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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.ย 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 riceย 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!ย 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:ย You can never have enough garlic. This hint of garlic will balance out the flavors.
  • Lemon:ย A squeeze of lemon is just what is needed to have a fresh, zest flavor.
  • Shrimp: Large is best and ready to cook.
  • Butter:ย 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:ย 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.ย Add the shrimp and discard marinade. Season with salt and pepper.
  3. Cook shrimp:ย Turn the heat to medium high. Cook until the shrimp turns pink about 2 minutes each side.
  4. Add the sauceย with the shrimp:ย 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 โ€œdoneโ€ 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 โ€œwhiteโ€ 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

4.49 from 97 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!

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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236 Comments

  1. If you like spicy, you can add slices of fresh jalapeno, or yellow pepper. The recipe itself is good I have to say. Thank you & I’ll try some more of your recipes.

  2. i made this recipe and the shrimp was overcooked and the sauce was still not thick. i used cooked shrimp (only shrimp at walmart with 15-20 per pound and only kind of shrimp (cooked) that was de-veined OR peeled). i used a frying pan because i don’t own a skillet. the shrimp was tastey but was overcooked and was wet (not sticky). please give me advice. thanks.

    1. I agree. I cooked the sauce in a separate pan and then added it to the shrimp. All it seemed to do was boil in the pan and never thickened up. The shrimp were tough and tasteless. I used uncooked deveined shrimp.

  3. 5 stars
    Itโ€™s AWESOME!!! I cooked it with chicken. If I could post the picture of mine, I would. It looks just like the photo they have with shrimp.

  4. 4 stars
    The recipe was very easy to follow. It used common household ingredients. A suggestion for improving the recipe would be to include some options on what to do with the shrimp. Overall, I will be making this recipe again!

  5. 5 stars
    Very good recipe. Delicious, easy prep, easy to cook, and clean up when paired with some rice and microwave veggies. I used 1/4c honey because I did not have that much honey. It was still delicious!

  6. 5 stars
    Yum! Paired this shrimp recipe with broccoli fried rice. It was delish. The whole family loved it.

  7. Shrimps have always been my personal favorite so i thought to make shrimps in a different manner this time. and I came across this article I really liked the new variation and my family also like it I will surely recommend it to my friends.

  8. I havenโ€™t tried this recipe yet, but it looks delicious! What kind of honey do most people use? I have cooked with honey before and havenโ€™t had much luck. TIA

    1. I have frozen cooked shrimp that I’d like to use. Should I defrost it and follow the recipe, just adding the shrimp for the last few minutes?

  9. 4 stars
    Great recipe! Wonderful flavors!
    I did cook the reserved sauce in a small sauce pan until it thickened. This took quite some time to reduce the sauce and get it to a gooey consistency. Had I done this in the skillet with the shrimp, it would have really overcooked the shrimp. I added the pre-cooked sauce and the shrimp at the same time. Doing it this method had the sauce and shrimp come out perfectly!!