Just 7 simple ingredients and 10 minutes of your time are all you need to make the most flavorful peel and eat steamed shrimp. Food you share with dinner mates is always more fun, especially when there’s the race to dip and dive to grab the last beer-soaked shrimp!
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“This recipe is simply perfection. This is exactly the type of food I made when I was a waitress at the beach and I finally had time to cook for myself.” -Ramona, FoodieCrush reader
This Dish Was Served at the Restaurant Where I Met My Husband
I met my husband working at a fancy schmancy seafood restaurant.
It was a lovely setting for a beautiful romance that began with us racing from table to table, sweating it out in standard issue baby blue, long-sleeve, button down shirts that reeked of the deep fryer atop boring black pants with the wild flair of our own choice of windsor knotted ties as we stuffed our nightly wad of tips in our pockets. What individualists we were.
We both still have waiter nightmares about that place. Anxiety riddled nightmares where we can never get to our tables in time, our server trays never seem to empty, the cooks continue to yell, and the customers begin to fume.
Hey wait, was that a nightmare or was it reality? Only the shadow knows…
At the restaurant we served beautiful fish, clams, mussels, and lobster. But it was a basic beer steamed shrimp appetizer like this one that stood the test of time and made its way onto our list of favorites once we’d left our waiter jobs and tied the knot.
Terribly romantic, I know.
Enjoy!
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Shrimp — The kind of shrimp you use in this dish is of paramount proportions. Just like all of my shrimp dishes, I prefer a sweeter shrimp and Key West Pinks are about as sweet as they come. But because I don’t live in Florida or along a gulf of any kind, I buy mine in the freezer section of Whole Foods.
- Butter — Sautéing the aromatics in butter rather than oil makes for more flavorful shrimp.
- Fresh aromatics — I prefer using fresh garlic and shallot to flavor the peel and eat shrimp, and lots of both!
- Beer — This recipe calls for one bottle of beer. I prefer a bottle versus the can. You could say it’s a mental thing, I say it’s a taste thing. Don’t choose anything too strong, dark, or heavy. A pilsner works perfectly. I chose a local brew, but when in doubt, Budweiser would will do the trick.
- Lemon — A squeeze of lemon juice finishes the dish and adds a pop of freshness.
- Flat leaf parsley — Use only the tender leaves for topping the shrimp.
Heidi’s Tip: If beer isn’t your thing, a nice white wine (about 1 cup) will add the required boozy flavor. And if you really can’t do booze, substitute it with clam juice or even chicken broth.
How to Cook Peel and Eat Shrimp
- Rinse the shrimp. You might be tempted to peel and tail the shrimp before you cook them, but don’t! The shells flavor the broth and protect that succulent shrimp meat from the bubbling heat.
- Sauté the aromatics. You don’t want the garlic and shallot to develop any color, you just want them to soften.
- Steam the shrimp. Add the beer and shrimp to the pan, pop on the lid, and steam until the shrimp are opaque. If using extra large shrimp as instructed, they’ll need to steam for roughly 4 to 5 minutes.
- Garnish and serve. Remove from heat and squeeze juice of ½ lemon into broth and sprinkle with parsley.
Heidi’s Tip: This steamed shrimp’s best feature is the broth so the number one rule is, DON’T let it go to waste! A big hunk of sourdough bread smeared with salted butter is required. It makes the best way to sop up the buttery, lemon spiked sauce.
What to Serve with Peel and Eat Shrimp
- Crusty bread for dipping (a must!)
- Lemon wedges
- Garlic Bread
- Homemade Cocktail Sauce
- Juicy Grilled Corn on the Cob
- World’s Best Potato Salad (I don’t say that lightly)
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below, leave a comment to tell us what you think, and tag me on Instagram @foodiecrush.
