This Easy shrimp recipe is your ticket to a delicious and quick dinner in less than 30 minutes! Seasoned shrimp cooked in a light white wine and olive oil sauce with shallots, bell peppers, and tomatoes. So much flavor!
Serve over rice, pasta or your favorite grain! Be sure to read through for my tips, step-by-step tutorial and video toward the bottom of the post.
Lately, I've taken to buying bags of already peeled and deveined shrimp from the freezer section. It makes life so much easier! In a pinch, I know I know I can reach for my skillet and go after an easy shrimp dinner.
This might explains why I don't tire of creating easy shrimp recipes over here on the blog. Here are some of my favorites: grilled shrimp with garlic cilantro sauce; Mediterranean shrimp skewers; or shrimp orzo soup
Why this easy shrimp recipe works?
In this easy shrimp recipe, shrimp derive flavor from a quick coating of smoked Spanish paprika, coriander, and a pinch of cayenne. I add a little flour to help thicken the sauce later (you can totally omit the flour for the gluten free version.) Then, the shrimp are tossed in the skillet with shallots, tomato, garlic and bell peppers. Pulling everything together is a tasty, light sauce with a simple combination of extra virgin olive oil, white wine and citrus. That's it!
This is super easy to make, the only thing to make sure of is that you don't overcook the shrimp. I have a couple tips on that for you...
Tips for perfectly cooked shrimp
It's really hard to mess up an easy shrimp recipe like this one. The only thing here is to avoid over-cooking the shrimp. No one likes chewy, rubbery shrimp, right? Shrimp cook so very quickly, so don't take your eyes off the skillet. How do you know when they're ready?
It's really not hard to figure out when shrimp are done, their color turns from grey to orange with bright red tails. When you see that one side is starting to turn pink, you are so close. At that point, you might use your wooden spoon to toss the shrimp quick so that it turns color on the other side.
A trick I learned from Bon Appetit is to keep my eyes locked onto the thickest part of the shrimp (the opposite end as the tail), and when the flesh at the base of the crevice where the vein was turns from translucent to opaque, the shrimp is done and you should take it off the heat.
Remember your skillet is still hot even if you've turned the heat off. Shrimp will continue to cook a little bit longer.
In terms of texture, perfectly cooked shrimp should be plump and juicy, but firm to the bite.
Easy Shrimp Recipe: Step-by-Step
1. Pat peeled, deviened shrimp dry and place in a bowl. Add a little flour, spices, salt and pepper. Toss to coat.
2. Garb a large skillet (I like to use cast iron), melt ghee and olive oil over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic and cook for a little bit, 2 to 3 minutes or so until fragrant (be sure not to burn the garlic.)
3. Now add bell peppers and cook, tossing occasionally, for 4 minutes or so.
4. Now add the shrimp. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, tossing
5. Now we add the liquid, diced tomatoes, broth, white wine and lemon juice. Cook for 5 minutes or so, submerging the shrimp in with your wooden spoon. Watch for shrimp to turn bright orange in color (remember, watch the thickets part of the shrimp, when that turns color, shrimp is ready.) Turn heat off and add a sprinkle of fresh parsley.
What to serve along?
This shrimp recipe is meant to be a quick weeknight dinner, but will totally impress company. To turn in into dinner, I typically add a side of rice (or grain of choice) and a quick salad to start things off. Salad options are endless. If you want to start with hearty salad, try Balela or this Mediterranean Chickpea Salad with Eggplant. Otherwise, this quick 3-ingredient Mediterranean salad always does the trick for me.
If you have the time and want to add another something to start, this easy baba ganoush or this smoky loaded baba ganoush have been my go-tos lately!
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Easy Mediterranean Shrimp Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4 1x
Description
Easy shrimp recipe, coated in Mediterranean spices and skillet-cooked in a light white wine-olive oil sauce with shallots, bell peppers and tomatoes. Ready in 25 minutes or less. Be sure to read through the tips and check out the step-by-step photos and video above.
Ingredients
- 1 Lebanese Rice recipe (or make rice according to package), optional
- 1 ¼ lb large shrimp (or prawns), peeled and deveined (if frozen, be sure to thaw first)
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp smoked Spanish paprika
- ½ tsp each salt and pepper
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- ¼ tsp cayenne
- ¼ tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp butter (I prefer to use ghee clarified butter)
- 3 tbsp Private Reserve extra virgin olive oil
- 3 shallots (about 3 ½ ounces), thinly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- ½ green bell pepper and ½ yellow bell pepper (about 6 ounces in total), sliced
- 1 cup canned diced tomato
- ⅓ cup chicken or vegetable broth
- 2 tbsp dry white wine
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- ⅓ cup chopped parsley leaves
Instructions
- First, make Lebanese rice according this recipe. Leave covered and undisturbed until ready to serve. Alternatively, you can make brown or white rice according to store-bought package. (Optional)
- Pat shrimp dry and place it in a large bowl. Add flour, smoked paprika, salt and pepper, coriander, cayenne, and sugar. Toss until shrimp is well-coated.
