This 20 minute honey garlic shrimp is a reader favorite recipe. It’s extra quick, very simple, and delivers big flavor. Served with brown rice and vegetables or over a salad, this healthy dish is sure to join your regular dinner rotation.
Are you looking for a super quick, yet flavorful dinner this week? We have it right here for you. This saucy shrimp owes a lot of its flavor to a bold marinade of honey, soy sauce, and garlic, which is music to everyone’s taste buds. For a little extra flavor, we add some minced fresh ginger, but that’s entirely optional.
Video Tutorial
Tell Me About This Honey Garlic Shrimp
- Flavor: The marinade is loaded with flavor, but our favorite part of this dish is the beautiful caramelized bits of honey and garlic stuck to the pan and edges of the shrimp. Scrape it all up to serve because you don’t want to miss those flavorful bites.
- Ease: Regardless of your skill level, this is a very easy dinner recipe. Prepare the marinade, use half for marinating the shrimp, then use the rest as the sauce for cooking the shrimp. It’s convenient that the marinade is also the sauce—we do this for our maple sesame salmon and honey garlic salmon recipes too.
- Time: The shrimp takes 5 minutes to cook on the stove, while the marinating takes another 15. You’ll have this unbelievably tasty and simple meal on your table in about 20 minutes.
Choosing the Right Ingredients for Honey Garlic Shrimp
- Shrimp. You can use fresh or frozen raw shrimp. Thaw the shrimp completely before starting. Be sure to peel and devein the shrimp first. You can leave the tails on or remove if desired. If using already cooked shrimp, see recipe note below.
- Honey + garlic + soy. This marinade/sauce is packed with so much glorious flavor and is inspired by some wonderful flavors often used in Asian cuisine. (We also LOVE this honey soy glazed salmon from Omnivore’s Kitchen.)
- Green onions. This optional garnish adds freshness and a nice color contrast.
Overview: How to Make 20 Minute Honey Garlic Shrimp
The full printable recipe is below, but let’s walk through it so you understand each step before you get started.
- Make your marinade.
- Marinate the shrimp. Combine marinade and shrimp and marinate for at least 15 minutes or up to 8-12 hours. We usually only marinate it for about 15 minutes and during this time, you could prepare your side dishes such as steamed vegetables and instant brown rice.
- Cook the shrimp. Cook shrimp in a little olive oil, then flip and pour in the remaining sauce until cooked through.
- Garnish. Top with green onions and serve.
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20 Minute Honey Garlic Shrimp
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: serves 4
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This 20 minute honey garlic shrimp is a reader favorite recipe. It’s extra quick, very simple, and delivers big flavor. Served with brown rice and vegetables or over a salad, this healthy dish is sure to join your regular dinner rotation.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/4 cup soy sauce (we usually use reduced sodium)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced (or 1 teaspoon jarred minced garlic)
- optional: 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 lb medium uncooked shrimp, peeled & deveined
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- optional for garnish: chopped green onion
Instructions
- Whisk the honey, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger (if using) together in a medium bowl. You will use half for the marinade in step 2 and half for cooking the shrimp in step 3.
- Place shrimp in a large sealable container or zipped-top bag. Pour 1/2 of the marinade/sauce mixture on top, give it all a shake or stir, then allow shrimp to marinate in the refrigerator for 15 minutes or for up to 8-12 hours. Cover and refrigerate the rest of the marinade for step 3. (Time-saving tip: while the shrimp is marinating, we usually steam broccoli and microwave some quick brown rice.)
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Place shrimp in the skillet. (Discard used marinade.) Cook shrimp on one side until pink, about 45 seconds, then flip shrimp over. Pour in remaining marinade/sauce and cook it all until shrimp is cooked through, about 1-2 more minutes.
- Serve shrimp with cooked marinade sauce and a garnish of green onion. The sauce is excellent on brown rice and steamed vegetables on the side.
Notes
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowls | Skillet
- Thicken the sauce? Some readers add 1 teaspoon of cornstarch to the second half of the sauce that will be used for cooking in step 3. This thickens the sauce so it isn’t as watery. To do this, use a fork to mix 1 teaspoon of cornstarch with 1 teaspoon warm water. Once cornstarch has dissolved, stir this into the sauce before using it in step 3.
- Garlic: If using fresh garlic that you mince yourself, use 2 cloves. If using refrigerated jarred minced garlic, use 1 teaspoon (or more, to taste).
- Shrimp: You can remove the tail or leave it on. We recommend using fresh shrimp, but you can use frozen. Thaw before marinating and cooking. If using frozen cooked shrimp, thaw, marinate, and cook as directed. You’ll really just be heating the shrimp up in the sauce.
- Consuming leftover marinade is a debated topic. While you could boil it to rid any contamination, the flavor could possibly change. Do what you’d like. In this recipe we only use half of the sauce for the marinade so we have more for cooking. (We discard the used marinade in step 3.)
Keywords: honey garlic shrimp
I loved this recipe.. I’m wandering could I use this marinade/cooking sauce for left over pork tenderloin? Perhaps over home made Chinese fried rice?
Hi Brandy, we haven’t personally tried this but that sounds like it would be delicious! Let us know if you give it a go.
