Ten minutes and a handful of ingredients is all you need to put this honey garlic shrimp recipe together, which makes this a great weeknight meal, but it’s not all about convenience. Take one bite, and you’ll agree that this delicious shrimp dish tastes like a lot more work went into it; this one’s bound to become a favorite weeknight dinner recipe! The best part is that there’s a lot of room for variation by changing the protein and seasonings, so have fun with it and make it your own!
Why This Recipe Works
The shrimp is pan-fried to brown it (but not cook it through all the way). They finish cooking in the sauce. The browned shrimp juices add flavor to the honey, while the reducing sauce helps cook them through without overcooking. The sugar in the honey caramelizes, adding a wonderful flavor to the sauce while forming a thick glaze that enrobes each succulent shrimp. This is a basic recipe, but it’s also delicious and easy, and it only takes minutes to prepare. You can use this simple shrimp recipe as a starting point to let your creativity roam. Keep reading for suggestions on substitutions and variations.
Ingredients for Honey Garlic Shrimp
Dry White Wine - No need to get fancy or expensive here I used a $6 bottle of Spanish table wine, but anything that’s not too sweet (like a sauvignon blanc, or pinot gris) will work. Honey - I recommend using honey with a relatively mild flavor, like Acacia honey. More potent honey, like buckwheat or eucalyptus, can overpower the prawns. Salt - I wanted the flavors of the honey, garlic, and juicy shrimp to be the stars of this dish, so I used salt to season it. There’s room to be creative here, though, using other seasonings, such as soy sauce, fish sauce, or miso. Olive Oil - I used olive oil because it’s a “clean” oil, but you can use anything from vegetable oil to unsalted butter and it should work well. Garlic - Nothing fancy here, but using a ton of fresh garlic is the trick. Shrimp - I used black tiger prawns for this, but any large raw shrimp will work. In terms of size, I used jumbo shrimp (21/25), but if you can find bigger ones, that will work even better. Frozen shrimp will also work just fine. I have an in-depth article on selecting and cleaning shrimp that will give you confidence when buying and preparing them, so go check that out for more info. Crushed Red Pepper - I like to add pepper flakes to give the sauce a little kick while adding a splash of color. You can also add a few drops of your favorite hot sauce or just leave it out altogether. Lemon - I like the fresh flavor and balancing tartness a squeeze of lemon adds at the end, but this is a totally optional garnish. It’s also delicious with a squeeze of lime. If you want to give it some more lemon/lime flavor, you can also use a Microplane to grate in some zest into the delicious sauce. Parsley - I used flat-leaf parsley because it’s what I have growing in the herb garden right now, but tarragon, cilantro, and basil are just a few other herbs that would add extra flavor to this.
How to Make Honey Garlic Shrimp
First, make the sauce by mixing the white wine, honey, and salt in a medium bowl. Then, you want to sauté the minced garlic in the olive oil over medium-high heat until it’s very fragrant and barely starting to turn a light shade of brown around the edges. You don’t want to brown the garlic fully, or it will burn and get bitter by the time the shrimp is done. Next, add the uncooked shrimp to the hot skillet in a single layer. The garlic tends to get sandwiched between the prawns and the pan, so move them around to ensure they’re making good contact with the pan. Once the shrimp is cooked about ⅓ of the way through (you can see it changing color in 1-2 minutes), flip them over and sprinkle on the crushed red pepper flakes. You don’t want to cook them through fully at this stage as it will finish cooking in the sauce. Add the sauce and turn up the heat to high. Let the sauce reduce until it forms a thick glaze, then return the partially cooked shrimp to the pan and coat them evenly with the delicious sauce. Because some prawns can be very salty, I’ve limited the salt in this recipe. Give it a taste and add more salt if necessary. Serve the honey garlic shrimp garnished with chopped fresh parsley, lemon wedges, and steamed rice.
Variations on this recipe
Asian Honey Garlic Shrimp - Substitute 2 teaspoons of soy sauce for the salt. It would also liven up fried tofu. Honey Garlic BBQ Shrimp - Substitute 2 tablespoons of ketchup for the wine and add a few drops of liquid smoke and black pepper to taste. This would be delicious with chicken as well. Honey Mustard Garlic Shrimp - Add a tablespoon of dijon mustard to the sauce to make a delicious honey mustard sauce. Try it with pork for a sweet and savory treat.
Serve it With
I like to keep things light and fresh to complement the sweet and savory flavors of this Honey Garlic Shrimp. One of my go-to sides is a crisp, No-mayo Cole Slaw. The crunchy texture and citrusy dressing perfectly contrast the tender shrimp. If you want to stick with the seafood theme, try pairing it with a Kani Salad - the combination of crab and cucumber will add a cool, creamy dimension to your meal. Speaking of creamy, Hawaiian Macaroni Salad, with its velvety texture and subtle sweetness, echoes the tastes in the honey garlic sauce while adding a comforting, homey touch to the plate. Don’t for the white rice to go with this, and if you want to kick things up a notch, turn the rice into my Japanese Garlic Rice.
📖 Recipe
