This 5 minute shrimp marinade ensures juicy, flavor packed shrimp, every time. A combination of olive oil, lemon juice, honey, and garlic, it’s a great grilled shrimp marinade, as well as pan seared. Here’s everything you need to know.
Psst–be sure to check out my salmon marinade too!
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The Best Shrimp Marinade Ingredients
This shrimp marinade comes together with a few pantry staples, plus some lemon juice. Here are some notes before you dive in.
- Olive oil – helps to keep the shrimp moist and prevents them from sticking to the grill (although I still recommend greasing the grill grates before placing meat on top!).
- Lemon juice – all recipes benefit from acid to round out their flavor. For this shrimp marinade, I like to add a bit of bright and zesty lemon juice.
- Soy sauce adds salt and umami flavor. If eating paleo or gluten free, feel free to sub for coconut aminos.
- Honey sweetens the shrimp marinade while caramelizing the edges of the shrimp when cooked. For low carb or keto, feel free to sub in your favorite keto maple syrup (mine is Birch Benders).
What Kind of Shrimp Should I Use?
Any type of shrimp will do, I recommend purchasing peeled and deveined shrimp to save yourself a lot of time. Tail on will have a bit more flavor, especially if you are pan-searing the shrimp. That said, it will take some time to remove while you eat. Your best option for maximum flavor and minimal work:
- Peeled + deveined
- Large shrimp
- Tail on
How to Marinade Shrimp
This recipe is as easy as they come. Here’s how:
- Mix the marinade ingredients together in a resealable bag.
- Add the shrimp and toss to coat.
- Marinate for 30 minutes – 2 hours.
- Grill, pan sear, or bake your shrimp and enjoy.
How Long to Marinate Shrimp?
How long you marinate your shrimp will depend on the marinade you’re using. Since this recipe calls for lemon juice, you don’t want to marinate it longer than 2 hours, otherwise, the acid, in this case lemon juice, will start to break the shrimp down and cook it. This will also ruin the texture of the shrimp. If your recipe is citrus juice free, feel free to marinate it longer.
How to Cook Marinated Shrimp
If you’ve cooked shrimp before, you know it’s one of the easiest proteins to nail–opt for high heat and a quick cook time so your shrimp doesn’t get rubbery. I love using this as a grilled shrimp marinade, although it also works well in a pan (kind of like shrimp scampi) if that’s what you prefer. Here’s how:
- Grill: Heat your grill to high (around 425 F), and place shrimp on skewers. Sear for 2-3 minutes on each side, you’ll know they’re done once they’re fulling pink and cooked through.
- Pan Sear: Heat a pan over medium-high heat. Dump shrimp and all the marinade contents into a warm pan. Sear on each side until pink and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes.
How to Use Marinated Shrimp
This marinated shrimp is so full of flavor, that it doesn’t need much to make a delicious meal. Here are a few ways we love to serve it:
- Veggies and grains: my favorite combo is roasted asparagus or roasted zucchini with wild rice and this shrimp recipe.
- Salad: Place shrimp over a bed of lettuce with a handful of your favorite veggies, like this shrimp and avocado salad or this shrimp caesar salad.
- Simple sauce: This succulent marinade doesn’t need much. Some of my favorites are chimichurri shrimp or Chipotle Shrimp.
- Shrimp stir fry with your favorite sauteed veggies, like bell peppers, onions, and snap peas. Check out my cashew shrimp for another stir fry option.
Common Questions
Marinating too long, shell on or off, frozen, etc. Here are some answers to questions you may have about this shrimp marinade recipe:
- Can you marinate shrimp with the shell on? I recommend marinating peeled + deveined shrimp so the marinade can soak into the shrimp more easily.
- Can you marinate shrimp for too long? Yes, especially shrimp marinade with citrus juice (like this one). Marinating the shrimp longer than 2 hours will give your shrimp a mushy texture.
- Can I marinate frozen shrimp? You want to fully defrost your shrimp before attempting to marinate it–this will allow the flavors to penetrate the shrimp more easily. It also prevents the shrimp from becoming rubbery when cooked.
- How to quickly defrost shrimp? Dump frozen shrimp in a bowl of room temp water, it should only take 15 minutes.
- Can I make this marinade in advance? Sure can! Whip this marinade together up to 3 days before you dunk your shrimp in.
More Shrimp Recipes
Shrimp Marinade
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 1 pound large shrimp peeled + deveined, tail on
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoons Italian seasoning
Instructions
- Place marinade ingredients together in a resealable bag and mix to combine. Measure and set aside a tablespoon of marinade to use as a sauce after the shrimp has cooked.
- Add the shrimp and shake to evenly coat. Let shrimp marinate for at least 30 minutes, up to 2 hours in the refrigerator.
- This marinade works well if sauteed, grilled, or oven baked–be sure to cook, the shrimp for 2-3 minutes on each side, until it’s pink and opaque.
- Drizzle reserved marinade on top before serving and enjoy!
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