Name: Barbecued Shrimp
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 20 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 lb shelled medium to large shrimp; Seasonings:1 t cayenne pepper1 t black pepper1/2 t salt1/t crushed red pepper1/2 t dried thyme leaves1/2 t dried rosemary leaves1/8 t dried oregano leaves; 1 stick plus 2 T butter - in all (Paul says 5)1 1/2 t minced fresh garlic1 t Worcestershire sauce1/2 c shrimp stock (Using the shells from your shrimp, add 1 c water to them. Place in a pot and boil a few minutes until shells turn pink. Let steep while making recipe. Use only 1/2 c)1/4 c beer at room temperature; 1 small loaf of good French bread

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Barbequed Shrimp isn't made on the grill. It's made on the stove with lots of garlic and pepper and butter. This barbecued shrimp eats butter like I eat this shrimp. The best part is it's ready to eat in less than 20 minutes!

Barbecued shrimp in a buttery red sauce with a spoon scooping out shrimp and green parsley on top.

My Not-So-Private Love of Shrimp

I’m giving you a recipe for spectacular, truly not kosher, barbecued shrimp, though it doesn't use traditional barbecue sauce.

I love shrimp and have a lot of shrimp recipes here at TIHIC!

Yes, The challah dough is rising, the rugelach dough is in the fridge and the kadaif is thawing. Plus the chicken soup is in the freezer.

Yeah, it seems strange to me, too. I was raised in a small town with maybe 80 Jewish families, and no one that I know of kept kosher.

My grandparents, to my knowledge, never ate pork or shellfish and probably wouldn't have thought to mix milk or meat, but they didn't keep kosher.

My grandfather became a butcher when he came to this country and began a grocery store, but he never slaughtered his own meat, though he sure was known for it.

barbequed shrimp in cast iron skillet with spoon and buttery sauce

Everyone loved my uncle and papa's stores and their meat was renowned. That is what I know.

I don't know when I learned the concept of keeping kosher.

I don't know when I first tasted lobster, but I know my mother loved it.

Shrimp d'Jonghe, or shrimp with garlic butter, was available at all the quaint restaurants on the Kankakee River, along with catfish and frog legs. Maybe it was there?

In any case, I never really understood the kosher concept until I became friendly with a family from Israel when we were both studying in Fort Collins.

They adopted me in the second family sense, and I was very happy to be adopted.

They are still a part of my life, and we have been close all these years.

So, to say I feel a bit guilty about posting all these recipes that are totally treif, well, I do.

But I am who I am and I eat what I eat, and I will happily keep kosher when I am with them.

In the meantime, I eat bottom feeders. Ouch. Truly, I've given up meat, so why is it so tough to give up shrimp?

Well, probably because they don't have pretty brown eyes that gaze at me soulfully. Enough already.

This barbecued shrimp recipe is an outstanding, truly rich, totally to-die-for recipe.

I made it when my in-laws were here because they brought me fresh shrimp, fresh from the Gulf. And, well, I just had to do something with them.

babrbecued shrimp on bread on white plate with cilantro and buttery sauce

I love Cajun cooking, and my MIL is from Mississippi. Pre-kid, the manservant and I used to visit The Big Easy and eat. And eat. AND EAT. Those were the good old days.

This was when Paul Prudhomme was king and, in my book, still is.

In 1975, he brought Commander's Palace back to what it is today, and he was the one who hired Emeril to take his place when he opened K-Paul's. You know—that guy?

If you read Paul's bio he sounds like quite a colorful character and would probably be a lot of fun to hang with. We ate at K-Pauls, and we ate at Commanders. And we ate until we got on the plane to come home.

Truthfully, if we hadn't come home, I would have probably found myself in the gutter retching because my tummy couldn't have held another bite. Rich food it is.

barbecued shrimp in a buttery sauce on french bread

Barbecued Shrimp New Orleans-Style

Ever since those 8o's years, I have cooked from Paul. I have one favorite cookbook of his, Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen, published in 1984, that has many recipes I truly adore.

But New Orleans BBQ shrimp was one I still had yet to do, and so I decided to make this barbecued shrimp.

Though they are traditionally served in the shell, I'm not good with finger food. I don't like foods that need to be nibbled off the bone.

So, I took the shells off and these were still good great. He has the original recipe on his website but I'm going to give it to you the way I did it.

And, as Julia Child believed, Paul does, too. Yeah, butter is a key component of this dish. Plenty of butter!

