These easy Oven Roasted Shrimp with Lemon & Garlic are gluten-free, Paleo-friendly & totally delish. Use them for an appetizer, or top pasta, salads or rice for a quick and tasty meal. Dinner is ready in 20 minutes, so you have way more time to do what you love!
This recipe is loaded with West Coast flavor.
I live in California where all of the nation's garlic is grown - most of it in the San Joaquin Valley, where I'm from. The Golden State also provides over 90% of the lemons in the U.S. That makes this recipe a "California special" - one that's loaded with west coast goodness.
This quick roasted shrimp recipe is loaded with fresh flavor - if you love this kind of recipe, check out this list of fruit-forward appetizer recipes from CA GROWN too.
Let's make this easy roasted shrimp recipe:
This recipe calls for three ingredients that aren't already in your pantry: lemons, garlic and 2 lbs of shrimp. The olive oil (grapeseed oil would also work) and salt & pepper can come from your pantry. The process is simple too. Just crank the oven to 400F while you're tossing everything together, then spread it all on a sheet pan. 10 minutes later, you're good to go.
You could certainly cut this recipe in half for 1 lb of shrimp, but I wouldn’t. The shrimp are delicious chilled too, so pop the leftovers (if there are any) in the fridge and make your coworkers jealous with tomorrow’s lunch. Pull the tails off and make a shrimp wrap, add them to ramen or salads, or just eat them solo.
When I'm serving these as an appetizer or snacking on them myself, I eat them with cocktail sauce. I mix my own because it tastes better and I don't eat corn syrup, which most prepared versions have.
How to make sugar-free/corn-free cocktail sauce:
I generally mix my own sugar-free cocktail sauce: two parts Paleo ketchup + one part fresh horseradish + salt & pepper + a squeeze of lemon.
Look in the refrigerated section to find real horseradish. The shelf-stable kind is usually full of sugar or corn syrup and filler.
Shrimp: what's with the numbers?
When you pick up a package of frozen shrimp or spy some in the cold case, you’ll see numbers with a slash to mark the size: 16/20 or 21/25, and so on. These numbers represent the “shrimp count,” or how many shrimp that size it takes to make up one pound. When you buy 1 pound of 16/20 count shrimp, you can expect to get 16 to 20 shrimp. Larger shrimp will sometimes carry a count number that reads U/10 or similar. The “U” stands for “under” – meaning it takes less than 10 shrimp that size to make up a pound. I use 16/20 or 21/25 count shrimp in this recipe. If yours are smaller, you may need to reduce the roasting time slightly. If the shells are on (I used peeled & deveined) you may in an extra minute or two in the oven.
I use this recipe at 2x a month for meal prep, it's my go-to along with Sheet Pan Chicken Thighs with Bacon.
Ready to move beyond lemon & garlic? Try these Easy Roasted Shrimp With Sweet Peppers, Curry Roasted Shrimp, and Chipotle-Espresso Roasted Shrimp recipes. You can make this recipe your own too! I often use mandarin oranges + shallots or green onions + limes to mix it up.
Roasted Shrimp with Lemon and Garlic
Ingredients
- 2 pounds 12-15 or 16-20 count raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 3 lemons sliced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, toss the shrimp, garlic and ⅔ of the lemon slices with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and the salt & pepper.
- Arrange the shrimp in 1 layer on a rimmed sheet pan, ensuring that the lemon slices are spread evenly throughout. Roast for 8 to 10 minutes, just until pink and firm and cooked through.
- Serve alone or over gluten free pasta or rice.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Photos by Alycia Moreno
What else can you make in 20 minutes that's this delicious?
Frequently Asked Questions about Roasted Shrimp:
Just like we do! Toss large peeled and deveined shrimp with olive oil, veggies and citrus or other flavorings, and roast at 400F for 8-10 minutes.
Make sure not to overcook the shrimp! The roasting method is super-easy, but you need to use larger shrimp to roast for 8-10 minutes. If the shrimp are smaller than 21-25, roasting time should be reduced.
Roasted shrimp are fabulous with rice or pasta, over a salad, or with cocktail sauce. You can also add them on top of a steak for surf-and-turf.
Citrus and garlic are classic pairings for shrimp, so that's what we've used in this recipe. Shrimp are actually quite versatile, so give these Easy Roasted Shrimp with Sweet Peppers, Curry Roasted Shrimp, or Roasted Espresso Chipotle Shrimp a try too.
Shrimp are low in calories and loaded with protein: a 3oz. serving has about 80 calories and 15 grams of protein. A one cup serving of shrimp has about 25 grams of protein, and is rich in healthy Omega-3s and many other good-for-you nutrients. Of course, it matters how you prepare the shrimp and what is added. This Roasted Shrimp with Lemon and Garlic adds tons of flavor and even more Omega-3s &heart healthy ingredients, making it a win for healthy eating.
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