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Sticky Honey Garlic Butter Shrimp are coated in the most amazing sticky honey garlic butter soy sauce. This is a quick 20 minute meal that you will make again and again!

You can’t go wrong with shrimp recipes that are quick and easy to make! Creamy Garlic Shrimp Alfredo Pasta, Lemon Garlic Shrimp Scampi Recipe or Cajun Garlic Shrimp and Grits are a few of our favorite family meals.

Sticky honey garlic butter shrimp cooking in a skillet garnished with lemons.

Sticky Honey Garlic Butter Shrimp

Since the New Year has started I made a goal to make dinner at home more. The holidays were crazy and it is so nice to settle down a bit. I love cooking at home and eating together at night is just so much better. We started our week off with this amazing Honey Garlic Butter Shrimp. I am not even the biggest fan of shrimp… the hubby is… and this is one of the best meals that I have ever had!! Add some fried rice or white rice and this is a complete meal your family will love!

Honey, garlic, soy sauce, and butter. Seriously my favorite flavors in one. I use them in so many recipes because it is just so dang good!! It is easy to make and the flavor is incredible. It coats the shrimp perfectly and creates such a flavorful and sticky sauce! But my favorite part is that this meal was ready in under 30 minutes. You can have amazing meals for your family at night that require little effort but are restaurant quality. You are going to love the sticky sauce on this shrimp and this will be a meal that you want to make again and again!

Sticky honey garlic butter shrimp up close with green onions garnished over top.

Honey Garlic Butter Shrimp Ingredients:

  • Honey: Makes everything sticky but it makes it a little sweeter too!
  • Soy Sauce: One of my favorite sauces to add to shrimp. It has a sweet and salty flavor that cooks well in shrimp.
  • Garlic: You can never have enough garlic. This hint of garlic will balance out the flavors.
  • Lemon: A squeeze of lemon is just what is needed to have a fresh, zest flavor.
  • Shrimp: Large is best and ready to cook.
  • Butter: Will be melted as you are cooking the shrimp in the skillet.
  • Green Onions: Used for color and garnishing the shrimp.

How do you make Honey Garlic Butter Shrimp?

  1. Marinate the shrimp: In a small bowl whisk honey, soy sauce, garlic and lemon. Add half of the sauce to the shrimp and let marinate for 30 minutes.
  2. Melt the butter: In a medium sized skillet add the butter. Add the shrimp and discard marinade. Season with salt and pepper.
  3. Cook shrimp: Turn the heat to medium high. Cook until the shrimp turns pink about 2 minutes each side.
  4. Add the sauce with the shrimp: Add the reserved marinade and pour over shrimp. Cook until the sauce starts to thicken and coats the shrimp. Garnish with green onions.

Making the honey garlic butter sauce and marinated the shrimp in it, then cooking the shrimp in a skillet with butter and pouring the remaining honey garlic butter sauce over top the cooking shrimp.

What is the best shrimp to use?

There most common types of shrimp found in markets are pink or white shrimp, both are great to use in this recipe. Make sure to select a jumbo-sized shrimp, look for 16 to 20 count (or pieces) per pound. This will ensure that the shrimp does not overcook quickly when sauteed.

Jumbo size also gives a nice two-bite piece for a heartier entree. Feel free to remove the tails to make it easier to eat. Frozen shrimp can also be used, run them under cool water until the ice melts, or defrost them the night before and drain well.

How long do you cook the shrimp?

When the shrimp are no longer pink in color and is taking on more of an opaque white color, is when I would consider them done. You do want to keep an eye on how white they do get and assure they do not overcook.

Keeping an eye on size reduction in the shrimp as well is a great way to watch how “done” your shrimp are getting. I like to leave the tails on the shrimp when cooking them. It does add extra flavor; however, if you prefer to peel the whole shrimp or purchase them that way, that is fine too.

Can you overcook shrimp?

The exterior of the shrimp should be pink with red tails and the flesh is slightly opaque and a little “white” in color. If it is too bright white in color, then the shrimp may be overcooked.

