Honey Garlic Shrimp
Restaurant-quality honey garlic shrimp, ready in just 30 minutes! It’s not your average sweet and spicy shrimp: the sticky honey, hot white pepper, garlic, rich sesame oil, and zesty citrus add so much depth to the sauce and tenderize the caramelized shrimp until they nearly melt in your mouth.
My honey garlic shrimp recipe puts all of my favorite flavors in Chinese cooking on display — a touch of spice, some tip-of-your-tongue sweetness paired with just the right amount of salt, and a savory sauce that ties it all together.
You won’t find an easier honey garlic shrimp recipe out there. After marinating the shrimp, it all goes into the pan to make a sweet and sticky soy sauce glaze. It caramelizes beautifully on the honey garlic shrimp, seeps into the rice, and coats the stir-fried veggies on your plate.
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And it’s so quick! Aside from the 20 minutes spent marinating, it takes only 10 minutes to prepare.
Looking for more recipes like this? You’ll love my Chinese sticky chicken! It takes a little longer to make, but it’s really filling and has a tingling, mouthwatering spice to it that I know you’ll love.
Clean shrimp!
Most markets have the shrimp already deveined for you. On the chance you need to do it yourself: To devein shrimp swiftly, use a small paring knife or kitchen shears to make a shallow incision along the back. Gently lift out the dark vein with the tip of the knife or a deveining tool. Rinse the shrimp under cold water to ensure they are clean before cooking.
- Large Raw Shrimp – You can use frozen as long as they are thawed and patted dry before marinating.
- Green Onions – This onion is great for adding fresh texture, flavor, and color to a dish as its finishing touch. Chives are an excellent alternative if you need one.
- Marinade – The marinade for this honey garlic shrimp recipe has a honey base, of course. It thoroughly coats the seafood in its sweet, sticky texture and has a history in Chinese cuisine. It’s flavored with ¼ cup of soy sauce, minced garlic, and:
- Sesame Oil – This is a very strong, fragrant oil with an unmistakable aroma.
- Lime Juice – You may substitute lime juice with lemon juice when needed.
- White Pepper – It simply has to be white pepper for authentic Chinese cooking! Black pepper is an adequate substitute, but the lingering heat from white pepper is a defining trait of Chinese dishes that you’ll surely miss with a substitution.
- Chop the Green Onion. Trim the white ends and very tops off the green onions, then slice them diagonally into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.
- Make the Marinade. Add the marinade ingredients to a small bowl and combine with a whisk. Set aside.
- Clean & Marinate the Seafood. Clean and devein the shrimps, pinching off the tail shells and discarding. Drop the shelled shrimp into the marinade. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Sear. After 20 minutes, heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Once the oil warms, remove the bowl from the refrigerator. Take each shrimp and shake off the excess marinade before adding to the pan. Sear them for 1 minute on each side, just until opaque and cooked through, then set aside on a plate.
- Reduce the Sauce. Pour the marinade into the saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir for 2 or 3 minutes as it thickens and reduces. Return the honey garlic shrimp to the pan and toss to coat.
- Serve. Serve right away, hot and steaming, over fresh rice or vegetables. Sprinkle sesame seeds and the sliced green onion on top.
Recommended Tools
- Skillet – When you need to quickly sear any protein, whether that be seafood or chicken or something else entirely, you need to use a good-quality skillet that holds heat. Cast iron or stainless steel are your best options.
Storing and Reheating
Leftover honey garlic shrimp can be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to 4 days. It’s best not to take chances with seafood — if it’s not eaten by the fourth day, discard it.
To avoid overcooking leftovers, slowly bring them back to temperature on the stovetop, sauce and all. You can also briefly microwave in short, 15-second intervals until warmed through.
As convenient as it is to leave your proteins to marinate overnight, you cannot do this with shrimp. The meat is too soft — if marinated for longer than 20 minutes, it will begin to deteriorate. So unless you like your seafood mushy, marinate for a maximum of 20 minutes!
It thickens and reduces well in the saucepan. If this leaves you with less sauce than you’d like, you could always double the marinade ingredients. Then, allow it to simmer into an even thicker, richer glaze.
Alternatively, you can make a cornstarch slurry of equal parts cold water and cornstarch and stir it into the sauce to thicken in. Use only small amounts at a time — it’s very effective!
It is very easy to overcook shrimp. The trick is to cook them until just opaque — that is, no longer translucent — and the flesh completely pink.
Do not add them back to the pan until the final few moments, and only to coat in the sauce. They don’t need any more cooking!
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Honey Garlic Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs large raw shrimp
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 green onions cut on the diagonal
Marinade
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp lime juice (from 1 lime)
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
Instructions
- Cut the green onion ends off and discard any outer leave that are not edible. Slice them on the diagonal into small bite size pieces. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together honey, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, lime juice and white pepper.
- Devein and clean the shrimp. Pinch off the tail shells and discard. Add shrimp to the honey soy mixture and marinate 20 minutes, covered, in the refrigerator.
- Heat oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Shake off excess marinade and add the shrimp to the pan. Sear on each side; 1 minute until opaque and cooked through, turn over and cook about 1 minute more. Remove the shrimp and set aside.
- Add marinade to pan and bring to a boil. It should reduce and thicken, about 2 -3 minutes. Add the shrimp back to the pan and toss the shrimp in the sauce to coat the shrimp.
- Serve over steamed rice and sprinkle green onions and sesame seeds on top.
Video
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Great shrimp recipe, I love garlic and this was so good
I could eat this at least once a week myself Dave!
cant wait to make this soon can i use mushrooms cant wait to try this in my air fryer i never had honey garlic shrimp before perfect for my after office meals love your recipes as always brightens up my day everyday after work
I really think you will enjoy this one Ramya, one of my favorites!