How to Make Sauteed Shrimp

Hey, I’m John Cannell and today I’m showing you a quick and delicious way to sauté shrimp. Let’s get started.

Preparing the Shrimp

First off, grab one and a half pounds of shrimp. Thaw them if they’re frozen. These guys are easy-peel, so they’ve already been deveined. I’m just going to take the shell off and triple-check that they’ve been deveined properly. If they haven’t been deveined, just run a knife down the back of the shrimp about a quarter of the way through and then pull out the little digestive tract—it’s not delicious, and you don’t want to eat it.

I love seafood. I love the taste, the texture, and all the easy things I can do with it. Most of all, I enjoy how quickly it cooks. If it’s just about dinner time and I haven’t done any preparation, I can grab these from the freezer, give them a water bath so they defrost quickly, and then have us on the table in about 20 minutes with some pasta and veggies. It’s a full meal, and everyone’s going to be super happy.

I left my tails on. If you want to remove them, just twist them off, and these are good to go right into your mouth after they’ve been sautéed.

Mincing Garlic and Zesting Lemon

My prep work’s almost done. Setting my shrimp aside, I’m going to wash my hands and mince some garlic. You’ll want five or so cloves of garlic. These are big, so I’ll probably use six or seven. Always use fresh garlic and the unpeeled variety—don’t buy peeled garlic.

Give the garlic a good smash; that’ll help release the skin and also release some of the oils in the garlic itself. Get rid of that dry, nasty stuff. Mince the garlic up.

Today I will be serving this with pasta, but you could have so many different sides. If it was just for me and not my six-year-olds, I would have maybe nice savory polenta or a really lemony garlic-herb rice. Use this recipe as a starting point to make a delicious adventure—even a cheesy cauliflower mash.

Grab a lemon. I’m going to zest it. I want to have all this amazing zest for the very end, so I’m going to reserve it and then slice my lemon. When you zest the lemon, hold your hand still and move the rasp nice and easy. If you’re using the zest of any citrus, make sure you wash it thoroughly, and in this instance I suggest using organics so there’s no pesticides on the outside—or homegrown if your mom has a beautiful lemon tree and lives close to you.

Now we’re going to slice our lemon.

Drying and Seasoning the Shrimp

We’re prepped and ready to go, except our shrimp are unacceptably wet. We want them to be dry so we have a nice, beautiful golden sauté. Dump them out onto some paper towels and pat them dry.

Grab a medium bowl. Inside, we’re going to add delicious things: a quarter teaspoon (or more) of crushed red pepper flakes, three quarters of a teaspoon of salt, three quarters of a teaspoon of paprika (smoked paprika works too), and half a teaspoon of cracked black pepper.

Add the shrimp and all the garlic to the bowl, sprinkle in your spices, and toss until everything is nicely coated.

Cooking the Shrimp

Grab a big, heavy pan, place it over medium-high heat, and add two tablespoons of olive oil. Wait until it’s dancing in the pan, then carefully add the shrimp—no splashes. Get all the garlic out and spread the shrimp so they’re making contact with the pan.

These only cook for about three minutes. Toss them after a minute to make sure they’re evenly pink all over. When they’re pink on both sides and no longer translucent in the middle, they’re done.

Finishing Touches

Remove from heat. Add the juice of the lemon you zested, then sprinkle in the zest. The shrimp and pan are really hot, so all those oils will get released, but the zest won’t burn.

Chop a little parsley, sprinkle it over your shrimp, give them a final toss, and just like that, they’re ready to enjoy.

Oh my gosh, these smell so good. The lemon, the garlic, the heat—and they are perfectly cooked through, not at all overcooked.