Grilled Shrimp Skewers

I drool a little just thinking about today’s grill recipe. These are the most delicious grilled shrimp skewers with a spicy marinade and smothered with garlic herb butter. You can have these ready to eat from start to finish in less than 30 minutes.

Grilled shrimp are so dang good when you do them right and the trick to getting these done right is to marinate them for just a short bit to add spice and flavor, but then pop them on and off the outdoor grill quickly so that they don’t overcook! Marinating shrimp too long and/or overcooking them makes tough, chewy shrimp and there’s a world of difference between perfectly grilled shrimp and the overdone version!

Shrimp Marinade Ingredients:

• 1-2 lemon (about 3 tablespoons lemon juice)
• ½ teaspoon each ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, and salt
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 pound raw shrimp

You can typically buy raw shrimp in the meat department of the grocery store. Choose large shrimp that are already peeled and deveined. Sometimes, you can even find them pre-skewered. If they are already on skewers, there’s no need to remove them to marinade; just marinade them right on the skewers. If you need to thread them up, go ahead and marinate the shrimp loose while simultaneously soaking wooden skewers in water. Soaking the skewers in water will help to keep them from catching fire when they are on the grill.

Preparing and Cooking the Grilled Shrimp Skewers:

Whisk together the marinade ingredients in a small bowl. You can adjust the amount of cayenne pepper for extra spicy or mild shrimp. This recipe will give the shrimp a decent kick, but not too spicy to eat or taste the other flavors. Pour the marinade over the shrimp and toss to coat them.

The shrimp should marinate for 10-15 minutes only. We don’t want to soak the shrimp too long in the marinade as the acidic lemon juice will toughen the shrimp and actually “cook” them like when we’re making shrimp ceviche.

While the shrimp are marinating, turn on the grill and heat to medium-high heat. Melt ½ cup of butter and combine it with the zest of at least one lemon, a minced clove of fresh garlic, and a bit of freshly chopped parsley.

As soon as the grill is hot and the butter-basting sauce is prepared, it’s time to throw the shrimp on the grill. Skewer them up if they’re not already on skewers and set them on the hot grill. The shrimp take only a couple minutes on each side to cook through.

As soon as the shrimp start to turn pink and opaque, use a pastry brush to slather them on both sides with the butter sauce. Cook just a few seconds longer on each side. Remove from the grill and eat up!

They are so so delicious! Need something else to throw on the grill? Try grilling up a pizza, too! Or add some marinated veggies to the gas grill – we love grilling asparagus and corn! If you grill corn on the cob, you can turn it into the absolute best Mexican street corn – a PERFECT side dish for this flavorful shrimp.

Eat the shrimp skewers straight off the grill or put them over a salad or pasta dish.

Variations to this Recipe:

Skewer up the shrimp with red onion, bell peppers, and mushrooms for healthy veggie shrimp kabobs!

Substitute red pepper flakes or cajun seasoning for the cayenne pepper and/or chili powder in the recipe.

Swap out the lemons for fresh limes in your marinade.

More Delicious Shrimp Recipes:

• Shrimp Ceviche
• Shrimp Pad Thai
• Cajun Garlic Butter Shrimp
• Shrimp Fettuccine with Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce