This lemon pepper shrimp is quick, easy and delicious! In this recipe, shrimp is cooked in olive oil and butter with garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest and black pepper. Simple ingredients let the shrimp, lemon and black pepper shine.
Serve this shrimp dish as an appetizer with crusty bread for dipping. Or, serve it over pasta or a salad as an entrée. And, if you want another delicious recipe with lemon pepper, try this Lemon Pepper Pasta.
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Ingredients
- 1½ pounds Shrimp, peeled and cleaned (we used medium shrimp 41/50)
- 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 4 tablespoons Butter
- 3 Garlic Cloves, minced
- ¼ cup Lemon Juice (2-3 large lemons, depending on how juicy they are)
- 1½ – 2 tablespoons Lemon Zest, plus extra for garnish, if desired
- ½ – 1 teaspoon Fresh Ground Black Pepper, depending on taste (as a reference we used 1 teaspoon), plus extra for serving
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- Chopped Parsley, for garnish, if desired
- Bread, Pasta or Salad for serving, if desired
Prep Work
Get everything ready to go before you start cooking. The shrimp cooks in less than 10 minutes. There is no time for prep in between adding ingredients.
Peel and clean the shrimp. We usually buy frozen, easy-to-peel, deveined shrimp. Refrigerate overnight to defrost, or place the shrimp in a large colander and defrost them under running cold water while peeling them. Then, pat dry with a paper towel.
Use a lemon zester to zest the lemons. 2 lemons yielded about 2 tablespoons of zest for us, but they were pretty big lemons. Roughly chop the lemon zest if it’s in long strips.
Juice the lemons. We used 2 lemons and were able to squeeze the ¼ cup of juice easy. These lemons were juicy but sometimes they can be a little dry, use more or less as needed. Use a fine mesh strainer to collect the seeds, that way you’re not fishing them out of the juice.
Measure out the rest of the ingredients and we’re done with prep work! I like to keep all my prepped ingredients in glass nesting bowls. They keep everything organized and take the stress out of cooking.
Serving the lemon pepper shrimp
If you’re making pasta to serve with the shrimp make sure it’s almost ready before starting the shrimp. Keep in mind that the shrimp will require your full attention from start to finish, but that’s only like 9-10 minutes.
If you’re serving the shrimp with bread, like we did, toast it lightly before serving. Slice a baguette about ½ inch thick on the bias. Then, arrange the bread on a sheet pan and bake in a preheated oven at 300°F for just a few minutes until the tops are lightly toasted.
Cook the shrimp
Heat the olive oil and the butter in a large, deep, non-stick skillet over medium heat. When the butter is melted and the oil is hot, but nowhere near smoking, add the garlic.
Cook the garlic for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Add the shrimp to the skillet and cook them for approximately 3 minutes, or until they start to turn pink, stir occasionally.
Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, black pepper and salt to the shrimp. Stir to combine the ingredients well and cook gently for 2-3 minutes or until the shrimp is cooked through. If the sauce starts boiling vigorously, lower the heat. Keep the sauce barely at a simmer.
Cooking time for shrimp will vary depending on their size. When shrimp is cooked through it will no longer be translucent, it will curl and will turn a pinkish color.
Look for these signs, as they will be a more accurate indication that the shrimp are done than the cooking time.
Garnish the shrimp with a little extra lemon zest or parsley and serve with extra black pepper, if desired.
You may also like these shrimp recipes:
- Garlic Shrimp Pasta
- Camarones al Ajillo (Garlic Shrimp)
- Camarones Enchilados (Spicy Shrimp)
- Shrimp Lo Mein
Lemon Pepper Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1½ pound Shrimp peeled and cleaned (we used medium shrimp 41/50)
- 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 4 tablespoons Butter
- 3 Garlic Cloves minced
- ¼ cup Lemon Juice 2-3 large lemons, depending on how juicy they are
- 1½ – 2 tablespoons Lemon Zest plus extra for garnish, if desired
- ½ – 1 teaspoon Fresh Ground Black Pepper depending on taste (plus extra for serving)
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- Chopped Parsley for garnish, optional
- Bread Pasta or Salad for serving, optional
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil and the butter in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. When the butter is melted and the oil is hot (but nowhere near smoking) add the garlic.
- Cook the garlic for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Add the shrimp to the skillet and cook them for approximately 3 minutes or until they start to turn pink, stir occasionally.
- Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, black pepper and salt to the shrimp. Stir to combine the ingredients well.
- Cook the shrimp gently for 2-3 minutes or until cooked through. Cooking time for shrimp will vary depending on their size. When cooked through they will no longer be translucent, curl and turn a pinkish color.
- Garnish the shrimp with extra lemon zest or parsley and serve with extra black pepper, if desired.
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