I am marinating the shrimp now , the sauce is delicious, so I’m sure this will be a great quick dinner ..thank you
I made this recipe (as written) as part of a seafood dinner. My entire family said it was their favorite thing on the menu! It beat out the crab legs and professionally made lobster cakes. It’s a new favorite!
★★★★★
I’m preparing this recipe for myself right now. I’ll get back to after dinner.
Well let me say I definitely enjoyed the recipe. Delicious, the next time I’ll add some partially cooked veggies. No tweaking this recipe. Thank you!
★★★★★
That sounds great to add the pineapple!! I’m not too “hot” on pepper flakes, but I think one or two might work great!
My family loved the recipe I added red pepper flakes to the sauce and cooked it till it was a little syrupy. This was a family favorite. Definitely will make it again.
★★★★★
I was looking for new recipes for my meal planning for this week. This fit the bill. It was yummy as written! Will be putting it in my line-up from now on. Thank you!!
★★★★★
This was absolutely amazing. I added crushed pineapple and a little red pepper flakes. We licked the plates!
Tried it with a 1/4 cup honey. May reduce it further next time. Added frozen mushrooms to the sauce. Loved reading all the variations. Such a tasty and super simple dish…Can’t wait to try it again!
★★★★★
I want to try this for my hubby, who absolutely craves shrimp! I would like to cook it in my Air Fryer. My question is what do you think and how would you do that? Time wise or any suggestions?
We haven’t tested this recipe in an air fryer, but let us know if you give it a try!
Delicious, easy & fast. Used thawed frozen shrimp, dried granulated garlic and no ginger. Served with baked mac & cheese and a salad.
★★★★
I added about half a cup of Coca Cola with real cane sugar to the marinade and it worked great.
Could you marinate the shrimp and then freeze them in the ziploc bag? It looks so yummy.
Hi Jane, we can’t see why not!
So quick and easy to follow. Absolutely delicious!!
★★★★★
This recipe was so simply, that my child could make it, yet it had a great flavor! I enjoyed it with shrimp, but it would be a great base for chicken or salmon too!
★★★★★
This is now becoming a regular in my house. My 72 year old, very picky mom even loves it and asks me to make it. So good!
★★★★★
We enjoyed this dish so much! We did not have enough plain honey, so hot honey was substituted and it was delicious…with a slight hint of spice!!!
We love this recipe, I also add chunk pineapple to it and we cook it on the BBQ grill. I use extra jumbo shrimp and marinate for at least an hour.
Very easy, used frozen broccoli , will use fresh next time (made it to watery). Added hot pepper flakes and sesame seeds. Served with soba noodles! Hubby loved it ! Will make again!
I loved this!!! I added a bit of sesame seed oil and red pepper flakes. Delicious!
★★★★★
I use frozen shrimp/ frozen garlic and fresh ginger. Always turns out great and so easy. I double the sauce so I have plenty to pour over my wild rice.
★★★★★
Made this last night and it was wonderful! Will certainly make again. Only thing I changed….did not use ginger. Actually forgot it, but was still delicious.
★★★★★
Are there any calorie counts for
this recipe?
I loved this recipe. It was super easy. I did use fresh ginger and added a tablespoon of chile garlic sauce. I could have licked the plate. Even before I added the chili garlic sauce the sauce was superb. I may try it as written next time. As you suggested I served it with brown rice and steamed broccolli.
Sally, you are amazing!
★★★★★
can you use precooked shrimp in this recipe?
Hi princess, If using frozen cooked shrimp, thaw, marinate, and cook as directed. You’ll really just be heating the shrimp up in the sauce. See the recipe notes for details.
Great Recipe Thank you!
★★★★★
This recipe is awesome with shrimp and I made it tonight using boneless/ skinless chicken thighs. Half the thighs are for dinner. The other half of the thighs I will use for Asian style salads the next couple of days with purple onions, sesame seeds, and whatever else I come up with. I did use 1 tsp of powdered ginger “shrimp night” and increased it to 1 1/2 tsp when I made the chicken. I also used 2 tsp of corn starch to make thickened sauce and drizzled it over the “bowls”. Made rice with green peas. Placed a serving in a bowl, topped it with the meat and then a drizzle and some chopped green onions. Definitely a new member of our dinner line up. Next………… salmon!
★★★★★
I was wondering if I could use chicken. I have 2 breasts marinating and think it will be good
Yes, this works well with chicken also!
Very sumptuous! My husband loved it! Now we have a new go to recipe we both love & super simple!
Great recipe!! Even my kids got 2nds!
★★★★★
Loved this next time I need to double my kids said it was so delicious I need to make more. I use butter and fried some sweet onion then added the shrimp and marinade sauce. Asparagus on the side
So delicious!! I made the sauce with ground ginger as I didn’t have fresh and also added in a half a teaspoon of chili sauce in a skillet. I put the entire amount of sauce and cooked until garlic was softened. I only had cooked shrimp so I stirred them into the thickened sauce (with cornstarch slurry) at the end to heat through and coat. Served over rice with broccoli. Couldn’t be easier or more delicious! I may reduce the amount of honey next time but will definitely make again! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
★★★★★