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Home » Blog » Seafood Recipes » Spanish Garlic Shrimp

Spanish Garlic Shrimp

Cathy Roma Published: Mar 4, 2019

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Easy Spanish garlic shrimp is classic tapa dish that can be on your table in minutes. Serve it for an appetizer or a main dish, just be sure to have lots of crusty bread on hand for dipping!

Spanish Garlic Strip in a cast iron skillet, sprinkled with parsley with garlic cloves, slices of bread and sprigs of parsley alongside.

When I host a dinner party, one of my favorite menus to serve is a Spanish-style tapas menu. Many tapas dishes are great for sharing, simple to prepare, and full of flavor. Spanish garlic shrimp is the perfect example of this. It can literally be on your table in minutes and couldn’t be tastier.

When you have a simple dish with few ingredients, it’s important to choose high quality ingredients and treat them respectfully in the cooking process. Shrimp especially can easily be overcooked and become rubbery if cooked for too long.

So how do we avoid overcooked shrimp?

Tossing the uncooked shrimp with a mixture of salt and sugar before cooking and letting it stand yields sweet, plump, and juicy shrimp. Not only does it impart flavor, but salting the shrimp before cooking (and you don’t need a ton) improves the texture and chew of the shrimp.

Spanish Garlic Strip in a cast iron skillet, sprinkled with parsley with slices of bread and sprigs of parsley alongside.

A great way to amp up the flavor of this dish is to add the smoked paprika at the same time as the salt and sugar. This allows the shrimp not only to be coated with the seasoning, but that smoky flavor will permeate the shrimp.

A good quality sherry (I like Fino or Manzanilla) makes this dish. Sherry is a fortified wine that will keep longer than your average wine after it’s opened, won’t break the bank, and adds a robust flavor to the sauce, making it extra delicious for dipping.

And don’t skimp on the garlic in this dish! It is called “garlic shrimp” after all. Instead of mincing the garlic, I slice it very thin so it cooks super quickly (just until fragrant) before adding the brined shrimp. The thinly sliced garlic “melts” into the butter/olive oil and takes this sauce from good to great.

Let’s make Spanish Garlic Shrimp

Step by step photos showing how to make Spanish Garlic Shrimp. Gather ingredients (1), toss the shrimp with the seasonings (2), saute garlic (3), add the shrimp to the pan (4), saute until pink (5), finish with sherry, lemon juice, and parsley (6).

  1. Gather ingredients for Spanish Garlic Shrimp.
  2. Toss the shrimp with the salt, sugar, and smoked paprika and let stand at room temperature for at least 10 mins.
  3. Saute sliced garlic in butter and olive oil.
  4. Add the shrimp to the pan and saute until pink.
  5. Add the sherry and cook until the shrimp is cooked through.
  6. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkle of minced parsley. 

Spanish Garlic Strip in a cast iron skillet, sprinkled with parsley with garlic cloves, slices of bread and sprigs of parsley alongside.

Tips for success

  • This dish cooks very quickly, so have all of your ingredients prepped and ready to go before you begin cooking.
  • Tossing the shrimp with the salt, sugar, and smoked paprika and letting it stand yields tender, evenly seasoned shrimp.
  • Use a dry sherry for optimal flavor (not a cream or “cooking” sherry).
  • A cast iron pan is an ideal cooking vessel for this dish as it can withstand high temperatures and transfers the heat well.
  • Be careful not to overcook the shrimp! Sauté the shrimp with the garlic just until pink, but not fully cooked. It will finish cooking when you add the sherry. 
  • Serve it in pan with lots of crusty bread for dipping!

Spanish Garlic Strip in a cast iron skillet, sprinkled with parsley with sprigs of parsley alongside.

More Tasty Shrimp Dishes!

  • Italian Style Shrimp and Grits
  • Easy Shrimp Scampi
  • Shrimp and Sausage Skewers
  • Margarita Grilled Shrimp

New to cast iron? Here’s everything you need to know about cooking in cast iron pans!

 

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Spanish Garlic Strip in a cast iron skillet, sprinkled with parsley with garlic cloves, slices of bread and sprigs of parsley alongside.
Print
Spanish Garlic Shrimp
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
20 mins
 

Easy Spanish garlic shrimp is classic tapa dish that can be on your table in minutes. Serve it for an appetizer or a main dish, just be sure to have lots of crusty bread on hand for dipping!

Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: Spanish
Keyword: garlic shrimp, Spanish shrimp
Servings: 4 Servings
Calories: 322 kcal
Author: Cathy Roma | What Should I Make For...
Ingredients
  • 2 lbs uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 6 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup dry sherry
  • squeeze of lemon
  • 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, minced
Instructions
  1. Toss the shrimp with the salt, sugar, and smoked paprika. Let stand at room temperature for 10 mins.

  2. Heat the oil and butter in a large skillet over med/high heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about two minutes. Add the shrimp and saute until just pink, but not fully cooked.

  3. Add the sherry and cook until the shrimp is fully cooked through, about 2 more minutes. 

  4. Squeeze in the lemon juice and sprinkle with parsley. Serve with bread for dipping if desired.

Recipe Notes
  • This dish cooks very quickly, so have all of your ingredients prepped and ready to go before you begin cooking.
  • Tossing the shrimp with the salt, sugar, and smoked paprika and letting it stand yields tender, evenly seasoned shrimp.
  • Use a dry sherry for optimal flavor (not a cream or "cooking" sherry).
  • A cast iron pan is an ideal cooking vessel for this dish as it can withstand high temperatures and transfers the heat well.
  • Be careful not to overcook the shrimp! Sauté the shrimp with the garlic just until pink, but not fully cooked. It will finish cooking when you add the sherry. 
  • Serve it in pan with lots of crusty bread for dipping!
Nutrition Facts
Spanish Garlic Shrimp
Amount Per Serving
Calories 322 Calories from Fat 81
% Daily Value*
Fat 9g14%
Saturated Fat 2g13%
Cholesterol 579mg193%
Sodium 2638mg115%
Potassium 254mg7%
Carbohydrates 3g1%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 46g92%
Vitamin A 740IU15%
Vitamin C 13.2mg16%
Calcium 342mg34%
Iron 5.3mg29%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
12

Recipe, Seafood Recipes easy dinner, shrimp, seafood, sherry, tapas, spanish, garlic shrimp, tapa

About Cathy Roma

My food philosophy is simple: everything in moderation. Sweet, savory, healthy, decadent…food, like life, is all about balance. I rely on my background as a trained chef/mom to create family-friendly recipes that will inspire you to cook, not complicate your life.

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HEY THERE, I’M CATHY.

My food philosophy is simple: everything in moderation. Sweet, savory, healthy, decadent…food, like life, is all about balance. I rely on my background as a trained chef/mom to create family-friendly recipes that will inspire you to cook, not complicate your life.

Learn More about Cathy

Subscribe now to receive my exclusive guide of How to Stock a Pantry delivered straight to your inbox!

Join the What Should I Make For... Community to learn what to cook to when to achieve a happier, more balanced life.

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