I remember trying BBQ Shrimp for the first time as a kid and being confused out of my mind. Why the heck do I have drippy shrimp to peel apart while I should be eating, and for the love of God, WHERE IS THE BBQ SAUCE?! What are these lies?! A few bites in, I didn’t even care. Lie to me more. Call it whatever you want, just keep it coming! As I’ve mentioned before, salt is my favorite flavor. With that being said, BBQ Shrimp falls somewhere near the tippy top of my favorite meals. I love this recipe because it can be prepared so quickly and can be so versatile. If I haven’t been able to meal prep, I find myself making this a lot on busy nights after work since it’s so easy to throw together. We eat it with veggies on the side and cloud bread to dip in it instead of the super carby French bread that is so famously used to sop up the sauce in the traditional recipe. We’ve thrown this on top of grilled steaks and whipped up a quick salad to go with it. Let me know if you try your own twist!
When we first got married, Chris and I loved scouring the internet for new recipes to try to cook together. We braved an Emeril BBQ Shrimp recipe one night. I am not kidding when I tell you that it required at least two hours of cooking time, including stovetop prep, additional time in the oven… We polished off a bottle of wine well before the food was ready. Thanks but no thanks. WHO has that kind of time to spend in the kitchen? That’s why this recipe is a gem. The same great flavor in about 10 minutes. Yes please!!!
I believe the shrimp is classically served with the shell still on to preserve the flavor, blah blah blah. But this is my kitchen and let me tell you- I despise peeling drippy, messy shrimp when I just want to be shoving them in my face. That hasn’t changed since childhood! So I peel my shrimp before I start cooking. Let me tell you a foreboding tale of what can happen when eating shrimp with peels on it at the dinner table (aside from being a dripping, saucy mess)… Chris and I have been to the New Orleans School of Cooking a couple of times to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We’ve always enjoyed cooking together! On our most recent trip, we prepared a dish that required the shells to be left on the shrimp while cooking. As we sat down to eat our meal with complete strangers from out of state who were in town for a convention, we all chit-chatted carelessly, sipping on wine or beer and carrying on. As we were all talking and laughing, I mindlessly peeled my shrimp before the most mortifying moment of my entire life occurred. The slippery shrimp in my hand went flyinggggg across the table and landed squarely on another woman’s chest. Directly in her cleavage, to be precise. I’m still soooooo embarrassed reliving that moment now! She was super nice about it and the table roared with laughter. Oh well, you’re welcome for the memories, ASSP Safety 2019 attendees. And you’re welcome for the cringes, readers. So anyway, you’ve been warned of the perils of leaving the shells on. Do what you want, but I won’t be caught dead peeling slippery shrimp at the dinner table ever again!
Ingredients:
2 lbs shrimp
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce (I only use Lea & Perrin’s)
4 Tbsp butter (see notes about consistency)
2 tsp minced garlic
Dash of sea salt
Dash of cracked black pepper
2 squeezes of lemon juice
1. Heat Worcestershire sauce on medium heat in a pan.
2. Add minced garlic.
3. Allow garlic to cook as Worcestershire begins to simmer.
4. Add shrimp to simmering Worcestershire until shrimp is almost fully cooked.
5. Add pieces of butter (cut butter into small pieces so it will melt faster).
6. After butter has melted, add lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
7. Remove from heat and allow sauce to thicken as it cools.
Note: Confession, I’m not big on measuring things out in the kitchen. Recently I used less Worcestershire to try to decrease the carb count (not sure how much, I would guess I used closer to 1/4 cup) and less butter (2 Tbsp because that’s all we had left) and this turned out phenomenally. The sauce was thicker than normal and coated the shrimp oh-so-well. If you want your sauce to be a little thicker, decrease the Worcestershire and butter and see what happens!
Net carbs: 9.3g (27.3 grams total, makes 3 servings)
Lazy NOLA Keto 