Try out this quick and easy 5 ingredient recipe for honey garlic shrimp skillet. Ready for the table in just 20 minutes with a combination flavor of savory and light sweetness! Pair it with some veggies or on a bed of rice or pasta/noodles.
So here we have a super simple recipe for honey garlic shrimp skillet. It’s yummy, it’s healthy and really easy to make. With a flavor combination of savory and sweet and a slightly smoky aftertaste (depending on how much rubbing you did on the burned on bits), it pairs well with most veggies as a side or on a bed of pasta, noodles or rice.
When I say super easy, I mean 5 ingredient easy and less than 15 minutes cooking time easy. Shrimp cooks so quickly, it’s such a great fast fix for any meal of the day.
So let’s begin.
I used jumbo peeled shrimp with tail on for these. They just tend to look better in pics but you can use whatever kind of shrimp you like or can easily get your hands on. Start making your honey garlic sauce which is basically just some honey, soy sauce, ginger and garlic. I wasn’t lying when I said simple.
Make the sauce and divide it into half. Half for the marinade and half for the drizzle. While the ingredients are simple, the fun is in the execution. I said shrimp cooks quickly so you’ll want to get your pan nice and hot before cooking so they have a gorgeous sear. The honey will caramelize a little and stuff will get stuck to the bottom of the pan. Use some tongs to gently rub the shrimp on the stuck on bits to get it nice and blackened. Here’s where you get the smoky aftertaste.
One minute per side and your shrimp is cooked! I did this in two batches. Then remove the pan from heat and you’re ready to serve these babies drizzled with the leftover sauce.
And that’s it! Happy cooking!
PS: Love noodles? Try pairing this over a bed of hibachi noodles. I tried this once and it was great!
More honey garlic recipes:
- Honey garlic chicken skillet
- Crispy honey garlic chicken
- Honey garlic salmon
- Slow cooker honey garlic chicken
- Honey roasted chicken
- Honey garlic chicken skewers
Honey Garlic Shrimp Skillet
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined with tail on
Sauce:
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger, minced
- 4 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
Instructions
- Combine the sauce ingredients and divide it into half
- Marinate the shrimp with one half of the sauce for 15-30 minutes. Discard marinade
- Over medium high heat in a 10″ skillet, pan sear the shrimp in some oil. Sear them on both sides in two batches until browned, about 1 minute per side
- Using tongs, rub the shrimp into the caramelized bits on the bottom of the pan
- Dish and serve hot drizzled with the remaining sauce
Notes
For even more flavor, try adding in some red pepper flakes for heat or fresh lime juice for zest!
If you like cilantro, lime and red pepper flakes, try out this variation of cilantro lime honey garlic shrimp skillet!
This recipe sears better in a cast iron pan and may not perform as well with caramelized bits in non-stick pans.
192 Comments
Annie
July 18, 2015 at 2:51 AMHi Farah, looking forward to trying this yummy dish. I’ve never cooked shrimp before. Can you tell me is this precooked shrimp or raw shrimp? Thank you!
The Cooking Jar
July 18, 2015 at 1:06 PMHeya Annie! Oh, I never thought to specify that it’s raw for beginner shrimp cooks! It’s raw shrimp in the recipe. Shrimp by itself doesn’t need a long time to cook and can overcook easily, so you will very rarely need to cook pre-cooked shrimp again! You’ll know you overcooked shrimp when they start shrinking. Hope this helps.
Ashley
August 24, 2015 at 10:32 AMThis was going to be my exact question! Living in Oklahoma, we have our shrimp flown in and occasionally we get raw shrimp at the local grocery store. Thanks for answering it!
I can’t wait to try this for dinner or on a salad for lunch!
The Cooking Jar
August 25, 2015 at 2:35 PMWell I’m glad you found an answer in the comments! I’m really glad they’re around to help folks 🙂 I never thought to include it on a salad. What a great idea!
Cammy
July 30, 2015 at 7:16 PMHey,
It’s the first time I’ve cooked for my girlfriend and properly cooked at all for that matter! I really want to try this because I know we will both love it! I was just wondering what else would you eat this with? A side dish maybe? Thank you.
The Cooking Jar
July 30, 2015 at 7:27 PMHeya, Cammy! Some veggies should on that plate with it for sure. It’s always good practice to balance out your proteins with some veggies. Asparagus, green beans, broccoli or zucchini will work fine. I have a few asparagus and green bean recipes under the vegetarian category if you want to try some of them. And maybe some garlic bread to get you started?
Cammy
July 30, 2015 at 7:57 PMAmazing! Thank you so much! X
The Cooking Jar
August 1, 2015 at 6:39 PMYup yup!
Mrs. Sutton
August 17, 2015 at 9:33 PMYum yum! This recipe was easy peasy. Oh and very tasty. Thanks!
The Cooking Jar
August 19, 2015 at 2:04 PMMost welcome! Thanks for trying it out 🙂
Janet Pallavicini
September 6, 2015 at 10:07 AMHow do you eat them – seems like you loose all the good stuff by having to cut open and remove the shell.
