A Super-Easy Way to Cook Shrimp for Use in Recipes

We grill shrimp at Glover Gardens quite a bit, and when there are leftovers, I use them in various ways: shrimp tacos, a Louie salad, shrimp paninis, Fiesta Grilled Shrimp Dip, and more.

But sometimes we want to make something that calls for cooked shrimp, and don’t have leftovers, so we need to cook shrimp, and cook it quickly. Here’s an easy, foolproof, delicious and quick way to cook shrimp: roasting it in a very hot oven. I just did this last night for a salad here at Gumbo Cove with fresh-caught shrimp, and it was divine.

Baked Shrimp Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. peeled and deveined shrimp, on the larger side
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. Zippy Cajun, Zippy Southwest or other spice mix that you love, like Old Bay

Cooking Instructions

Preheat oven to 475°, and line a baking sheet with foil. Put shrimp in a medium bowl, add olive oil and seasoning mix and stir, ensuring that all shrimp are coated. Space them out on the cookie sheet, then bake for 4 1/2 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet.

Notes

We like to use 16/20 shrimp for this, meaning that there are 16 – 20 shrimp per pound (with heads and shells on). If you use smaller shrimp, cook them for a shorter period of time. They’re done when they just turn pink.

Arugula, Shrimp and Goat Cheese Salad

The baked shrimp adorned my throw-down salad compiled from the random ingredients I had on hand perfectly, as though I had a master plan (I didn’t). I will share the recipe for my arugula, shrimp and goat cheese salad later this week.

Join Me in the Kitchen

Endless Uses

Once they’re done, these shrimp are ready for use in various recipes such as salads, tacos, paninis, pasta dishes, quesadillas, skewered with grape tomatoes, feta and pickled onions, etc. Or you can just serve them piled up on a plate as a main course, or as a marvelous protein for smorgasbord. The possibilities are endless!

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