Garlic Butter Shrimp Scampi
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Made in just 20 min from start to finish! The garlic butter sauce is TO DIE FOR – so buttery, so garlicky/lemony + so perfect!
Featured Comment
Is it just me or do you all want to go swimming in this pool of butter sauce? Don’t be shy, guys. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to face plant yourself right into this. And I really just want all the crusty bread in this world to soak up everything. A single drop should not be left behind.
why i love this recipe
- Quick cooking time. Shrimp scampi comes together in lightning fast speed – we’re talking 20 minutes start to finish.
- Restaurant-quality. This may cook quickly, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have restaurant-quality shrimp right at home using bigger and better quality shrimp all around. Talk about more bang for your buck!
- Versatile recipe. Serve this as an appetizer with some crusty bread, or over a bed of angel hair pasta and a salad as a fancy dinner.
types of shrimp
Wild caught shrimp vs. farmed shrimp
Farmed shrimp are raised in controlled environments, whereas wild caught shrimp have been caught in their natural habitats by fishermen. Wild caught shrimp is generally preferred over farmed shrimp primarily due to taste.
Frozen vs. fresh shrimp
Unless you reside in a coastal area, the “fresh shrimp” on display at your local grocery store have already been previously frozen at sea. Frozen shrimp offers ultimate freshness (flash-frozen as soon as they are caught) and flexibility, using only what you need for dinner. Bottom line, frozen shrimp will taste better and cook better.
tips and tricks for success
- Use a cast iron skillet. Cast iron skillets retain heat much better than a nonstick skillet, allowing for even cooking and a better sear on the shrimp.
- Know your shrimp size. Shrimp size is calculated on number of shrimp per pound. The smaller the number, the larger your shrimp. There are about 40-50 medium shrimp per pound. Note that smaller shrimp will cook much faster!
- Buy frozen shrimp. For superior quality and freshness, using frozen shrimp is ideal (but avoid the bags with freezer burn), opting for a quick thaw under cold running water.
- Cook in batches. Overcrowding the pan will lead to poor searing and chewy, rubbery shrimp.
- Reheat in the oven. Leftover shrimp can be rubbery when reheated in the microwave. For best results with leftovers, reheat in the oven at 325°F, covered in aluminum foil until warmed through.
- Serve with crusty bread. Serve with all the homemade crusty bread for dipping, sopping and dunking!
what to serve with garlic butter shrimp scampi
BEST Tools For COOKING garlic butter shrimp scampi
Large cast iron skillet
For the best texture and flavor, use a large, heavy-bottomed skillet that holds heat evenly.
Garlic Butter Shrimp Scampi: Frequently Asked Questions
Unsalted butter allows you to add as much salt (or as little) salt in your dish, allowing for more control and consistency.
You can replace unsalted butter with salted butter in a pinch, reducing the amount of salt indicated in the recipe, and adding to taste.
You can thaw frozen shrimp overnight, transferring it from the freezer to the fridge the day before. For a quick thaw, you can run them under cold water until completely thawed, about 5-10 minutes. Pat them dry as thoroughly as possible to remove any excess moisture (so they can brown nicely and evenly).
The lemon juice helps balance out the flavors and richness of the butter.
Absolutely! This can be served over angel hair, linguine, fettuccine, or any other long strand pasta option.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 day.
Garlic Butter Shrimp Scampi
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cubed
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium shallot, diced
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 ½ pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
Equipment
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, shallot and red pepper flakes, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Add shrimp; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until pink and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes.
- Stir in parsley, lemon juice and lemon zest.
- Serve immediately.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Super quick and delicious.
Fed my son and his lady as well as my picky parents and everyone loved it.
Isn’t this the best? I’m currently obsessed with it myself! 🙂
Absolutely delicious made for my fiance with oven-roasted parmesan asparagus. AMAZING and carb friendly. She loved it very much…
making this tonite just curious how long o i cook frozen shrimp
Barbara, I recommend thawing the shrimp prior to using.
Best scampi recipe we have made. Will definitely make it again!
We love hearing that, Debbie! Thank you for sharing!
My mom gave me some tomatoes and mozzarella cheese to make caprese salad so I needed something else to make a light dinner out of it and came across this recipe. We just finished eating this shrimp scampi (no really, my fiance is doing the dishes as I type this) and wow was it delicious!!! We sopped up every last drop of the sauce with crusty bread! Thank you! 🙂
We love hearing that! Thanks, Susie!