Sticky honey garlic butter shrimp on a plate with broccoli and lemon garnishes.

 

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Sticky Honey Garlic Butter Shrimp

4.51 from 99 votes
By: Alyssa Rivers
Sticky Honey Garlic Butter Shrimp are coated in the most amazing sticky honey garlic butter soy sauce. This is a quick 20 minute meal that you will make again and again!
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4 People

Ingredients 

Instructions 

  • In a small bowl whisk honey, soy sauce, garlic and lemon. Add half of the sauce to the shrimp and let marinate for 30 minutes.
  • In a medium sized skillet add the butter. Add the shrimp and save marinade. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Turn the heat to medium high. Cook until the shrimp turns pink about 2 minutes each side.
  • Add the reserved marinade and pour over shrimp. Cook until the sauce starts to thicken and coats the shrimp. Garnish with green onions.

Video

Notes

Updated on March 15, 2020
Original Post on January 11, 2017

Nutrition

Serving: 4peopleCalories: 304kcalCarbohydrates: 36gProtein: 25gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 301mgSodium: 1743mgPotassium: 153mgFiber: 1gSugar: 35gVitamin A: 175IUVitamin C: 5.5mgCalcium: 174mgIron: 2.9mg

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

Additional Info

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Tried this recipe?Mention @alyssa_therecipecritic or tag #therecipecritic!

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About Alyssa Rivers

Welcome to my kitchen! I am Alyssa Rivers and the food blogger behind The Recipe Critic. The blog launched in 2012 as a place to share my passion for cooking. I love trying new things and testing them out with my family. Each recipe is tried and true, family-tested and approved.

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233 Comments

  1. Sorry the lemon juice was too much from my small Lemon, An actual measurement is always advised. Soy sauce added too much sodium. Honey, and garlic and butter would have been a far nicer glaze

  2. I wanted to love this so much…..but I didn’t. Hoping for answers here. The sauce never thickened up and the result was overcooked shrimp and runny sauce. I want to try it again, but shrimp isn’t cheap and I don’t want to be disappointed again. Any advice?

  3. 4 stars
    The meal was delicious and will end up in the regular meal rotation for my family. Super easy to cook, but instructions weren’t the best. It doesn’t tell you to take the shrimp out of the pan before reducing down the sauce, which you need to do to avoid overcooking the shrimp. The sauce also took forever to thicken, but just keep cooking it on low and stirring continuously until it’s sticky.

  4. I have used your recipes quite often
    ( Sticky shrimp, shrimp Alfredo) and they are delicious. I always download them to my email. I like your website a lot.

  5. 5 stars
    Mine came out great! My husband loved it and I’m about to make it for the 2nd time. There are some small changes I want to make to keep the water content down, like using 100%pure honey. This is the best recipe I’ve found online in a while. Thank you very much Alyssa.

  6. 2 stars
    Will NOT be making this again. I followed recipe exactly. I even drained the marinade before I added the shrimp and there was NO STICKY whatsoever!!! WAY to liquidy. What a waste!!!

    1. 2 stars
      Hi Carol,
      Mine turned out just like yours. I followed the recipe exactly. I did give it 2 stars simply because the sauce had a good taste but NOT sticky at all. Won’t be making this again.

    1. Yes! Scroll to the bottom of the post and there is a printable recipe card with all of the ingredients and instructions! 🙂

  7. made this for birthday dinner was enjoyed by all. I doubled to serve 6 was just the right amount
    Thanks for your answering my question on marinade

    1. You use half of the sauce recipe as a marinade for the shrimp. You discard it after you have let the shrimp sit in it for 30 minutes. You use the other half of that marinade as the sauce after you cook the shrimp. The instructions explain it all if that’s confusing! Let me know if you make it and how you like it! 🙂

      1. The shrimp is done at 2 minutes or less side. Either take it out and then pour in the 1/2 sauce to thicken or thicken it in a separate pan. You can’t continue to cook the shrimp in the sauce until the sauce thickens. Yes, definitely discard any marinade after removing the shrimp.