Flavorful Blackened Shrimp – A cajun dish made with savory shrimp generously coated with a spicy blackened seasoning and pan fried in a hot skillet until lightly charred. Then to highlight them they’re drizzled with melted butter for a rich enhanced finish.
What You’ll Love About Blackened Shrimp
- This shrimp dish is incredibly easy to make.
- It cooks super fast, in about 2 minutes!
- It’s bursting with well seasoned, crave-worthy flavor.
- The shrimp are delicious on their own or you can chop them up and use as a taco filling.
- They pair well with fast and simple side dishes like baked potatoes, rice, grits, pasta, fresh bread, a simple side salad and so much more.
Blackened Shrimp Recipe Ingredients
- Extra large or jumbo shrimp: Don’t use anything smaller than these two sizes or the shrimp will overcook before they achieve a light char. Use RAW shrimp not pre-cooked or they’ll be incredibly overcooked and rubbery in the end.
- Paprika: Regular sweet paprika is what I used here though if you want a smokier flavor smoked paprika will work fine too.
- Granulated sugar: Sugar really helps the shrimp get a light char since it’s cooked in such a short period of time. Don’t worry it doesn’t make the shrimp taste sweet since it’s such a small amount.
- Salt and black pepper: Season to taste.
- Cayenne pepper: This is what makes the shrimp spicy so you can adjust this to suite your personal preference. Typically anything that’s a Southern “blackened” dish is made spicy.
- Garlic powder and onion powder: These two spices add some depth to the shrimp.
- Dried oregano and dried thyme: These are the two traditional herbs in blackened seasoning. They add a light herby taste to the dish.
- Oil: Only use a high smoke point oil here such as light olive oil (not extra virgin) or vegetable oil.
- Butter: Salted or unsalted butter works fine. If you want it extra buttery double up on the amount of butter especially if you plan to serve it with pasta or rice.
- Lemons: You’ll just cut half a lemon into wedges to serve with the shrimp for spritzing. It brightens them up.
- Parsley: This is completely optional but adds a nice pop of fresh green to finish.
How to Make Blackened Shrimp
- Lay shrimp out: Place shrimp on a cutting board or large plate. If shrimp are very wet dab up some of the excess moisture with paper towels.
- Mix spices: In a mixing bowl whisk together paprika, sugar, black pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, thyme, oregano, onion powder, and salt (I only use a pinch or two some batches of shrimp can be so salty).
- Preheat skillet: Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes or until just lightly smoking.
- Season shrimp: Meanwhile scoot shrimp close together but don’t overlap them. Sprinkle half of the spice mixture evenly over the shrimp, then turn shrimp and evenly sprinkle opposite side.
- Add oil to pan: Pour light olive oil into skillet and using hot pads carefully tilt oil in pan to coat.
- Cook shrimp: Add the shrimp and immediately scoot into a single layer. Let cook about 1 1/2 minutes until lightly charred then turn shrimp and cook opposite side until shrimp are just cooked through about 1 minute (they should become just opaque throughout).
- Immediately transfer to a serving platter so they don’t continue to cook.
- Garnish: Pour butter over shrimp. Garnish with parsley if desired. Serve with lemon wedges for spritzing.
Helpful Tips for Cooking Shrimp
- Using frozen shrimp: If you are wondering if you can use frozen shrimp the answer is absolutely, but they do need to be thawed completely first.
- Use a cast iron pan: A cast iron pan really helps encourage browning.
- Start with a preheated skillet: Allowing time to preheat skillet is critical as this will really sear the shrimp if you begin with a very hot pan.
- Add a hint of sugar: Sugar helps the shrimp blacken quickly as it sort of caramelizes.
- Salt to taste: You can check the shrimp label for the sodium amount, some batches have so much salt while others aren’t overly seasoned. You may just want to start with only a pinch then add more salt at the end as needed.
- Evenly season shrimp: Rather than tossing shrimp with seasoning in a bowl I found it works better to lay them out and season them on each side this way the seasoning doesn’t just clump up.
- Don’t crowd: The max amount of shrimp to fit in a 12-inch skillet without overcrowding in the pan (which would keep them from browning as well) is 18 oz.
- Work quickly: Work very quick to turn the shrimp so some don’t cook on one side much quicker than others.
- Careful not to over-cook: Shrimp cook in what feels like a flash especially in this recipe with a very hot skillet so pay close attention to doneness. If over-cooked they can become rubbery so moniter their color and opaqueness. They should lose their grey coloring and become more pink and white.
Storing and Reheating
- The cooked shrimp can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Reheat in a 300 degree oven in a baking dish covered with foil until just warmed through.
- Or reheat in the microwave on 50% power in 30 second intervals until warmed.
More Easy Shrimp Recipes to Try
Blackened Shrimp
A flavorful cajun dish made with savory shrimp generously coated with a spicy blackened seasoning and pan fried in a hot skillet until lightly charred. Then to highlight them they’re drizzled with melted butter for a rich enhanced finish.
Servings: 4
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Place shrimp on a cutting board or large plate. If shrimp are very wet dab up some of the excess moisture with paper towels.
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In a mixing bowl whisk together paprika, sugar, black pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, thyme, oregano, onion powder, and salt to taste.
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Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes.
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Meanwhile scoot shrimp very close together but don’t overlap them. Sprinkle half of the spice mixture evenly over the shrimp, then turn shrimp and evenly sprinkle opposite side with remaining half of spice mixture.
-
Pour light olive oil into skillet and using hot pads carefully tilt oil in pan to coat.
-
Add the shrimp and immediately scoot into a single layer. Let cook about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes until lightly charred then quickly turn shrimp and cook opposite side until shrimp are just cooked through about 1 minute (they should become just opaque throughout).
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Immediately transfer to a serving platter so they don’t continue to cook.
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Pour butter over shrimp. Garnish with parsley if desired. Serve with lemon wedges for spritzing.
- *Shrimp tails can be left on or removed.
- *Don’t use extra virgin or even regular olive oil. Light olive oil has a high smoke point and is better for cooking at this temperature.
- 1 lime can be substituted for the lemon and cilantro can be substituted for parsley.
