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Grilled Spicy Lime Shrimp with Creamy Avocado Cilantro Sauce has a simple but full of flavor and spice marinade. The creamy avocado cilantro sauce is the perfect cool and creamy dipping sauce.

The lime flavor on this shrimp is out of this world good.  Really, I love to add lime to many recipes.  Grilled coconut lime pineapple, Cilantro Lime Chicken Salad, and Crazy Good Honey Lime Shrimp are a few of my favorites.

Grilled Spicy Lime Shrimp with Creamy Avocado Cilantro Sauce on skewers on a white plate with fresh limes on the side.

Grilled Spicy Lime Shrimp with Creamy Avocado Cilantro Sauce

Do you ever get through a week and are just so happy that you survived? That was last week for me. I barely made it. It was the last week of school plus we are in the moving process. On top of it all my little girl turned two! We were able to pull it all together and managed to have an amazing Finding Nemo Birthday Party. If you follow me on instagram you will see her amazing cake! My little girl is obsessed with “Meno” and loved every minute of it. We may have given her her presents to her in Amazon boxes but we totally pulled it together! It was a huge success.

We are loving the warmer weather here and since we have been so busy lately we are loving to grill. My husband LOVES shrimp and asks me to cook it all of the time. I decided to make an easy marinade for these shrimp that really packed a punch. It had such a delicious blend of spices and the result was amazing. It is such a quick and easy recipe that is absolutely delicious, especially if you love shrimp! This should go on your list of things to grill. You are going to love it!

Grilled Lime Shrimp Ingredients:

  • Shrimp: Use peeled and deveined
  • Lime juice: One large lime should be plenty.
  • Olive oil: For marinade.
  • Garlic: 2 cloves minced.
  • Chili powder: A bit of spice.
  • Cumin: Distinctive earthy, nutty flavor.
  • Paprika: Adds color and mild flavor.
  • Salt and Pepper: To taste
  • Red pepper flakes: Adds texture and spice.

How to Grill Shrimp:

The great thing about shrimp is that they are so easy to cook! They grill up in just a matter of minutes. The marinade on these shrimp is out of this world! It has such a great blend of spices and flavor.

  1. Prepare Marinade: In a small bowl whisk together lime juice, olive oil, garlic, chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes. Pour into a resealable bag and add shrimp.
  2. Prep: Toss to coat and marinate for 30 minutes.Preheat the grill to medium heat.
  3. Grill Shrimp: Put the shrimp on skewers and place on the grill. Grill on each side for about two minutes or until no longer pink.
  4. Make Sauce: To make the creamy avocado cilantro sauce add the avocado, greek yogurt, garlic, lime and cilantro. Pulse in a food processor until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately with shrimp.

Grilled Spicy Lime Shrimp on a grill.

Creamy Avocado Cilantro Sauce:

My favorite part was the Creamy Avocado Cilantro Sauce. It was so cool and creamy on these spicy lime shrimp. We are a family of dippers so most everything involves a dip. And this dip was the perfect compliment to help cool down the spice in the shrimp.

  • Avocado: split and pitted
  • Greek yogurt: Lowfat
  • Garlic: One clove minced works great for me but adjust to your preference.
  • Lime juice: About one lime
  • Cilantro: Chopped for garnish
  • Salt and pepper: To taste

 

Grilled Spicy Lime Shrimp on a white plater.

The Best Way to Grill Shrimp:

  • How do I keep shrimp from drying out? Make extra marinade to keep separate and use to brush over shrimp while they are cooking, so they won’t dry out.
  • How hot should my grill be? Grill temperature should be about 350-450°F.  Cook the shrimp over the direct medium heat.
  • Avoid burning? Occasionally, turn the shrimp while cooking.
  • How do I know when they are done?  The shrimp are fully cooked when the outside of the shrimp turn a nice pink color.  Also, the meat inside should be white and opaque.
  • Can I cook shrimp from frozen: Good news! Even if you forgot to thaw the shrimp for dinner, you can grab them straight from your freezer and put it on the grill.  Marinating the shrimp is best.  However, you can use the marinate to brush the shrimp as you cook.  It’s not ideal, but it will work in a pinch.
  • What’s the best way to thaw my shrimp?  Move them from the freezer into the refrigerator a day or two before cooking.  Or, thaw them with cold water by putting the entire package of shrimp into the bowl of water.