I’m rating 4 stars cause it looks beautiful. JRP/AZ
★★★★
The Cooking Jar
September 6, 2015 at 5:37 PMHeya, Janet. You can cook them with their shells on as well. A lot of people I know tend to shy away from shrimp with shells on and prefer not to get their hands dirty so I’ve made this with them in mind. I don’t mind it either way. So I guess it all depends on personal preference. But I personally feel that there are some recipes like butter prawns/shrimp where keeping the shell on makes it even better!
MC
September 7, 2015 at 6:44 PMThis recipe is poorly written. You could explain how you got the nice sear on your shrimp like you did in your pictures and what type of skillet you used. My shrimp did not come out looking yours did in the picture at all. Did you use any oil when you were searing the shrimp?
The Cooking Jar
September 7, 2015 at 9:33 PMHeya MC. You can find the explanation on how to get the nice sear in line 4 of the instructions:
“Using tongs, rub the shrimp into the caramelized bits on the bottom of the pan”
When your pan gets nice and hot, the honey will caramelize a little on the bottom of the pan. Rubbing the shrimp into these blackened bits will give it that blackened look like the pictures. I tend to go into a more detailed explanation on the technique I use in my blurb before the recipe, so sometimes it’s useful to read that as well. I used a 10″ cast iron skillet like the pictures but you can use any kind of skillet you have available. The size really does not matter. Just be sure not to overcrowd the shrimp while cooking so they don’t end up steaming instead of searing. And rub your shrimp into the caramelized bits! I’ve updated the recipe to include the size of the pan and to mention searing with oil!
Jessica
September 10, 2015 at 2:30 PMI made this last night with bell peppers and brown rice and it was a hit! This is going into the rotation! Thank you!!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
September 10, 2015 at 3:23 PMDid you sear the bell peppers in the same pan? Blackened bell peppers are so great! You’re very welcome, Jessica and thanks for letting me know 🙂
Wendy
October 5, 2015 at 7:28 PMThis was delicious. I did add maybe a tablespoon of oil to the marinade. I’ll be making this often.
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
October 12, 2015 at 8:46 AMThank you, Wendy! I’m happy you found a staple.
Ashley
October 16, 2015 at 9:00 PMThis recipe was absolutely amazing! I will definitely be making this again! Thank you so much for sharing!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
October 19, 2015 at 10:07 AMGreat to hear it, Ashley! Thanks for letting me know you loved it :))
Shana
October 27, 2015 at 6:10 PMAttempted this one tonight. I am not much of a cook so I don’t think I got the searing of the shrimp quite right, but the flavor was still good. Will keep practicing. My family seemed to like it ok and made suggestions that I see others have made reading the comments. Will give them a try. I really liked how simple it was. I think part of my issues was just not getting the pan hot enough. Will definitely try to make sure it is hot enough next time. Thanks for a great recipe!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
October 29, 2015 at 7:14 PMYou’re welcome, Shana! A hot pan will definitely help. You need it hot enough to caramelize the leftover marinade on the shrimp before overcooking the shrimp. Letting the shrimp rest instead of stirring it around while it cooks gives it more chance for it and the pan to char up. I haven’t tried this on a non-stick pan, only cast iron though so that might be an issue if you used non-stick. The more stuff that caramelizes and sticks on, the more stuff to have to rub the shrimp into to ‘blacken’ it, if that makes any sense. It’s not really any kind of pro cooking method that I’m aware of, just something I made up in the kitchen for every day cooking.
Mrs. Smith
December 4, 2015 at 9:28 PMThis was the most delicious recipe for shrimp that I had ever used! The charred pieces were the best part! I was hesitant about using so much soy sauce because its taste can be somewhat overpowering. Luckily I didn’t have that issue and will utilize this as a staple in my meal prep. Thank you!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
December 7, 2015 at 2:21 PMIt’s one of my favorites too! You’re absolutely welcome and I’m happy you found a new staple. About the soy sauce, It’s all about balancing flavors which I try to do with everything on the blog. 🙂
Rebecca P
December 14, 2015 at 6:21 PMJust made your sauce!! I only had the smaller shrimp and a bigger crowd, I dusted them with corn starch and fired up in smaller btaches, made 3 times the sauce and tossed it together. Big hit with the family!!!
The Cooking Jar
December 16, 2015 at 12:45 PMWonderful idea with the cornstarch to give it some crunch! Also works to make the sauce slightly thicker when combined. 🙂
Sydney
January 11, 2016 at 10:19 PMThis was SO delicious!! Thank you so much for sharing. I did squeeze some lemon juice on top, and it was well worth it. I also paired this dish with some steamed asparagus. Definitely will be making this again.
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
January 16, 2016 at 10:13 PMAppreciate it, Sydney! I love salmon with asparagus, it works so well. And lemon juice gives it a nice touch for those that like that kind of flavor.
Kev
January 14, 2016 at 8:58 PMI’m sorry…but this was awful.
The Cooking Jar
January 16, 2016 at 10:13 PMSorry to hear it didn’t work out for you, Kev. What didn’t you like about it?
Shari
January 30, 2016 at 8:32 PMDelish!!! Made this tonight. I made a double batch of the sauce and heated and drizzled on the shrimp as suggested. I made about 1.5 #’s of shrimp. Thank you for sharing!!!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
February 1, 2016 at 1:40 PMGreat to hear! Thanks for trying it out, Shari. Always appreciate some feedback.