A fast and very easy-to-make mouthwatering oven baked spicy shrimp recipe, the outcome of this garlic butter shrimp is slapping! It’s visually stunning and the tender oven-baked shrimp is delectable! Prawns are coated with butter, cayenne pepper, honey, garlic, a touch of soy, and garnished with fresh green scallions.
Updated March 17, 2025
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It’s one of the best oven-baked garlic butter shrimp recipes with a touch of Asian flavor for family-style eating and those times you want to really sit at the dinner table and just immerse yourself in some good home-cooked food, good people, and no other distractions. Eating shell on shrimp is always a peeling party I want to go to.
How to Select good shrimp
Medium-sized, fresh prawns work and taste the very best for this kind of prawn bake recipe. I recommend shell on.
Digging into this mouthwatering dish is a total peeling party! I find it much more engaging at the table when peeling seafood is involved. Kids like it too!
It’s completely worth it to keep the shell on for depth in the flavor of the dish, and after a quick clean, it’s all easy from there.
The fresher the better.
You can find live prawns at your local fish market or grocer with a well stock seafood section. I especially like going for the live prawns as they will be nicely plump and tender after cooking. They should be over ice, but not frozen through (however, use frozen if that’s all you have at the time).
What to look for to pick fresh shrimp
- Firm and meaty to the touch, never mushy
- Should never smell bad or fishy. Should smell fresh and have no odor of fishiness.
- Avoid if it has black spots as they have already been harvested for a few days and are not fresh
- Legs and body should be all intact and whole. No cracked shells, no areas or legs falling apart. The whiskers look more straight and uniform.
- The prawns should be glossy and translucent in color. Usually gray or brownish.
Just like when making stock or stews, the shell gives that next-level flavor burst and also keeps the oven baked spicy shrimp from becoming dry and overcooked.
The sauce, becoming encapsulated within the shell is the magic combination of savory, briny, and delivers what is the natural extra concentrate of shrimp flavor we are all wanting from what is otherwise a simple and quick recipe.
How to clean shrimp
- First, ensure you picked good shrimp. See the above section how to choose good shrimp.
- Throughly thaw your shrimp.
- Rinse with very lightly salted water two times.
- Take a toothpick, and bend your shrimp, and close to the middle, stick the toothpick under the vein of the shrimp.
- Gently pull out the vein by lifting the toothpick out, and then pull out the vein with your fingers.
- Give a good final rinse with plain, cold water.
- Be sure to pat dry with paper towel.
INGREDIENTS
The oven baked spicy shrimp ingredients are usually staples in your pantry, making this garlic butter shrimp recipe even better due to the time saved from having to specialty shop for everything besides the prawns.
- 2-3 lbs fresh prawns
- 1 cup salted butter or Earth butter/plant-based butter (I love using plant-based butter and it turns out the same).
- 1 1/2 tbsp Ground Cayenne Pepper. Ensure it is fresh because if it’s been sitting around for a long time over two years, it starts to lose its aromatics and heat and gains a more lackluster and dusty taste. The fresher the better, I always say.
- 1 tbsp Garlic Powder.
- 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Honey
- 1 bunch Scallions for garnishing.
- Oil – to lightly grease the pan
- 1 pinch salt and pepper
Equipment
- Small bowl
- Large Braiser Pan
- Foil
- Whisk
- Tongs
Instructions for Spicy Garlic Shrimp Recipe
- Clean and devein the prawns. Pat them dry, ensuring no excess water is on them.
- In a bowl, melt the butter for a few seconds in the microwave if need, until it is a thick consistency when stirred. It should not be runny. Think of the same texture as frosting for a cake. If it is runny, it won’t stick well to all of the prawns.
- Once the butter is thick and whipped, add soy sauce, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and honey to the same bowl. Mix it up gently using a whisk.
- Coat all the prawns very well and evenly. I like to use easy food gloves so I can really get them mixed into the sauce. It’s also clean and fast when you have gloves.
- Oil your pan a little for non-sticking, and then place in your cast iron or something similar to a large braising pan. That’s it!
- Put in the oven for about 15-20 minutes at 400F, very lightly covered with foil.
- Halfway at the ten minute mark turn and toss around the shrimp.
- Check the opacity and be sure to remove your prawns once you see they are opaque all around. Be sure not to overcook and let them rest for an additional 5 minutes before serving.
Additional Add Ons and Adaptations
- add garlic scapes
- try with jumbo prawns
- use less cayenne if you don’t like too spicy
- garnish with lemon wedges
What to eat with oven baked spicy shrimp?
Garlic butter prawns in a spicy and delectable sauce go well with simple sides. Whenever I make this spicy shrimp recipe, a side of rice does great as well as an option of French baguettes to soak up the sauce.
Complete your table with these sides:
- Vegetarian Pancit Bihon Filipino Rice Noodle
- Shitake mushrooms
- Baby Bok Choy
- Vegetable Stir Fry
- Soba Noodles Stir Fry
- Easy Must Try Fried Rice – everyone loves this
- Discover more shrimp recipes like Panko Shrimp or Salt and Pepper Shrimp
Questions
Rice or French Baguettes
You can easily make oven baked spicy shrimp gluten-free by using gluten-free soy sauce.
Yes, and if you use a little less butter and serve with non-starch vegetables, it makes a perfectly healthy meal for anyone.
Not recommended because reheating will make the prawns rubbery.
Yes. The sauce gets absorbed by the prawns and the next day, this will taste delicious because of the extra marinating. You can reheat on the stove with a little water, but do not simmer or cook through. Only heat to warm up the butter and sauce sticking to the prawns, then serve with steaming rice, noodle, or bread.
Spicy garlic butter shrimp FAST & EASY!
Equipment
- food gloves optional
- glass mixing bowl
- large oven pan
Ingredients
- 2-3 lbs Fresh Whole Prawns shell on, deveined, clean, and patted dry
- 1 cup salted butter or Earth butter (plant based)
- 1½ tbsp cayenne pepper powder
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tbsp oil very light to oil the pan
- 1 bunch scallions sliced, garnish
- 1 pinch sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash your fresh prawns in cold, lightly salted water and devein them. Rinse again, very well, under plain cold water. Pat them dry with paper towel. Absorb as much excess water with the paper towel. Set aside.2-3 lbs Fresh Whole Prawns
The Sauce Mix
- In a glass mixing bowl, stir your room temperature butter with a spoon until it has a thick and creamy texture. It should be pasty.1 cup salted butter or Earth butter (plant based)
- Add the cayenne pepper powder and garlic powder. Mix around.1½ tbsp cayenne pepper powder, 1 tbsp garlic powder
- Add the honey and soy sauce and mix everything until it's well combined.1 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp soy sauce
- Add the whole prawns to the mixture and coat each prawn very well.
- Grab your oven pan and lightly oil the bottom.½ tbsp oil
- Add all the prawns and also pour on top any extra butter sauce.
- Heat oven to 400F.
- Lightly cover the pan with foil. No need to crimp the sides over the pan, just place the foil on top of the pan.
- Place pan inside oven for ten minutes.
- At the ten minute mark, turn and toss your prawns and put back the foil cover.
- Bake till the other side looks opaque and cooked (8-10 more minutes).
- Remove from oven, add chopped scallions over the top of all the baked prawns, sprinkle a small pinch of salt and pepper, and let rest 5-8 minutes.Serve and enjoy!1 bunch scallions, 1 pinch sea salt and pepper
Notes
- steaming jasmine rice
- French baguettes
- lemon wedges
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