Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
If you haven’t tried baked shrimp, you’re missing out
This baked shrimp recipe is inspired by two of my all-time favorite Kitchn recipes: Meghan Splawn’s Shrimp Scampi Pasta and Yasmin Fahr’s Garlicky Shrimp and White Beans. Both of these recipes take the garlic flavor to the next level by marinating the shrimp in garlic before cooking, so that’s exactly what I did here.
This recipe delivers buttery, garlicky, full-flavored shrimp in under an hour. To make it a meal, serve the dish with rice pilaf, cooked orzo, creamy polenta or crusty bread.
The best marinade for baked shrimp
I love a garlicky marinade that can be whisked together in the baking dish. Start by finely chopping six cloves of garlic and transferring half to the baking dish (you’ll use the rest for the garlic butter). Add the zest of one lemon, a tablespoon of olive oil and some salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine.
Clean and devein 1 ½ pounds of extra-jumbo shrimp, then add to the baking dish. Toss the shrimp in the garlic mixture until the shrimp are well-coated, then transfer to the refrigerator to marinate for 20 minutes. While the shrimp marinate, you can prepare the rest of the ingredients and the garlic butter, which you’ll toss with the marinated shrimp before baking.
The best temperature for baking shrimp
The best temperature for baked shrimp is 400 degrees. Any lower, and the shrimp tends to come out a bit mushy. Plus, a lower temperature means a longer bake time.
Do you peel the shrimp?
Yes! If you want all those delicious garlic flavors to penetrate the shrimp, I recommend peeling them. I do prefer to keep the tails intact to act as little handles. But if you prefer no tails, simply remove them before baking.
I don’t like garlic — what should I do?
Feel free to customize the flavors according to your palate. My recommendation would be to use ginger in place of garlic and cilantro in place of parsley. As long as you keep the cooking method the same, you really can’t go wrong.