Garlic. Butter. Shrimp. Three simple words. You put them together and you have delicious. This easy shrimp recipe is so simple, quick, and tasty you’ll be making this dish on the regular.

Easy garlic butter shrimp is a fantastic simplified version of a traditional Shrimp Scampi. Your family will think you’ve ordered in from a fancy Italian joint. Don’t worry your secret is safe with me. The richness of butter and the bite of sauteed garlic finished with chopped fresh parsley give the easy shrimp dish all the layers of flavor your family craves.

Use this shrimp on top of your favorite salad or just serve some roasted vegetables on the side. Either way, it is a fulfilling meal.

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Easy garlic butter shrimp is so incredibly fast and simple it will make its way into your regular rotation in no time. A beautifully simple appetizer to impress your friends or served over a bed of angel hair, fettuccini, or rice and you have a quick and easy main course perfect for any night of the week. Let’s get cookin’!

How To Make Easy Garlic Butter Shrimp

Y’all Easy Recipe Depot has done it for you again. This recipe is insanely easy not to mention fast. Simply melt butter, add garlic and saute, then add your shrimp and cook, finishing with a sprinkle of chopped fresh parsley. *chef’s kiss* Dinner is served. Mangia! That’s Italian for “Eat up!”

What You Need:

Here’s what you’ll need from the store. The exact amounts are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Kitchen Tools Needed:

Ingredients Needed:

Shrimp
Butter
Garlic
Salt
Fresh parsley

Tips for This Easy Shrimp Recipe

How Do I Buy Shrimp?

At the store, silly. In all seriousness though, buying shrimp can seem overwhelming. Once you know a little more it really couldn’t be easier.

If you live in an area of the country where you can get fresh shrimp then by all means do it! Here’s looking at you, Florida Gulf Coast. If you live somewhere that fresh shrimp would be considered a risky endeavor then frozen fresh shrimp is your only option. It should be noted, here in the midwest where I live, the “fresh” shrimp in the fish case at the meat counter is quite often the exact same shrimp as you will find in the freezer section.

When it comes to selecting your shrimp, to save yourself time and extra work, look for shrimp that are raw, tail-on, peeled, and deveined. Shrimp are sorted by size. The numbers you see on the packaging correspond to the number of shrimp per pound. The higher the number, the smaller the shrimp.

Extra Jumbo shrimp are 16 to 20 shrimp per pound.
Jumbo shrimp are 21 to 25 shrimp per pound.
Extra Large shrimp are 26 to 30 shrimp per pound.
Large shrimp are 31 to 40 shrimp per pound.
Medium shrimp are 41 to 50 shrimp per pound.
Small shrimp are 51 to 60 shrimp per pound
Tiny shrimp are 61 to 70 shrimp per pound.

What Size Shrimp Should I Use?

This easy garlic butter shrimp recipe calls for a half-pound of Large shrimp which is 31 to 40 shrimp per pound which would equate to 15 to 20 Large shrimp for the recipe. Feeding more people? Simply increase the number of shrimp and the amount of butter and garlic accordingly.

Your store is out of Large shrimp or Jumbo shrimp is on sale? Or do you prefer a smaller shrimp? No worries. Any size shrimp will work for this recipe as long as you know how to properly cook shrimp. How do I properly cook shrimp you may ask? Keep scrolling. I got you.

How Do I Properly Cook Shrimp?

First and foremost, if using frozen fresh shrimp the most important thing is to ensure the shrimp are fully defrosted before cooking. Simply defrost the frozen shrimp in the refrigerator overnight. If using this defrost method place the frozen shrimp in their package in a shallow bowl to catch and juices. You don’t want shrimp juice all in your fridge.

Forgot to pull the shrimp out of the freezer the night before? No worries! Place the unopened bag of shrimp in a big bowl of cold water and use a heavy plate to weigh the bag down so it is fully submerged and in about 45 minutes the shrimp will be thawed and ready to cook.

Some folks recommend placing the frozen shrimp directly into the bowl of cold water or running them under cold water in a colander. Although fast, this method can allow the shrimp to absorb more water and negatively impact the texture.

Now that we’ve got our shrimp defrosted, we are good to go. Simply melt your butter, add your garlic and cook the garlic for 3-5 minutes and then add your raw shrimp. Raw shrimp is a pale grey color. When fully cooked, shrimp become that beautiful pink we’ve all come to know and love.

Shrimp cook very quickly so once they’ve changed color they are fully cooked. It does not take long. Depending on the size of your shrimp, 3-5 minutes maximum. Be wary to not overcook your shrimp as overcooked shrimp become very tough very quickly. So remember pink and done.

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