New Orleans-Inspired BBQ Shrimp
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This sautéed barbecue shrimp in a Worcestershire-spiked butter sauce is one of those dishes you can throw together at a moment’s notice.
New Orleans BBQ shrimp has actually very little to do with barbecue. The Louisiana dish refers to sautéed shrimp in a garlicky, Worcestershire-spiked butter sauce. Typically made with copious amounts of butter, the shrimp are cooked and served with the shell on and then peeled at the table. It’s a rich and delicious dish but not very practical for a weeknight family dinner. This is my super-simple, easy-to-eat version. Butter is still the main ingredient in the sauce but I’ve scaled the amount way back, and the shrimp are peeled before cooking. If you keep shrimp in your freezer, it’s one of those shrimp recipes you can throw together at a moment’s notice. Bonus: kids love it!
What you’ll need to make New Orleans-Inspired BBQ shrimp
Before we get started, a few words on buying shrimp. While fresh seafood is obviously superior to frozen, I always buy frozen shrimp. Fact is, unless you live on the coast, it’s near impossible to find truly fresh shrimp. The “fresh” shrimp you see in the seafood case at the supermarket is typically thawed frozen shrimp, and you never know how long it’s been sitting out.
Almost all shrimp are cleaned and flash frozen shortly after being caught, so for the freshest shrimp, you’re better off buying frozen and defrosting it yourself. For this recipe, I buy extra-large frozen shrimp labeled “shell split and deveined.” Come dinnertime, all I have to do is run the shrimp under warm water to quickly defrost and then peel.
Step-by-step instructions
To begin, add the paprika, ancho chili powder, cumin, salt, and sugar to a bowl. Note that ancho chili powder is not the same as regular chili powder. Chili powder is a blend of spices, while ancho chili powder is a pure chili powder made from ground ancho peppers with deep rich flavor and mild to medium heat.
Mix to blend.
Toss the shrimp with the spices until evenly coated.
Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet.
Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, for about a minute. Do not brown.
Add the shrimp.
Continue cooking until almost done but still opaque in spots. Keep the heat at medium so the shrimp cook gently; if shrimp are cooked over high heat, they can seize up and become tough. Add the Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and a few tablespoons of water.
Continue cooking for a few minutes more until the shrimp are cooked, then scatter the thinly sliced scallions over top.
Serve with buttered rice or toasted baguette slices.
You may also like
- Shrimp and Grits
- Ginger, Garlic & Chili Shrimp
- Peel n’ Eat Shrimp with Homemade Cocktail Sauce
- Sheet-Pan Garlic Butter Shrimp
- Orzo Risotto with Shrimp, Bacon & Peas
New Orleans-Inspired BBQ Shrimp
This sautéed barbecue shrimp in a Worcestershire-spiked butter sauce is one of those dishes you can throw together at a moment’s notice.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 2 pounds extra large or jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined, thawed if frozen
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 large cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, from 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons water
- 3 scallions, dark green parts, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Mix the paprika, ancho chili powder, cumin, sugar and salt together in a large bowl. Add the shrimp to the spices and toss to coat evenly. Set aside.
- Melt the butter over medium heat in a 12-inch skillet. Add the garlic and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, for one minute. Do not brown. Add the shrimp and continue cooking over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the shrimp are almost cooked but still opaque in spots, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and water and cook until shrimp are done, 1 to 2 minutes more. Scatter the scallions over top and serve.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Calories: 209
- Fat: 11 g
- Saturated fat: 7 g
- Carbohydrates: 5 g
- Sugar: 2 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 21 g
- Sodium: 928 mg
- Cholesterol: 216 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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This is one of my families favorite. We add chopped water chestnuts while cooking and then spoon the shrimp mix in lettuce and have shrimp lettuce wraps. The cool crisp lettuce is perfect with the spicy hot shrimp. I’ve also done this for my office ans a luncheon. It was a hit.
Thanks, Sharon. Love the idea of using this for lettuce wraps.
I absolutely love shrimp, this recipe is easy and simple and it looks great. Will be making this for my friends in work.
Everything I’ve made from your blog so far has been delicious! I’m excited to try this, too.
Just one question, though. Did you say you take them straight out of the freezer and run warm water over them to thaw? I also get frozen shrimp and ir’s annoying having to plan ahead so I can wait all day for them to thaw. I don’t make them as often as I would because of them. Is it really okay to thaw them quickly that way? You seem like you know what you’re doing. So, I’ll believe it if you say so and it would make life so much easier.
Hi Leela, That’s exactly what I do and it works perfectly…only takes a few minutes so no need to plan ahead. Of course, you don’t want to soak them in hot water or they’ll cook, but warm water will do the trick.
These are fantastic!
I had my husband cook this recipe. It was very delicious, even my very picky teen ask for seconds. Thank you.
This sounds great! I make one similar to this but with white wine and creole seasoning. I bake it at 350 until shrimp are done. I can’t wait to try yours!!
For a delish party appetizer instead of the usual boiled shrimp, would this dish be tasty served at room temperature?
Yes! You could keep the tails on so they’d be easier to pick up.
Made this last night for dinner. I steamed some asparagus and threw them in with the shrimp and servied over rice. Delicious!!! Nothing beats easy and great tasting!!
We use to get something like this at one of our favorite restaurants and loved them. They served french bread with it to sop up the juice and it was yummy but I like the idea of rice with it. I think I will use yellow rice!
I made this tonight for dinner. We had it over rice. It was delicious!!!
If you buy the split shell shrimp you are going to get farm raised, not wild caught shrimp. Huge difference in flavor and the farm raised if from overseas, which most are, are raised in horrible dirty conditions. Buy USA raised shrimp, it has to be noted on the package or on the sign in the case what the country of origin is.