Grilled shrimp is a easy appetizer, or main course meal, for your summer grilling. Peeled shrimp are closely skewered together, to prevent overcooking. It takes just a few minutes, until just barely cooked. The shrimp is finished cooking in heated sauce of butter, lemon, garlic and red pepper flakes– and some fresh parsley for a pop of color. Really delicious! (Yes, you can adapt this for a gas grill.)
With summer upon us, both our Weber Charcoal Grill and Gas Grill are brought out of their winter hibernation. We so enjoy eating “Al Fresco” and hosting family and friends for some good food– and a chance to showcase a new dessert recipe. I realized that one of our guests doesn’t eat red meat.
She’s not a vegetarian, so shrimp to the rescue! I had just purchased these lovely shrimp at our local Costco, and I decided that shrimp skewers would be perfect to add to the grill, along with our Santa Maria Tri-Tip for the carnivores.
My goodness! The shrimp was huge! I was happy to see that they were already de-veined. I did a quick thaw in a bowl of water– it takes about 30 minutes.
Pulling of the shells was the most time consuming part of this recipe. (The shells are in my freezer, for future seafood stock. Waste not, want not.)
There’s a method to why I’ve skewered these so close together, and by alternating the head to tail positions. For one, the shrimp doesn’t twirl around when you put them on the grill. Also, being so close together, they should grill evenly.
I didn’t photograph the making of the Spicy-Lemon Garlic Sauce, but it’s super easy. In fact, I put butter, fresh lemon juice, minced garlic and red pepper flakes in a disposable aluminum dish. I did this before my guests arrived. Easy!
While the grilled tri-tip was resting, Craig grilled the shrimp skewers. Before setting them on the grill, I seasoned them with a little salt and pepper, and sprinkled a little bit of sugar on each skewer– this promotes caramelization and a pretty color. NOTE: Shrimp cooks really fast, so you have to pay close attention!
In the second picture, above, you can see that the shrimp are just becoming translucent. Wearing protective cloves, they are carefully turned over to finish grilling. We are talking about 3-5 minutes, depending on the heat of your charcoals (or gas grill). These are a beautiful pink-orange color!
While the shrimp was grilling, we heated up the Lemon-Garlic Sauce on our gas grill and then turned off the heat. The shrimp was removed from the skewers and given a hot sauce bath. This helps to finish off cooking the shrimp, without turning them into rubber.
Let’s eat!
TASTING NOTES: Overcooked shrimp is rubbery and not the best way to enjoy it. This recipe, yielded moist and tender shrimp because we removed the shrimp as it was just about finished. I’m very sensitive to spice, but the red pepper flakes (I used a scant 1/4 tsp.) gave a flavor pop without setting my mouth on fire! Unfortunately, I forgot to add fresh parsley– and that would’ve given a pretty pop of color to the dish. My non-red meat eater really enjoyed them.
Charcoal Grilled Shrimp Skewers with a Spicy Lemon-Garlic Sauce
Equipment
- metal skewers (wooden skewers tend to burn)
- chimney starter and charcoal
- disposable aluminum pan
Ingredients
For the shrimp skewers:
- 1 ½ pounds extra-large shrimp 21/25, peeled and deveined, tails left on
- 2 – 3 tablespoons olive oil for brushing skewers
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- salt and ground black pepper
- Lemon wedges for serving
For the Spicy Lemon-Garlic Sauce:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 4 pieces
- ¼ cup lemon juice 2 lemons
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- ½ – ¾ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ⅛ teaspoon table salt
- ⅓ cup minced fresh parsley
Instructions
- Pat shrimp dry with paper towels. Thread shrimp onto 3 skewers, alternating direction of heads and tails. Brush both sides of shrimp with oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. Sprinkle one side of each skewer with sugar.
Charcoal Grilling Method:
- Light large chimney starter filled with charcoal (6 quarts, or about 100 briquettes) and allow to burn until coals are fully ignited and partially covered with thin layer of ash, about 20 minutes. Empty coals into grill; build modified two-level fire by arranging coals to cover one-half of grill, piling them about 3 briquettes high, leaving other half empty. Position cooking grate over coals, cover grill, and heat until hot, about 5 minutes; scrape grate clean with grill brush.
- Set disposable aluminum pie plate with sauce ingredients over hot side of grill and cook, stirring occasionally, until hot, about 1 1/2 minutes; transfer plate to cooler side of grill. Place shrimp skewers, sugared sides down, on hot side of grate; use tongs to push shrimp together on skewer if they have separated. Grill shrimp, uncovered, until lightly charred, 4 to 5 minutes. Using tongs, flip and grill until second side is pink and slightly translucent, 1 to 2 minutes longer.
- 4
- Using potholder or oven mitt, carefully lift each skewer from grill; use tongs to slide shrimp off skewers into pie plate with sauce. Toss shrimp and sauce to combine and transfer pie plate to hot side of grill; cook, stirring, until shrimp are opaque and fully cooked, about 30 seconds. Remove from grill, add remaining sauce ingredients and toss to combine. Transfer to serving platter and serve immediately with lemon wedges.
For the Spicy Lemon-Garlic Sauce:
- Combine melted butter, lemon juice, garlic, pepper flakes, and salt in disposable pie plate. Cook over hotter side of grill, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted, about 1 1/2 minutes; slide to cooler side of grill and grill shrimp, adding parsley just before serving.
For a Gas Grill Method:
- Turn all burners to high; cover; and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Clean and oil cooking grate.
- Place kebabs, sugared side down, on grate; use tongs to push shrimp together on skewer if they have separated. Grill shrimp, covered, until lightly charred, 4 to 5 minutes. Using tongs, flip and grill until second side is pink and slightly translucent, 1 to 2 minutes longer.
- Using pot holder or oven mitt, carefully lift each kebab from grill; use tongs to slide shrimp off skewers into pie plate with sauce. Toss shrimp and sauce to combine and transfer pie plate back to grill; cook, stirring, until shrimp are opaque and fully cooked, about 30 seconds. Remove from grill, and toss to combine. Transfer to serving platter and serve immediately with lemon wedges.
Notes
Made this last week and it was so DAMN DELICIOUS I’m making it again tonight. Super simple and quick with Costco pre-cleaned shrimp. I do add a dribble of white wine.
Wow! Thank you for the rave review. Adding wine sounds like a great idea!