- In a large cast iron skillet, melt the butter with the olive oil over medium/medium-high heat. Add shallots and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly, until fragrant (be sure not to burn the garlic.) Add bell peppers. Cook another 4 minutes or so, tossing occasionally.
- Now add the shrimp. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, then add the diced tomatoes, broth, white wine and lemon juice. Cook for 5 minutes or so until shrimp turns bright orange. Finally, stir in chopped fresh parsley.
- Serve immediately with cooked rice (See more suggestions below.)
Notes
- Cook's Tip: Shrimp cook so very quickly, so don't take your eyes off the skillet. Shrimp are ready when their color turns from grey to orange with bright red tails. When you see that one side is starting to turn pink, you are so close. Use your wooden spoon to toss the shrimp quick so that it turns color on the other side. Remember your skillet is still hot even if you've turned the heat off. Shrimp will continue to cook a little bit longer.
- Suggested starters and salads: Baba Ganoush; Roasted Red Pepper Hummus; Balela Salad; 3-Ingredient Mediterranean Salad; Fresh Herbs and Tomato Salad
- Recommended for this recipe: from our all-natural and organic spice collections, Spanish Paprika and Ground Coriander! Private Reserve Greek extra virgin olive oil (from organically grown and processed Greek koroneiki olives)
- SAVE! Create your own 3-Pack of spices or try our Ultimate Mediterranean Spice Bundle (quality all-natural and organic spices!) Check out our Greek Olive Oil Bundle!
- Category: Entree
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
Keywords: easy shrimp recipe, Mediterranean shrimp recipe, how to cook shrimp
*This post was originally published in 2017 and was recently updated with information and new media for readers' benefit.
Hi could I use frozen that has already been cooked??
Hi, Mary! Yes, that should be fine. I would thaw them first and add them at the very end... they should just take a minute or two to heat up if they're already cooked. Be very careful not to over cook, or they'll become tough.
Fantastic! Followed the recipe exactly. I served over thin spaghetti with some crumbled feta. I will be making this again for sure!
★★★★★
Thank you, Nancy!
Fantastic. Subbed jar of fire roasted red peppers for fresh. Added MeatChurch Holy Voodoo to shrimp dredge. Served on top of whole wheat linguine. It's a keeper!!!
★★★★★
Thank you for sharing your adaptations, Paul!
I think this will become one of my go to recipe's. I did add sliced black olives to it.
★★★★★
Thank you, Chris!
Delicious! Great go-to recipe. A favorite in this house and with friends.
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks so much!
hello! i'm new to cooking but try to use whole wheat when possible. is it okay to use whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour for this dish?? can't wait to make it!
Sure!
For me, the smoked paprika was absolutely overwhelming.....I could barely eat it. I gave it 3 stars because my husband actually liked it.
★★★
Thanks, Sandy! That is something you can totally adjust to suit your taste. Hope you give the recipe another try.
I didn't think butter was acceptable for Mediterrian WOE? Maybe substitute EVOO?
You can certainly do that here, if you prefer.
So so good. Enjoyed till the last bite.
Have tried quite a few of yr recipes & they are all so good.
Thank you for making it easy for me.
★★★★★
My pleasure, Arti! So glad you're finding some good recipes here!!
I made this after a late work night. I followed the recipe exactly. It was on the table in about 30 minutes and was so delicious and healthy!
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks, Kara!
Suzy, could I use fresh basil with the shrimp dish instead of parsley?
Sure! I think that would work just fine.
Welll...what to say, except THANK YOU. I'm an accomplished cook who's trying to turn around the kitchen (o to speak) in this historic Inn in Virginia. One of the hurdles iis that we are 36 miles from the nearest town, but, having read your recipe yesterday, I had shrimp delivered today and will be cooking your recipe tonight, for a party of guests. Thank you so much for the utterly clear instructions. I hould emphasize that, being from the mountains of East Tennessee, I know next to nothing about seafood. All i can is thank you for this recipe.....you're a fine teacher.
Sincerely,, David Terry
Nellysofrd, VA
★★★★★
Thank you so much, David! I hope the dinner was a success!!
Delicious! Followed the version on YouTube. Tasted great and looked beautiful.
★★★★★
That's great to hear! Thanks, Adrienne!