30 Minute Teriyaki Shrimp

Yesterday was the big birthday BBQ! We’ve been looking forward to it all summer. Kevin’s birthday celebration was complete with all the fixings from hamburgers & hot dogs to salmon, chips & corn salsa, caprese salad, 5 bean salad, corn & edamame salad, greek dip & pitas (with hummus, feta, sun-dried tomatoes, & olives), and pasta salad. Also an assembly line of dessert including ice cream cake, peanut butter pie (topped with crushed M&Ms this time), blondies, cookies, and fresh fruit. Not to mention 5 hyper dogs, 75% humidity, and 1 sweltering hot August sun. Franklin darted around the place for 3 straight hours, then passed out at 6pm.

While I’m currently in a food coma and left with more leftovers than my fridge can handle, let me show you a healthy and massively flavorful dinner recipe I prepared for date night the other week. It took me 30 minutes and leftovers hit the spot for lunch the next day. It’s the kind of carefree dinner you’ll want around for the rest of the summer, not to mention as the weeks get busier once Fall rolls around.

The inspiration for the meal came from this 20 minute honey garlic shrimp–> which now has a recipe video so you can see how easy it is! The honey garlic shrimp meal– which only requires 5 ingredients btw– is so quick that I’ve been preparing it more times than I can count the past few months. I’ve even put the shrimp on caesar salads and eaten the leftovers cold straight from the fridge.

For a little change, I switched up the sauce for a homemade teriyaki sauce. Which is actually quite easy to make using just a few simple ingredients like soy sauce, cider vinegar, honey, and cornstarch to name a few. Basically all things you probably have in that kitchen cabinet right now. And the sauce doubles as the marinade, putting this at convenience level 10+++.

It’s the same sauce I use on this baked pineapple teriyaki chicken and blows any store-bought teriyaki out of the water.

Basically, the logistics:

Prepare sauce on the stove: 10 minutes.

Marinate shrimp in half the sauce: 10 minutes.

Cook the veggies, then the shrimp, then add the remaining sauce: 10 minutes.

Snap peas were the veggie of the evening, but you can use anything your heart desires. Even a stir-fry veggie medley with broccoli, peppers, and mushrooms. Just cook them first in a little sesame oil, then add the shrimp and remaining sauce. The sauce is wonderfully thick after it’s initially cooked, but once it heats up again over the veggies and shrimp it just becomes this sticky teriyaki glaze over the whole shebang. Lick-your-plate clean and most definitely need-rice-to-soak-it-all-up delicious.

Instead of shrimp, you can most certainly use chicken or beef– or both! Thinly slice either, then you’ll likely want to marinate it for a little longer than you would the shrimp. It will take a bit longer to cook as well. Shrimp cooks in about 3 seconds, so it’s usually my top choice on those nights where free time is fleeting.

You won’t miss the takeout. Plus, this teriyaki shrimp tastes so much better and you can completely control the ingredients, sodium, nutrition, and even switch up the veggies and alter the amount of garlic and ginger. Make this dish truly your own and what you and your family will love!

30 Minute Teriyaki Shrimp

Yield: serves 4

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon (7g) cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon (15ml) room temperature water
• 1/4 cup (50g) brown sugar
• 2 Tablespoons (42g) honey
• 1/2 cup (120ml) soy sauce
• 1/4 cup (60ml) vinegar (either rice wine or apple cider is great)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 - 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger (I use 2)
• 1 and 1/2 lbs medium-large uncooked shrimp, peeled & deveined¹
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil or olive oil
• 2-3 cups snap peas or any stir-fry veggie
• optional: sesame seeds for garnish

Directions:

1. Make the sauce: Whisk cornstarch and water together in a small bowl. It will be a milky liquid. This is for thickening the sauce. Combine the cornstarch mixture, brown sugar, honey, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and ginger together in a small saucepan over low heat. Allow to simmer while whisking occasionally. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat.
2. Place shrimp into a heat-proof bowl, then pour half of the sauce on top. Give it a stir and set aside for 10 minutes, uncovered at room temperature. If cooking later on, you can marinate the shrimp for up to a day. Keep it covered and refrigerate. (I usually begin cooking rice to have on the side at this point, but that's optional.)
3. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the snap peas, then stir and cook until crisp-tender, about 3-4 minutes. Add the shrimp, then the remaining half of the teriyaki sauce. Stir and cook until shrimp is pink and cooked through, about 2-3 minutes.
4. Serve with rice and a sprinkle of sesame seeds if desired. Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for a few days.

Recipe Notes:

1. You can remove the tail or leave it on. Whatever's easiest!

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Our date night dinner was actually one of silence because neither of us could put our forks down or inhale a breath of air between saucy bites.