Peel and Eat Shrimp Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound extra large shrimp , with shells and tails on (26/30 count)
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cloves garlic , smashed or coarsely chopped
- ¼ cup shallot , chopped
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper , to taste
- 12 ounces lager-style beer*
- ½ lemon , plus more for garnish
- ¼ cup flat-leaf parsley , chopped
- Sourdough bread , for dipping
Instructions
- Rinse shrimp and set aside.
- Melt butter in large sauté pan over medium high heat and add garlic and shallot. Cook 4 minutes or until garlic and shallots become soft and translucent.
- Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add beer and shrimp. Cover with lid and cook 4-5 minutes or until shrimp become opaque.
- Remove from heat and squeeze juice of ½ lemon into broth and sprinkle with parsley.
- Serve with sliced sourdough bread for dipping.
Notes
Nutrition
More Shrimp Recipes You’ll Love, Too
More Easy Seafood Appetizers
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Robert
I live in AZ I was born in MD land of the Blue Crab right off the Chesapeake bay not a lot of crabs out here but shrimp can be had altho they white shrimp flash frozen steaming them are a bad option if you put beer ,vinegar, old bay bring to a boil add a pound of jumbo turn the burner off cover the pot they rehydrate and cook perfectly. Takes about 10 , 15 minutes.
Hayley
Cool Robert, thanks for sharing with us! :)
Ramona Lopez-Finn
This recipe is simply perfection. This is exactly the type of food I made when I was a waitress at the beach and I finally had time to cook for myself. Thank you. Beautiful.
Heidi
I’m so happy you liked it Ramona!
Don Snyder
Hey Gal,
You hit the Jack Pot this time for me. I love shrimp and I can’t wait to get to the market to buy several pounds of shrimp and start cooking… and like you say… I cook real good… too.
By the way your husband also hit the Jack Pot when he got you.
Mike
My seven year old daughter and I make this, she calls it, “Dipping shrimp.” I add a can of minced clams to add flavor to the broth and substance for spooning. I cut the bread into thicker slices, similar to what the Brits call, “Soldiers” and peel the shrimp before its served. Finally, I serve it in oven warmed crocks normally used for French onion soup. Love this recipe!
Diane
This looks delicious. But it’s not steamed. It’s cooked/saute’d. You should probably change the name. Very deceiving. But, it does look good.
Michael
I thought the same thing.
Good point, thanks for the tip!
Tiffani
The best beer steamed shrimp I’ve had! I’m a marylander so i added old bay :) thanks so much for sharing your cute story and the recipe!
Missy
Looks delicious, I’m just curious about not deveining them, not just in this recipe, but in all peel and eat shrimp.
Sandy | Reluctant Entertainer
Another fabulous recipe with butter :) Love hearing about how you and Jeff worked together. :)
Millie l Add A Little
This looks simple and beyond delicious! I love one pot dinners!
http://youtube.com/addalittlefood
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
Yes please to sweet shrimp, butter, and plenty of sourdough!
Jamie | My Baking Addiction
Great story of you and your husband met. I am loving the idea of the beer steamed shrimp, this is something I have to try soon!
-Jamie
Alice // Hip Foodie Mom
cute story about you and your husband :) and yes, totally agree . . do not waste that broth, yo! I’m all about dipping my bread and would probably drink that up if that was socially acceptable. :P love this steamed shrimp!
Olivia - Primavera Kitchen
This look so flavourful!! Perfect for the last days of summer! Beautiful pictures too!
MB @ Bourbon and Brown Sugar
Yum! What a perfect summer recipe. Oh, and it took me years to overcome my waiter anxiety dreams (eventually replaced by unprepared-teacher anxiety dreams :)
Just discovered your blog, and am loving it!
Belinda@themoonblushbaker
This is very similar to the shaoxing wine prawns you can get in Chinese restaurants. Love how clean and fresh this is! When you have prawns this good you need to keep the natural sweetness.
Tieghan
Heidi, this look so good and it’s so summery! Perfect for all the end of summer parties coming up!