Spicy Grilled Shrimp

square crop of grilled shrimp on a white plate.

5 from 8 votes

Spicy Grilled Shrimp are a fun meal or appetizer. The char from the flames helps bring out the shrimp's natural sweetness, and this recipe is fast and easy to prepare. You’ll be the king of the grill when you make these shrimp.

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword grilled, shrimp, spicy

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 5

marinate time 30

Total Time 55

Servings shrimp

Calories 54kcal

Author Debi

Ingredients

For the shrimp and marinade

24 jumbo shrimp about 2 pounds, shelled and deveined and defrosted
½ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup light olive oil or light flavored oil of your choice
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
4 cloves garlic minced (or 1 teaspoon powdered garlic)
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

For the mop sauce

4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon Sriracha or your favorite hot sauce

Other Items

8 to 16 bamboo skewers (about 8-inch each), soaked in water 1 hour to cover, then drained. Flat skewers preferred, but if you have round ones, use two skewers per kebab so that the shrimp are easy to turn.

Instructions

For the shrimp: Rinse the shrimp under cold running water, then blot dry with paper towels.
24 jumbo shrimp
Make the marinade: Whisk together the lemon juice, oil, soy sauce, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large nonreactive mixing bowl. Stir in the shrimp and let marinate in the refrigerator, covered, for 30 minutes to 1 hour. (Alternatively, put shrimp and marinade in a large resealable plastic bag.)
½ cup fresh lemon juice, ¼ cup light olive oil , 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce, 4 cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt, 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
Make the mop sauce: Just before setting up the grill, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir in the hot sauce.
4 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon Sriracha
Set up the grill for direct grilling and preheat to high.
When ready to cook, drain the marinade off the shrimp and discard the marinade.
Thread shrimp on each flat skewer or on two round skewers, inserting the skewer near the head and tail ends so that the shrimp curls like the letter C. If you don’t want to skewer the shrimp, simply skip this step.
Brush and oil the grill grate. Arrange the shrimp on the hot grate so that the shrimp are over the fire. Grill the shrimp until just cooked through, about 2 minutes. Brush the shrimp with the mop sauce, be careful, the fire will flare up. Flip the shrimp, and cook an additional 2 minutes, and brush with remaining mop sauce. When done, the shrimp will turn a pinkish opaque white and feel firm to the touch.
Use caution with the skewers, as they will be hot.

Notes

Adapted from Steven Raichlen

Try to get the biggest shrimp you can. Jumbo shrimp or large shrimp, anywhere from 16/20 per pound to 21/25 per LB.

We’ve been making them without making shrimp skewers, just placing them directly on the grill grates. You do have to flip each shrimp individually, but you don’t have to soak wooden skewers or skewer the shrimp. So, it’s up to you how you want to make them.

I have adjusted the recipe to have less Sriracha. If you like it spicy, feel free to increase the Sriracha to up to 1/4 cup.

Makes about 24 shrimp: about 6 to 8 servings as an appetizer, or about 4 or 5 servings as a main dish.

The nutrition calculation will be slightly off on this, because you won't use all of the marinade.

Nutrition