The absolute best shrimp marinade made with garlic, herbs, spices and lemon. You can cook your marinated shrimp on the grill, stove top or in the oven for perfect results every time.
I love a good shrimp dish, I often whip up some shrimp salad or garlic butter shrimp for a quick and easy meal. This marinated shrimp is so full of flavor; my family requests it every week, it’s just that delicious!
There’s nothing like a bold and zesty marinade to infuse your food with plenty of flavor. This shrimp marinade contains a variety of savory ingredients that blend together to make the perfect seasoning for fresh shrimp.
How do you make shrimp marinade?
This recipe is a blend of olive oil, soy sauce, lemon zest, honey, herbs, garlic and seasonings. Everything gets whisked together in either a large bowl or a resealable plastic bag. Add your shrimp, then refrigerate them until it’s time to make dinner.
How long do you marinate shrimp?
I recommend marinating your shrimp for at least one hour, or up to 8 hours. This particular marinade does not contain any citrus juice, only lemon zest. If you’re working with a different marinade that does contain citrus juice, you’ll want to marinate your shrimp for no more than 2 hours, as the acid in the juice can actually cook the shrimp.
Tips for shrimp marinade
- This marinade can be made in advance and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days before you plan to use it.
- You can leave the tails on your shrimp, or remove them, it’s totally up to you. The tails make for a nicer presentation but it’s a little more work to remove the tails right before eating.
- You can make this marinade gluten free by substituting tamari sauce for the soy sauce.
- I recommend using the largest shrimp you can afford for the best flavor and presentation.
How do you cook marinated shrimp?
These shrimp can be baked, broiled, grilled or sauteed. Regardless of the cooking method, you’ll want to cook your shrimp for about 2-3 minutes per side, or until they’re pink and opaque. Larger shrimp will take a little longer to cook.
How to peel and devein shrimp
I typically buy my raw shrimp with just the tail attached, but many shrimp also come still in the shell. If your shrimp have shells on them, you can easily remove them by pulling the main part of the shell off with your fingers, then removing the tail end of the shell. You may also need to devein your shrimp. If you see a dark line running across the top of the the shrimp, you can remove it by using a paring knife to cut a slit along the top of the shrimp, then use a knife or wooden skewer to remove the vein.
This shrimp marinade can be used on other types of seafood such as scallops, salmon, swordfish or halibut. It’s one of the very best ways to enhance the flavor of fresh seafood.
More great shrimp recipes
Shrimp Marinade
Ingredients
- 1 pound shrimp peeled and deveined, leave tails on for a nicer presentation
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
- 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons fresh parsley leaves chopped
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon chili flakes optional
Instructions
- Place the olive oil, honey, soy sauce, lemon zest, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper in a bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Reserve 1 tablespoon of the marinade for later use. Add the garlic and chili flakes to the bowl.
- Add the shrimp and marinade to a resealable freezer bag and seal. Shake to coat the shrimp with the marinade.
- Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, or up to 8 hours.
- At this point you can broil, grill or saute the shrimp for 2-3 minutes per side or until pink and opaque.
- Drizzle the reserved marinade over the cooked shrimp, then serve.
Larine Kwolek says
Omg. This was awesome. I let marinate for 8 hours, used lime zest as that was all i had. Grilled on our gas grill. Definitely a keeper.
Pam says
I had two pounds of red grilling shrimp in a bag(they are in the shell but split open and grill ready) and this was enough marinade. I was going to double it but didn’t need to. The flavor was perfect. I doubled the garlic because I love garlic but I will use this all the time as a marinade for shrimp.
Patti says
I used the shrimp marinade recipe on lovely tuna steaks, but substituted the lemon zest for lime. Also added a dash of sesame oil, fresh ginger and mashed roasted garlic to max out the marinade flavor. Marinated for an hour , then stovetop fried for just a minute in olive oil, came out FANTASTIC!🌺
ron says
This is our “go to” marinade for shrimp…our whole family love them…that’s the problem, never enough for me
Julie says
Question… can this also be used for cooked, peeled and deveined shrimp? We accidently bought the cooked. Thank you!
Sara says
I haven’t tried it this way, I think it would work but you’d need to just gently rewarm the shrimp so they don’t get tough and rubbery.
Susan says
I also bought cooked, frozen, but high quality shrimp. Defrosted under cold water then ziplock bagged them in the marinade for a couple of hours in the fridge. Placed shrimp on foil on hot bbq grill to heat through, basting with marinade. Tender and delicious!
Ruthie G. says
This is the best marinate I’ve ever tasted !!! My granddaughter grilled them in our Ninja indoor grill . We have made the shrimp at least a 1/2 dozen times now and every time thay are better than the first. Love this can’t get enough !
ginny senden says
I grilled my shrimp after marinating for for 90 minutes. Served it with Orzo dish,I wish I had done more shrimp Sent pictures to my foodie children. I will most likely make this again in a couple of days Soo very delicious !! Great cure for Sheltering Boredom.
Madeline says
I’m here to tell you I cooked this tonight and it was delicious!! I used large (16-20) shrimp and marinated overnight. I cooked on a skillet with 1 Tbsp of oil over medium heat for 2.5 minutes per side. This was perfect! If you’re using a skillet it’s important not to move the shrimp around to get the best sear. I don’t touch the shrimp except to flip it.
I made shrimp bowls with quinoa cooked in chicken broth, romaine lettuce, avocado, cucumbers, peppers, zucchini and parsley. I made huge bowls and we ate every bite!
Luci says
I can already tell this is going to be awesome! I’ll be making it for dinner tomorrow night.
Brian Cresswell says
I have never replied to a recipe blog , until today. We tried this recipe 2 weeks ago, and cooked the shrimp in the skillet. Tonight, I cooked them on the gas grill with a Yoshi mat. They were amazing! The grill gave the marinade on the outside a little crunch. Highly recommended.
Sara says
So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe, thanks for reporting back!
Tom S says
Excellent Marinade. Wife loved it. It wasn’t too salty after marinating for an hour. I added lemon juice and lemon zest.
Juanita says
I cooked this for my priest they really like it. I went home made some for my family. Loved it!
Jeb says
My wife and I love this!! Made it just now and now one of our new favs!! I grilled our shrimp on a wood fired grill and the lemon note is the bomb in this dish!! Great job!
Debbie says
Made it last night and it was amazing!
Catalina says
These shrimp look fabulous! My family will go crazy over these!
Katerina @ diethood .com says
mmm..this looks fantastic!! A must try!!
Chrissie Baker says
Looks really good… My husband and I love shrimp and are always looking For new and different recipes… Trying this recipe next weekend…
Melanie Bauer says
Looks so delish! Everyone will surely love this, definitely having this on our table!
Beth Pierce says
I just picked up some shrimp from the store so this couldn’t be more perfect to try out! Looking forward to making this for dinner tonight!
Demeter says
This is so perfect all summer long! Such a flavorful dish.