A 5-ingredient, 10-minute honey garlic shrimp recipe with an addictively delicious sauce – a perfect quick and easy weeknight dinner recipe!
One of the all-time most popular recipes here on Family Food on the Table is my 15-minute honey garlic chicken.
Maybe because it’s just 15 minutes. Maybe because it’s all on-hand ingredients. Maybe because the sauce is so fantastic. (Go check out the reviews; people rave over that dish!)
So of course, I had to make some variations of it.
I’ve shared slow cooker honey garlic chicken, a honey garlic chicken stir fry and honey garlic chicken rice bowls.
Today though, we’re going a slightly different route. We’re making honey garlic shrimp and oh man, they are SO tasty!
I mean, I adore me some shrimp. But when you add this swoon-worthy sauce, they really get taken up a notch.
I could drink this sauce with a spoon from the pan, it’s that good.
And bonus, you’ll have plenty of extra sauce to drizzle over some rice or whatever else is on your plate - trust me, you’ll want to!
Plus, we just need 5 ingredients for this recipe and it takes only 10 minutes to make, start to finish! (Gotta love shrimp for their super quick cook times!)
It’s perfect for a weeknight family dinner everyone will love. And for those last-minute dinners where you want to make something quick with what you have on hand.
(I always keep frozen shrimp in the freezer for this reason. And they take just minutes to thaw if you haven’t planned ahead to defrost them, which I never have.)
Speaking of, if you’re a shrimp lover like me, check out spicy roasted shrimp (great for an appetizer or making into a meal) and this quick and easy Mexican shrimp skillet.
Or try southwest Air fryer shrimp. (They aren’t battered, just seasoned and then perfectly cooked. Great for salads or tacos.) And shrimp pad Thai is great for a takeout fakeout that's ready in 20 minutes.
But back to today’s honey garlic Asian-inspired deliciousness.
Let’s get cooking.
Now, I’ve got some notes, tips and substitutions coming up below on how to make honey garlic shrimp. Just tryin’ to be helpful.
If you want to jump on down to the recipe, simply scroll right on through the rest of the text. The recipe card is near the bottom of the page, above the comments section.
Ingredient Notes:
- I used a pound of extra large shrimp, which come 26-30 a pound. You can substitute another size shrimp, but you’ll need to adjust your cooking time.
- The shrimp need to be completely thawed (more on that in a minute) as well as peeled and deveined for this recipe. Please plan accordingly. (You can ask your seafood counter to prep these for you if needed. Or buy the deveined easy-peel frozen shrimp that are almost ready to go for you.)
- You can leave the tails on the shrimp if you prefer. It adds some extra flavor while cooking, but can be a bit more fussy for eating. Up to you.
- Want to make this gluten-free? Just sub some gluten-free tamari for the soy sauce.
Are your shrimp frozen? No worries. Mine are too most of the time.
Fun fact: Buying frozen seafood is often the best way to get it super fresh if you don’t live right by the coast. That’s because the seafood is flash frozen right after it’s off the boat, preserving it at peak freshness.
And in some places, the “fresh” seafood in the grocery store counter has actually already been thawed, so its shelf life is ticking down.
I’ve got a lot of experience with frozen seafood and frozen shrimp, so here are a couple of options for you on how to thaw it depending on how much time you have.
How to thaw frozen shrimp:
- You can place frozen shrimp in the refrigerator (in a well sealed container) overnight to thaw.
- You can thaw frozen shrimp quickly by placing them, frozen, in a colander and rinsing them in the sink with cold water for 2-3 minutes, until they are completely defrosted.
Since the first option takes a little more planning and foresight, I’m often in camp option number two. And it works great every time.
OK, let’s get ready to eat.
Serving Ideas:
- Serve over steamed brown, white or basmati rice. Add a steamed vegetable and dinner is served.
- Use as the protein for an Asian-style rice or grain bowl with fresh and roasted veggies.
- Or use to make a honey garlic shrimp stir fry with mixed veggies. (Double the sauce below so there’s enough to coat all the veggies and to drizzle over the rice.)
- Serve with rice noodles and some sautéed carrots and snow peas.
- Or add to an Asian style salad. (This homemade soy ginger dressing would go great with it.)
Also, you can definitely toss in some steamed broccoli or thawed frozen peas at the end with the shrimp and sauce in this recipe if you’d like.
So many ways to enjoy these shrimpers!
And, because you know I love my toppings, I wanted to share some ideas.
Topping Ideas:
- Sliced green onions
- Chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
- Chopped peanuts
- Sesame seeds
- An extra sprinkle of red pepper flakes or
- Drizzle of sriracha for a spicy kick
Are you hungry yet? I am!
I hope you give these honey garlic shrimp a try soon.
Enjoy!
XO,
Kathryn
Honey Garlic Shrimp
A 5-ingredient, 10-minute honey garlic shrimp recipe with an addictively delicious sauce – a perfect quick and easy weeknight dinner recipe!
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional, adjust for heat)
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 lb. shrimp extra large (26-30 size, thawed if frozen)
- Salt and black pepper
For serving (optional):
- Steamed rice
Toppings (optional):
- Sliced green onions, chopped fresh parsley or cilantro, chopped peanuts, red pepper flakes or sriracha, etc.
