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.
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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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Can you substitute olive oil for butter?
Sure Sharon, that would work. Enjoy!
Great recipe. A great twist for BBQ.
We love this recipe. So easy. I usually have everything I need for a last minute prep. Even made it for guests who showed up unexpectedly during hurricane Matthew. Always good.
Hi Jen,
OMG the New Orleans Barbecue Shrimp is so easy to make and so delicious! Perfect as is! I always look forward to trying all of your recipes because I know they will always turn out to be a wonderful meal! Your step by step instructions are clear, pictures are really helpful and the food is always delicious! Thank you for taking the time to create and maintain this awesome website! You can tell you love to cook and bake. You make me look like I am an awesome cook! I love it!
Many thanks,
Lisa
Wow! this is the worst New Orleans BBQ shrimp recipe ever! Bland, no bite, no spice, no tang. This is NOT Nola BBQ shrimp.
I just made this for the first time. It is an excellent recipe which I will make again. I used a bit more of the dry spices than called for in the recipe and that worked well to ensure that each shrimp is well coated.
Looks like a great recipe, which I will try tonight. I love good BBQ Shrimp Recipes having traveled to “N’awlins” a ton.
A word about shrimp – I’m a marine insurance broker which specializes in fishing boats, specifically Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Boats. I’ve been to the processing plants and talked a lot with shrimpers. Everything mentioned about the shrimp in the supermarket being thawed is correct. The shrimp are caught and chilled and then frozen once graded and sorted on shore. But, please when going to buy shrimp, look for wild caught domestic shrimp here in the U.S. There are a lot of foreign imports, which are usually farmed Tiger Prawns or Shrimp from Indonesia, India, Thailand, Ecuador and other places. Farm Raised shrimp are subject to different laws than wild caught. Notably, the FDA has not determined yet whether the large amounts of antibiotics poured into the ponds to stem disease is harmful to humans. More studies are being done. Plus, the large amounts of foreign shrimp are far cheaper than their wild caught cousins. The low prices are putting American shrimpers out of business. So, for a more natural product which helps American workers, buy wild.
Just my piece. Thanks for the recipe and thanks for reading.
Good information for those who may not know, and a great reminder for the rest of us.
Very difficult to find wild caught domestic shrimp. Actually impossible in the Boston area.
We live in MetroWest and Whole Foods and our fish market in Marlborough has local wild caught.
I have made this a few times and it is wonderful. Since there are two of us home, I halve the recipe, and we still have some leftovers. We like it over rice. With the leftovers, we mix the shrimp and the rice. The rice picks up the flavor from the sauce, and it’s even better.
SO easy and SO delicious! I’ve made this several times and never get tired of it.
I loved the recipe and want to cook these at a tailgate at the end of the day. If I defrosted and dried the shrimp then tossed them in the spices and “baggied” them in a cooler with ice (early in the morning) would the shrimp still be fresh enough to cook with the other ingredients about 7 in the evening?
Hi Kay, As long as the cooler stays cold, they should be fine. Enjoy!