 

Grilled Spicy Lime Shrimp with Creamy Avocado Cilantro Sauce in a white bowl. More Spicy Shrimp Recipes

 

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Grilled Spicy Lime Shrimp with Creamy Avocado Cilantro Sauce

5 from 6 votes
By: Alyssa Rivers
Grilled Spicy Lime Shrimp with Creamy Avocado Cilantro Sauce has a simple but full of flavor and spice marinade. The creamy avocado cilantro sauce is the perfect cool and creamy dipping sauce.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 8 Skewers

Ingredients 

Creamy Avocado Cilantro Sauce:

Instructions 

  • In a small bowl whisk together lime juice, olive oil, garlic, chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes. Pour into a resealable bag and add shrimp. Toss to coat and marinate for 30 minutes.
  • Preheat the grill to medium heat. Put the shrimp on skewers and place on the grill. Grill on each side for about two minutes or until no longer pink.

Creamy Avocado Cilantro Sauce:

  • To make the creamy avocado cilantro sauce add the avocado, greek yogurt, garlic, lime and cilantro. Pulse in a food processor until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately with shrimp.

Video

Notes

Updated on May 22, 2020
Originally Posted on: June 6, 2016

Nutrition

Calories: 81kcalCarbohydrates: 2gProtein: 2gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 215mgPotassium: 13mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 283IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 26mgIron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Appetizer, Dinner, Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Tried this recipe?Mention @alyssa_therecipecritic or tag #therecipecritic!

Grilled Spicy Lime Shrimp with Creamy Avocado Cilantro Sauce on a table.

 

About Alyssa Rivers

Alyssa Rivers is the author of 'The Tried and True Cookbook', a professional food photographer and experienced recipe-developer. Having a passion for cooking, her tried and true recipes have been featured on Good Morning America, Today Food, Buzzfeed and more.

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64 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Made this as an appetizer for tonight’s dinner. Easy to make, so delicious and there were none leftover. The shrimp has so much flavor, the right amount of spice and the dipping sauce is the perfect compliment to this dish. This is an awesome recipe. Thank you for sharing!

  2. Absolutely fantastic, both recipes equally brilliant. Simple, quick, very forgiving. Too much snow to grill so I just cut up the shrimp, 21-25s, into 5 or 6 pcs and sauted them over high heat, a bit of olive oil and some garlic too……….Just a couple of mins. Save every drop of the oil/marinade left in the pan, drizzle it over the shrimp. I added a bit of chili de arbol, chipotle and chiltepin to goose it a bit……it did too. I used the little street taco tortillas. Just for fun I served a few with caramelized onions and chopped bacon. That was a big hit too. Because the shrimp and sauce are so flavorful I just put half a dozen corn tortillas on a plate, cover with 1/2 of a dampened paper towel covered with plastic wrap….nuke for about 40 secs. To me these are foundation recipes as both of them let one take some liberties and more often than not come out ahead. As is both are super great recipes, have fun and enjoy bigtime!!!

  3. 5 stars
    Great recipe! Only problem I had was keeping my wife out of the sauce before the shrimp shrimp were grilled. Must admit it was great on a Tostito shell.

  4. Made this tonight – my husband and I both loved it! Will definitely make again. I used sour cream instead of the yogurt in the sauce – it was so delicious. I will use that sauce for lots of other things. My lunch tomorrow is the leftover shrimp with bacon and cheese – and of course the sauce!

  5. Do you have a suggestion for a cilantro substitution that would taste great? Excited to try this recipe!

    1. Cilantro/Coriander Leaf Substitute. Replace the coriander called for in your recipe with an equal amount of fresh parsley, tarragon, dill or a combination of the three. For maximum flavor, add the herbs to the dish just before serving it. Cooking diminishes the flavor of the spices significantly (cilantro included). Hope that helps! Enjoy!