Winter blues starting to get to you? Then I have the perfect little pick-me-up to remind you that Spring is indeed on its way. I was feeling a bit in a rut after months of eating copious amounts of soup, stews, and casseroles. I needed a bright spot in the menu. And boy did this hit the mark. It changed my whole attitude about dinner, at least for a while. Making this meal couldn’t be easier. In fact it may be the easiest recipe to date on this blog. It cooks quickly, clean up is simple, and it tastes like a million bucks. What’s not to like about that?
My favorite thing about this recipe is that the shrimp is roasted in the oven. If you’ve never roasted shrimp in the oven then you may be in for a surprise. Cooking it in the oven is not only incredibly easy, but the flavor of the shrimp is preserved so well, even intensified a little. It tastes so fresh you will swear it came straight from the boat to your table. I like to use shrimp that still have the shells on – the flavor is so much better. The seasonings here are the perfect mate for shrimp in my opinion – butter, garlic, parsley, lemon juice. Just writing that makes my mouth water. Now that I’ve described the shrimp to you, let me tell you what the real story is here – the sauce that accumulates in the pan. It’s of upmost importance that you have a loaf of crusty French bread on hand to soak up all of that goodness. It’s always everyone’s favorite part. The last time I made this for friends we were elbowing each other out of the way to get to that sauce. This is a wonderful family-style meal to serve to friends – just bring the pan straight from the oven to the table and let guests serve themselves. Keeping things casual always seems to make the conversation flow a little easier.
Lemon Garlic Shrimp
serves 4 – 6
2 pounds shrimp, deveined, shells still on
2 sticks unsalted butter
4-5 cloves of garlic
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place shrimp into a roasting pan with raised sides.
Cut butter into pieces and place into the bowl of a food processor. Add garlic, lemon juice, parsley, salt, and red pepper. Pulse about 5 times, until all ingredients are combined. Using your fingers scoop out tablespoon-sized chunks of the butter mixture and sprinkle on top of shrimp. Place dish into oven for approximately 15 minutes, or until shrimp is opaque, stirring once halfway through cooking time. Serve warm with loaf of crusty bread.
adapted from the Pioneer Woman Cooks
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An absolutely delicious recipe! And you are right, the sauce at the end is the surprise. One of the best dipping sauces I have had.
This looks so simple and delicious! I love how the shrimp is baked in the oven – kind of an easy, no-brainer!
ok, question, how do you devein them and leave the shell on?
Hi Nancy,
Ideally, yes but it can be tough to do. I buy shrimp that have already been prepared this way, which are sometimes called easy peel shrimp. If you can't find those in your store then I'd go ahead and peel and devein the shrimp but leave the tails on so you still get the extra flavor. Hope that helps!
I have made this multiple times and I thought I should finally post to show my appreciation for such a wonderful and flavorful dish. I used to make shrimp the same way everytime now I have a new recipe to throw in the mix!