Cilantro lime honey garlic shrimp skillet is smoky, sweet, zesty and savory. This 30-minute meal is quick and easy without skimping on the flavor.
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Today we’re making cilantro lime honey garlic shrimp skillet which is another quick skillet recipe for those looking for a healthy weeknight meal. It’s zesty, it’s packed full of flavor and delicious. Once I started sneaking a few in-between shots, I couldn’t stop.
It’s infused with the freshness of cilantro and lime, a little heat from red pepper flakes and marinated lovingly in a honey garlic sauce. And if you love the sauce, you’ll get to drizzle more of it later. And maybe more lime juice. Because I have to say the lime juice was the star of the show for me.
Now if you want, you can even skewer these and grill them. But for those that want to stay in front of the stove or have an aversion to sharp pointy objects, skillet this away! I’m doing this on a cast iron skillet so there are caramelized bits from the honey we can rub the shrimp into later to give it a blackened, smoky look. And if you want it smokier, feel free to sprinkle some smoked paprika into the sauce. Let’s start cooking.
How To Make Cilantro Lime Honey Garlic Shrimp (1 Min Video)
Ingredients in Cilantro Lime Honey Garlic Shrimp
CILANTRO LIME HONEY GARLIC SHRIMP RECIPE TIPS
We start by chopping up whatever needs to be chopped up. Then make your sauce. It’s super easy. Add as much red pepper flakes or cayenne as you want. It can be as hot as you like or don’t like it. Just tailor it to your taste buds or the taste buds of the most vocal member of your family at the table. That way, everyone is happy. 😉
I went with large peeled and deveined shrimp with the tail on for looks, but you can go tail off or even go for jumbo shrimp. Marinate the shrimp in half the sauce for 15-30 minutes. By now, you’ll be infused with a breath of fresh cilantro so you should be in a good mood during this idle time.
Then we heat up the skillet over medium-high heat and start cooking the shrimp. Discard the marinade and cook your shrimp in batches. It won’t take too long, about 1 minute per side.
Just be sure not to overcrowd the pan so the shrimp doesn’t steam instead of sear. Give it some room to breathe. Then rub it into any caramelized bits with your tongs in between batches to get it nice and blackened.
Once that’s all done, you’re ready to serve. Now you can drizzle the remaining sauce as is, thicken the sauce over the stovetop with a cornstarch slurry if you want it slightly more concentrated in flavor, or double the sauce if you want more to go around. It all depends on how you like it. I’ve kept it a simple drizzle of the remaining sauce for now but feel free to adjust.
And that’s about it! Drizzle in more lime juice and top with more cilantro if you want and serve. Enjoy the food and let me know how you liked it, what substitutions you made, or what you paired it with in the comments below.
MORE SHRIMP RECIPES TO TRY
- Honey Garlic Shrimp
- Creamy Garlic Tuscan Shrimp
- Browned Butter Shrimp
- Lemon Garlic Butter Baked Shrimp
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Cilantro Lime Honey Garlic Shrimp Skillet
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
Cilantro lime honey garlic shrimp skillet is smoky, sweet, zesty and savory. This 30-minute meal is quick and easy without skimping on the flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
SAUCE
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger, minced
- 4 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- Red pepper flakes/cayenne, to taste
- 4 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Combine the sauce ingredients and divide it in half.
- Marinate the shrimp in half the sauce for 15-30 minutes. Discard marinade.
- Over medium-high heat in a 10″ skillet, sear the shrimp in some oil.
- Sear them on both sides in batches until browned, about 1 minute per side.
- Using tongs, rub the shrimp into caramelized bits on the bottom of the pan.
- Dish and serve hot, drizzled with remaining sauce.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Scroll up to RECIPE TIPS for more useful tips, suggestions and ingredient substitutions.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
Comments & Reviews
Best shrimp recipe ever.
I love hearing this. I ate way more of it than I should have after recipe testing. It’s been years since I made this recipe but I remember this much clearly! 😏
I made this tonight and it was awesome!! I didn’t have any fresh ginger so used ground, no worries. I messed up and put some sesame oil in, but caught my mistake and it added a really nice touch. Served over fried rice and ate more than I should have. Highly recommend
Sesame oil would definitely work adding some layers of flavor here if used sparingly. Yum! Adds a little nutty, smoky taste 🙂
Wonderful recipe! I followed the recipe exactly and served it on a bed of wild and long grain rice. It was a huge hit. I was worried that the cilantro would overpower the rest of the ingredients but it blended right in. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Thanks for sharing, Jack! I remember devouring most of this by myself – the combination of honey, lime and cilantro is pretty addictive!
Five stars! This recipe was very easy to make. My family and I loved the taste of the shrimp. Thank you.
That’s great to hear, Patricia. I’m happy everyone enjoyed it!
I still have to try out this recipe , will pretty soon, I have tried other recipes ,with shrimp, this one looks delicious! thank you for sharing!
I hope you enjoy this one too, Lorraine. Thank you for trying out my other recipes and enjoy the food!
Yummy and so easy! I shared the recipe with my daughter and she sautéed some baby bok choy in it to add some veggies. I wasn’t sure , but it didn’t take away from the yummy taste Of the shrimp. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Great addition! I love baby bok choy 🙂
So good. The first time I made them I didn’t even notice you did them in a skillet. LOL I was going to grill that day and thought this would be perfect. My hubby loves it. I made it again tonight. Next time, I’m going to stir fry them in my wok with fresh lime wedges.
Hey, if it worked, it worked right? 🙂 . If I recall, the first time I made this I ate the entire batch myself. Worth it 😉
Can this be frozen? It would be lovely if I can prep it for a week’s meal.
I’m not entirely sure, Mas. The shrimp might end up mushy if frozen and the acidity in the lime will make it even mushier. If you do decide to try it, let me know how it turned out?
Fantastic.
I am especially delighted that you have a “basic” recipe. You also use it with chicken ànd, buy just by adding some ingredients (and not changing the rest),you get another recipe. Very nice indeed !!
The honey garlic series is a good staple, although I would say this is my favorite variation of it Loooove lime!
I made this dish last night for my husband and I it was amazing I put it over Spanish rice YUM!!!
I’m glad the ground ginger substitution worked out for you, Donna! Spanish rice is an excellent side to go with it too!
Thank you for your quick response. I am making this tomorrow night. I CANT WAIT 🙂
I hope you enjoy it, Donna!
My husband made this last night and we all cleaned our plates. We served it with Lime Cilantro Rice and Mixed Vegetables. It was delicious and easy–the best kind of recipe!
Yay! I have to say this is probably one of my favorite shrimp recipes. Just talking about is making me drool! I’m surprised the cilantro on cilantro wasn’t too overpowering but I’m happy you guys enjoyed it 🙂
We love shrimp so always looking for new recipes! Thanks for the inspiration!
Absolutely, Julia. 🙂
Farah,
I’m soooo glad I found your site!!!!! I’ve saved so many of your recipes that I have to reload my printer paper again!!!!!
Every one of them seems custom picked for my family!!!! Thank you so much!!!! I’m looking forward to more recipes from you.
That’s so awesome that we seem to have the same taste buds. You’re most welcome and I hope you enjoy the recipes!
Delish! Saving this recipe for later =)
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
I don’t have fresh ginger can I use ground ginger
Yes you can, but use a lot less for ground since as a general rule it’s more concentrated than fresh stuff. I would substitute 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger for this recipe. Good luck, Donna!