Flavor: The marinade is packed with flavor, but our favorite part of this dish was the beautifully caramelized honey and garlic that clung to the pan and edges of the shrimp. Scrape it all up and serve because you don’t want to miss out on those delicious treats.
EASY: This is a super easy dinner recipe no matter your skill level. Prepare the marinade, use half to marinate the shrimp and the rest to make the sauce for the shrimp. Marinades are also convenient as sauces – we also make this for our maple sesame salmon dish.
Time: It takes 5 minutes to cook the shrimp on the stove and another 15 minutes to marinate. In about 20 minutes you will have this delicious and easy meal on the table.
Choosing the Right Ingredients for Honey Garlic Shrimp
- shrimp. You can use fresh or frozen raw shrimp. Thaw the shrimp completely before starting. Be sure to peel and devein the shrimp first. You can keep the tail or remove it if desired. If using already cooked shrimp, see recipe instructions below.
- Honey + garlic + soybeans. This marinade/sauce is packed with such wonderful flavor and is inspired by some of the wonderful flavors often used in Asian cuisine.
- Green onions. This optional trim adds freshness and nice color contrast.
Make Honey Garlic Shrimp
- Make your marinade.
- Marinate the shrimp. Combine marinade and shrimp and marinate for at least 15 minutes or up to 8-12 hours. We usually only marinate for about 15 minutes, during which time you can prepare your side dishes, such as steamed vegetables and instant brown rice.
- Boil the shrimp. Cook shrimp in a little olive oil, then flip and pour in remaining sauce until cooked through.
- decorate. Top with green onions and serve.
Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 5 minutes Total time: 20 minutes Yield: Serves 4
raw material
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/4 cup soy sauce (we usually use low sodium)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced (or 1 tablespoon shake-minced garlic)
- Optional: 1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
- 1 pound medium raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- Optional garnish: chopped green onion
step
- Whisk together honey, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger (if using) in a medium bowl. You will use half for the marinade in step 2 and the other half for cooking the shrimp in step 3.
- Place shrimp in a large sealable container or zip-top bag. Pour 1/2 of the marinade/sauce mixture over the top, shake or stir, and let the shrimp marinate in the refrigerator for 15 minutes or up to 8-12 hours. Cover and refrigerate remaining Step 3 marinade. (Time-saving tip: While the shrimp are marinating, we usually steam the broccoli and heat up some quick brown rice in the microwave.)
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp to skillet. (Discard spent marinade.) Cook shrimp on one side until pink, about 45 seconds, then turn shrimp over. Pour in remaining marinade/sauce and cook until shrimp are cooked, about 1-2 minutes more.
- Serve shrimp with cooked marinade and garnish with scallions. This sauce goes great with brown rice and steamed vegetables.
notes
- Thicken the sauce? Some readers add 1 teaspoon cornstarch to the second half of the sauce that will be used for cooking in step 3. This will thicken the sauce so it's not as watery. To do this, use a fork to mix 1 teaspoon cornstarch with 1 teaspoon warm water. Once the cornstarch is dissolved, stir it into the sauce and use in step 3.
- Garlic: If using fresh garlic that you mince yourself, use 2 cloves and about 2 teaspoons of minced garlic. If using refrigerated canned minced garlic, use 1 tablespoon.
- Shrimp: You can remove the tail or leave the tail on. We recommend using fresh shrimp, but you can use frozen. Thaw before marinating and cooking. If using frozen cooked shrimp, follow instructions for thawing, marinating, and cooking. You're really just heating the shrimp in the sauce.
- Consuming leftover marinade is a controversial topic. While you can boil it to remove any contamination, the flavor may change. Do what you want to do. In this recipe, we only use half the sauce for the marinade, so we have more for cooking. (We discard the marinade used in step 3.)