Instructions
- Make the sauce. Whisk the honey, soy sauce, garlic and red pepper flakes, if using, in a small bowl until well combined.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Lightly season the shrimp with salt and pepper. (Go easy because the soy sauce has plenty of sodium.) Add the shrimp to the skillet and cook on one side for about 2 minutes.
- Flip the shrimp over and cook on the other side for 1 minute.
- Add the sauce to the pan and toss to coat with the shrimp. Cook until the shrimp are cooked through and the sauce is warm, 1 minute more.
- Serve immediately with desired toppings and over steamed rice, if desired.
Notes
Shrimp: I used a pound of extra large shrimp, which come 26-30 a pound. You can substitute another size shrimp, but you’ll need to adjust your cooking time.
The shrimp need to be completely thawed as well as peeled and deveined for this recipe. Please plan accordingly. (You can ask your seafood counter to prep these for you if needed. Or buy the deveined easy-peel frozen shrimp that are almost ready to go.) See below for how to thaw frozen shrimp.
You can leave the tails on if you prefer. It adds some extra flavor while cooking, but can be a bit more fussy for eating. Up to you.
Soy sauce: Want to make this gluten-free? Just sub some gluten-free tamari for the soy sauce.
How to thaw frozen shrimp:
- You can place frozen shrimp in the refrigerator (in a well sealed container) overnight to thaw.
- Orou can thaw frozen shrimp quickly by placing them, frozen, in a colander and rinsing them in the sink with cold water for 2-3 minutes, until they are completely defrosted.
Serving ideas for honey garlic shrimp:
- Serve over steamed brown, white or basmati rice. Add a steamed vegetable and dinner is served.
- Use as the protein for an Asian-style rice or grain bowl with fresh and roasted veggies.
- Or use to make a honey garlic shrimp stir fry with mixed veggies. (Double the sauce so there’s enough to coat everything.)
- Serve with rice noodles and some sautéed carrots and snow peas.
- Or add to an Asian style salad. (This homemade soy ginger dressing would go great with it.)
- Also, to note, you can definitely toss in some steamed broccoli or thawed frozen peas at the end with the shrimp and sauce if you’d like.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 214Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 239mgSodium: 1613mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 0gSugar: 13gProtein: 27g
Cindy
I added a bag of steamable broccoli to this and made a one-dish meal. It was delicious!
Kathryn Doherty
I'm so glad you loved it! (I almost always make this with broccoli, too - such a good combo!) Thank you so much for sharing!
AES
I made this twice it was so good. First good meal I've had in a while. Thank you so much. I'll be trying more recipes soon!
Most appreciated!!!!
Kathryn Doherty
I'm so happy to hear you loved it! Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
Amy Botticello
I admit that I have been slacking off in the cooking dept, but last night I wanted something "good," and this recipe fit the bill nicely. So easy to prepare! I sauteed some yellow squash to accompany it and topped shrimp and rice with sliced green onions.
I agree that the sauce is addictive, too. I think it would be fantastic with chicken, too. Thanks for posting!
Kathryn Doherty
I'm so glad to hear you loved it Amy, thank you for sharing! Love your pairings too - what a delicious dinner! And you are 100% correct, this chicken version is one of my most popular recipes: https://www.familyfoodonthetable.com/15-minute-honey-garlic-chicken/ 🙂
reba lybolt
I made the honey garlic shrimp, used jumbo shrimp 12-15 per pound. triples the sauce madei this with rice.
talk about finger lickin good, left tails on.
Kathryn Doherty
Yay, I'm so happy to hear you loved it! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Britt
I made this tonight for my picky family and 4 out of 5 of us loved it. I call that a win!
The only changes I made were to use regular soy sauce (it was all I had) and I omitted the salt on the shrimp to adjust for that. I also sautéed spinach in with the shrimp (just because I'm always looking for ways to add vegetables to our meals).
In the near future, I plan to try the honey garlic sauce with chicken as suggested by you and another commenter.
Thanks for the recipe ideas!
Kathryn Doherty
Yay, I'm so glad you loved it! And yum to adding spinach! 🙂
Angela
This was amazing!!! I feel like crying from happiness right now because I'm horrible at cooking but was actually able to make something delicious for once, thanks to this recipe. Thank you so much for providing such a delicious, easy, and healthy recipe!!
Kathryn Doherty
Oh that's great, I'm SO happy to hear that! Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
Teresa
I made this recipe last night. Super easy. Super delicious!
Kathryn Doherty
Yay! I'm so happy to hear you loved it, thank you for sharing!
Jill Andujar
I made shrimp hoagies and added coleslaw on them 😋
Mary Wamsley
I love this recipe and plan to try it with chicken next time. I served it on a bed of brown rice and gave each person lime wedges. It was a hit. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Kathryn Doherty
Yay, I'm so glad you loved it! Yes, we make it with chicken all the time! So delicious that way too! Here's the recipe for that version:
https://www.familyfoodonthetable.com/15-minute-honey-garlic-chicken/
Lyssa
can this recipe be done ahead of time and reheated when needed?
Kathryn Doherty
Hi! I don't think seafood reheats particularly well... and also doesn't keep for more than a day or two. I'd recommend making this when you're ready to eat it.