This was AMAZING. I didn’t even know I could cook something that would taste this good! I paired it with brown rice and green beans for meal prep one week. Everyone at my job was so intrigued by what I was eating!
That’s awesome, Michelle! It’s fun when you step out of your comfort zone and try something new (and maybe even scary) and have it turn out great! Thanks for sharing with us! 🙂
Excellent is all I can SAY! I have been making shrimp scampi for years and this recipe is a keeper! Thank you for sharing it
So glad you found and enjoyed our version of this, Bill!
So yummy and easy! I forgot to buy the parsley and it was still so good. Great for a weeknight!
It’s so perfect for those busy weeknights! 🙂
Tasted great on my very 1st try. My husband complemented me on the meal and asked for more. I used salted butter It did not have to add salt to the recipe.
This was so simply fast and soo delicious, the family dug into it before I could get a photo! Thanks for sharing!
You’ll just have to make it again then! 🙂 Thanks for sharing with us, Joaquin!
Yep! It IS Damn Delicious and fast. I used more garlic and lemon and served it over angelhair pasta and sprinkled freshly grated parmesan on top. My side dish was baby Brussels sprouts with sauteed sweet onions. Also crusty French bread…gotta get all the sauce! We loved it
What great side dishes!
Your title says it all! This scampi was “Damn delicious!” My picky eaters can’t wait to have it again for dinner! Thank you!
Thanks, Denise! It’s the best when you can satisfy those picky eaters! 🙂
First time I finally made great tasting shrimp scampi at home. It was easy to prepare & fast also. I printed this recipe I want it around
That’s great!
Easy and delicious as promised! However, I’m doing the Keto diet and logging all carbs I put in my mouth. I think this recipe wasn’t too bad but could not find any nutritional information. Can you let me know? I’d like to make it again.
Nutritional information is provided only for select recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, we recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information. Hope that helps!
This was fabulous. Shallots REALLY add to the flavor.
It was quick and easy but tasted like you slaved over it. Definitely use bread to soak up all the delicious sauce.
Thanks, Jennifer!
I want to try this but am tempted to do so without the shallot. I love shallots but hate buying them because there’s always so many in a pack and most end up going to waste. Thoughts?
You can omit the shallots if you prefer.
Or when you meal plan for the week, Jjst do another recipe with shallots! That’s what I do when I buy something that has too much leftover ingredients.
I really want to try this recipe but I’m doing low carb right now. And I feel like scampi must have pasta with it. 🙁
You could try green onions.
I have a recipe that uses butter, shrimp, and green onions – that’s all….but I think it would be good with some added garlic and red pepper flakes. The green onions are added pretty much at the end of cooking, so they will add a little bit of crunch and are not so wilted. Served with rice or noodles or whatever you want. The bread for dipping sounds devine!
Butter AND shrimp, it doesn’t get any better! Looks amazing and totally swim worthy! Haha.
I’m going to make this. Can I use ghee?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Not a review, a question. I gather if I used salted butter, just skip or be very light with the salt when seasoning?
Yes, that should work! 🙂
Substitute Hollandaise Sauce for the butter and you almost have Shrimp Scampi Aurora. The famous dish from Harry’s Bar in Venice, Italy. The favorite dish of Hemmingway and Vincent Price at Harry’s, back in the day. Stated making Aurora way back in ’76 and just had it again this weekend. Make this dish, you will never regret it!!!
Would like more of a recipe for this Baltisraul! Sounds wonderful! thanks!
Scampi Aurora
1 lbs – shrimp, cleaned
juice of 1 lemon
2 tbl – olive oil
1/2 tea – salt
1/4 tea – pepper
1/2 tea – minced garlic
1 cup – hollandaise sauce
Arrange shrimp in two shallow baking dishes. Top shrimp with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Add garlic to the warm hollandaise
Broil shrimp 4 min, turn shrimp and broil an additional 3 min. Top shrimp with hollandaise mixture and continue to broil 1 additional min.
We usually increase the shrimp and eat as a meal instead of an appetizer.
Serve with crispy garlic butter bread for soaking up the sauce.