Yes, this doesn't fall into the healthy recipes category but it certainly falls into my category of favorite dishes

I also love potatoes and had never made his cajun potatoes, so I figured it was time. Yeah, rice is the tradition, but well, I love potatoes. They were mighty fine. Mighty fine.

It was hard to share. And so it is that I find myself in the midst of cooking for Yom Kippur, the holiest of holidays and giving you a shrimp recipe.

Please forgive me, G-d.

But I found out that Paul Prudhomme was asked to join the celebration of Jerusalem's 3000th birthday in 1996 and to make a kosher recipe for King David's feast.

I feel redeemed. The problem is that his bio didn't say what he made. Well, I guess barbecued shrimp it wasn't.

Ingredients for New Orleans-Style BBQ Shrimp

Large or jumbo shrimp: You will want shell-on shrimp to make the fish stock needed for the delicious sauce.

The Worcestershire-spiked butter sauce includes:

Butter: Real butter, no substitutes, please!
Garlic
Worcestershire sauce
Beer

Cajun seasoning includes:

Cayenne pepper
Black pepper
Salt
Red pepper
Thyme
Rosemary
Oregano

How to Serve with This Delicious Shrimp Dish

Serve barbecued shrimp in big shallow bowls over rice, grits or angel hair pasta with a side of cole slaw with peanuts and lots of crusty French bread to dip in the melted butter savory sauce.

Sprinkle with a garnish of chopped green onions, fresh thyme, and red pepper flakes if you need extra heat.

babrbecue shrimp in cast iron skillet in buttery spicy sauce

How To Make Barbecued Shrimp

Begin by combining all of the dry seasonings. That's what gives this juicy bbq shrimp recipe a ton of flavor.

In a large skillet, melt a stick of butter. I used my favorite large cast iron skillet.

Add the deveined shrimp and stir until the shrimp turn pink

Add the remaining butter and some shrimp stock. (If you don't have shrimp stock, use bottled clam juice.)

Shake and stir the pan for about two minutes more while adding the beer.

The idea is to keep the buttery sauce from separating.

This barbecued shrimp is a delicious dish that can be served with hot sauce on the side if you want an extra kick!

Now I bet you are wondering why this dish is called barbeque shrimp.

Well the sauce turns a barbecue red from the shrimp and the seasonings and apparently that's how it got its name.

You could call it best shrimp ever and I would agree.

New Orleans style barbecued shrimp served with hunks of crisp French bread is perfect for an appetizer or dinner.

Perfect for Mardi Gras or game day.

I love serving it in shallow bowls so you can sop up the sauce with plenty of bread!

This barbequed shrimp is so easy to make and everyone loves it.

Guessing you will, too!

barbecued shrimp on white plate in buttery sauce with blue striped napkin

Other New Orleans-Style Recipes You Might Enjoy

Shrimp and Grits

King Cake

Cajun Fish with Brown Butter & Pecans

cajun fish with pecans and browned butter.

Other N'Awlins Recipes

I'd love to hear if you make this recipe!

Please share a review or rate the recipe,

and be sure to tag me on social!

Recipe

Barbecued Shrimp

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Author: Abbe Odenwalder
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Total Time: 20 Minutes
Yield: 4 Servings 1x
Category: Main Course/Appetizer
Method: Stove Top
Cuisine: American

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Description

The best bbq shrimp recipe straight from New Orleans. Made in a skillet, not on a grill. These buttery, spicy shrimp are so good!

Ingredients

Scale

1 lb shelled medium to large shrimp

Seasonings:
1 t cayenne pepper
1 t black pepper
½ t salt
1/t crushed red pepper
½ t dried thyme leaves
½ t dried rosemary leaves
⅛ t dried oregano leaves

1 stick plus 2 T butter - in all (Paul says 5)
1 ½ t minced fresh garlic
1 t Worcestershire sauce
½ c shrimp stock (Using the shells from your shrimp, add 1 c water to them. Place in a pot and boil a few minutes until shells turn pink. Let steep while making recipe. Use only ½ c)
¼ c beer at room temperature

1 small loaf of good French bread

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Instructions

Combine seasoning ingredients.

In a large skillet, combine 1 stick of butter, garlic, Worcestershire and seasoning mix, over high heat.

When the butter is melted, add the shrimp. Cook for two minutes, shaking the pan, not stirring, in a back and forth motion. Add remaining 2 T butter and the ½ c of stock. Cook and shake pan for 2 minutes. Add the beer and cook and shake the pan 1 minute longer. Remove from heat.

Place two slices of bread in center of plate. Spoon ¼ of shrimp mixture and sauce on top.

I served this with Paul's potatoes and Emeril's peanut cole slaw. Oh my.