Photo: Honey Lime Shrimp

Honey Lime Shrimp sounds like the best of several worlds: seafood, lime and sweetness. I knew there must be heat in there somewhere, to balance out the lime and honey in a recipe and I wasn’t disappointed. These shrimp were good!

I’d thawed a bag of shrimp I pulled out of the freezer and was wincing when I realized it was precooked shrimp. I decided I would make do; I didn’t have time to go to the grocery for raw shrimp. I was making dinner for my sister and myself and we could improvise. The recipe actually does call for precooked shrimp and I disagree with using those. The shrimp gets too tough and that’s not pleasant.

Marinate the shrimp one hour; overnight is preferred

I mixed the marinade ingredients and poured them over the thawed shrimp and let them set for an hour, stirring occasionally. I wanted to get as much flavor into them as possible before they hit the heat. Whey wouldn’t be in the skillet long since they were already cooked; I was just going to sear them quickly.  The recipe said to cook until they begin to brown but that must have been a mistake.  It would have made them like rubber for sure, so I corrected that in my recipe.

Saute in a hot skillet until heated

After an hour of marinating I heated my non-stick skillet and added a little olive oil. I put the shrimp into the pan and silly me, also dumped the marinade in with them. Oh well, it couldn’t hurt, I thought. They weren’t going to be there long. And really, it wasn’t a problem. The shrimp heated fast and I removed them and plated them with a side of corn fritters. The shrimp was excellent! The lime added a nice citric pop and the honey made them a little sweet. The pepper flakes added my anticipated heat and we were happy with our tasty little shrimp. The corn fritters will be a future post, but I will say they were equally good!

Honey Lime Shrimp

Healthy Honey Lime Shrimp

Adapted from Six Sisters Stuff

1/2 pound small, precooked shrimp
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tablespoon honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
juice of one small lime, or half a large lime (2-3 tablespoons)
zest of one small lime, or half a large lime
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

In a large zip-lock bag, combine all the marinade ingredients. When everything is well-combined, add the shrimp, squeeze as much air as possible out of the bag, and close it up. Place it in the fridge.

Let the shrimp marinate for at least 30-60 minutes (or even overnight). Flip the bag around once or twice during that time, so that all the shrimp stay evenly covered in the marinade.

When you’re ready to cook, take the shrimp out of the fridge. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. There is plenty of oil in the marinade so you wouldn’t need to put any on the pan before you put the shrimp in.

Add your shrimp to the pan and cook just until they are heated through, about 3 minutes. Remove from the pan, and serve immediately.

Add more soy sauce and red pepper flakes on top if you would like.

2 servings