemon juice + zest
- Italian flat leaf parsley
- Oregano
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- Dried bread crumbs
How to Thaw Frozen Shrimp
Always on hand and ready to cook, frozen shrimp can be your meal time savior with a quick thaw that takes less than 5 minutes.
- Place the frozen shrimp in a colander placed within a large bowl.
- Cover with cool water for 5 minutes. Toss the shrimp occasionally to separate the shrimp from one another. If the shrimp don’t seem to be thawing, change out the water for slightly warmer water.
- The shrimp are thawed when they are still chilled but bendable. Drain and pat dry with a paper towel.
How to Cook Frozen Raw Shrimp
Prep the shrimp. Because I live in a land-locked state, I use frozen 26-30 count uncooked shrimp with shells and heads on, aka extra large shrimp, for this recipe. The number notes how many shrimp there are per pound, aka between 26 and 30.
Key West Pinks are often a favorite, but this time around I used shrimp from Mexico that were plump with nice color. Thaw the shrimp first, then remove the shells and devein the shrimp before rinsing, patting dry, and placing in a bowl.
How to Marinade Shrimp
Add the garlic marinade ingredients. To save on dishes, I dress my shrimp directly with the marinade ingredients and toss the shrimp to coat. Drizzle the shrimp with the olive oil then use a garlic press or grate the garlic onto the shrimp. Because it spreads more fluidly through the marinade with less chunks, I like pressed or grated garlic better than minced. Zest the lemon before juicing it over the shrimp so it’s firm enough to grate, then season everything with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
Refrigerate the shrimp before cooking for more flavor. To infuse the shrimp with flavor, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Because of the acidity from the lemon, avoid marinating for longer as the shrimp will begin to break down and become mealy.
Give the Shrimp Some Crunch
Lightly toss in finely ground bread crumbs. To add texture and a nice contrast to the creaminess of the baked shrimp, tap off the excess marinade then give the shrimp a sprinkling of bread crumbs before placing them in tidy rows—don’t overlap—on the baking sheet. To get a fine grind, place the bread crumbs in a plastic bag and roll it back and forth a few times to gently crush. Avoid caking the shrimp with the bread crumbs or they can become soggy as they cool. I like them with a light touch.
Panko or bread crumbs? Which is better? I use bread crumbs, but crispy panko would work well too.
The Best Temperature to Cook Baked Shrimp
It’s important to remember shrimp is a protein that cooks up fast. If cooked too long, it becomes tough and stringy.
To ensure it stays moist and tender, the trick is to cook shrimp fast and hot, in a 425°F oven for 4-5 minutes, or just until the shrimp middles are opaque and is firm to the touch.
How to Cook These Shrimp On the Grill
When summertime hits, I like to take these baked shrimp to the grill for cooking.
To cook garlic shrimp on the grill, preheat grill to medium heat. Thread the shrimp on skewers, bending the shrimp so the skewer slides through both the head and near the base of the tail to form a C shape. Grill the shrimp for 4-5 minutes with the lid closed, turning once, until the shrimp are opaque in the center and firm to the touch.
Crispy Baked Garlic Shrimp
Served as a simple appetizer or an easy sheet pan dinner, these baked garlic shrimp crisped with a sprinkle of bread crumbs skip the butter in favor of heart-healthy olive oil.
CourseMain Course
CuisineMediterranean
Keywordgarlic shrimp
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
Marinade Time30 minutes
Total Time55 minutes
Servings4
Calories260kcal
Ingredients
- 1 pound 25/30 count shrimp with tails and shells left on
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic , pressed or grated
- 1 lemon zested and juiced
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped flat leaf parsley
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons dried bread crumbs , finely ground
Instructions
- Rinse, shell, and devein the shrimp leaving the tails on, then transfer to a bowl. Drizzle the shrimp with the olive oil, pressed garlic, lemon juice and zest, parsley, oregano, kosher salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes. Toss to combine, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Pour the dried breadcrumbs into a shallow bowl. Gently shake off the extra marinade then lightly dredge each shrimp in the breadcrumbs and place in rows on a baking sheet.
- Bake for 4-5 minutes or until the shrimp are opaque in the center and the bread crumbs begin to brown. Serve warm with a squeeze of extra lemon if desired.
Notes
To cook garlic shrimp on the grill, preheat grill to medium heat. Thread the shrimp on skewers, bending the shrimp so the skewer slides through both the head and near the base of the tail to form a C shape. Grill the shrimp for 4-5 minutes with the lid closed, turning once, until the shrimp are opaque in the center and firm to the touch.
Nutrition
Calories: 260kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 286mg | Sodium: 1212mg | Potassium: 122mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 138IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 194mg | Iron: 3mg