If you can cook rice, then you can make this stunning Lemon Garlic Shrimp and Rice. It’s seriously easy, and impressive enough for serving to company (or date night!). This is definitely one of those recipes where I can’t stop asking myself, “how do so few ingredients make so much flavor?” as I shovel forkful after forkful into my mouth. :)
What Kind of Shrimp to Use
You definitely want to purchase raw shrimp for this recipe rather than pre-cooked, and you can usually get the best price when buying frozen shrimp. You can buy them peeled or unpeeled, tail on or off, it doesn’t matter. Most frozen shrimp already comes deveined, which makes peeling super fast and easy. Here is a great tutorial on how to peel and devein shrimp from Simply Recipes, if needed.
I used a medium size shrimp for this recipe, which I feel is a good size for this type of dish, where you’ll want it to fit on your fork. The shrimp I used were 41-60 size, which means that at that size you’ll get about 41-60 shrimp per pound. Smaller numbers mean larger shrimp (it takes fewer shrimp to equal a pound), and higher numbers mean smaller shrimp (it takes more shrimp to equal a pound).
Tail On or Tail Off?
It’s completely up to you whether you want to remove your shrimp tails or keep them on. Removing them makes the dish easier to eat, but leaving them on makes it prettier. Keeping the tail on can inject more shrimp flavor into the rice as they steam together, but this might be more subtle than most people will notice.
Can I Make This in a Rice Cooker or Instant Pot?
Yes, this should work very well in a rice cooker or Instant Pot! For the rice cooker, just add everything (except the shrimp) to the cooker and cook as you would regular rice. After the rice has cooked, add the shrimp on top, close the lid, and keep it on the “keep warm” setting and allow the shrimp to steam for 5-10 minutes, or until the shrimp is opaque and cooked through. For an Instant Pot, you’ll want to do a quick release after your rice has cooked, add the shrimp, close the lid, and then keep it on the “keep warm” setting, allowing the shrimp to steam for 5-10 minutes or until opaque and cooked through.
For both machines, avoid leaving the lid open for more than a couple minutes when adding the shrimp. You want as much steam trapped in the unit as possible to continue cooking the shrimp.
What to Serve with Lemon Garlic Shrimp and Rice
I like to make sure every meal has a variety of colors and at least a little veggie action, so here are some recipes that I think would make a great side to this dish and create a well rounded meal:
One Pot Lemon Garlic Shrimp and Rice
Servings 4 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 12 oz. shrimp (41-60 size) ($4.99)
- 1 fresh lemon ($0.60)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.24)
- 1.5 cups long grain white rice ($0.93)
- 2 cups chicken broth ($0.26)
- 1/2 cup water ($0.00)
- 1 tsp Tony Chachere's seasoning* ($0.10)
- 2 Tbsp chopped parsley ($0.09)
Instructions
- If your shrimp is frozen or unpeeled, make sure you thaw and peel the shrimp before beginning. Juice half of the lemon (you'll need about 2 Tbsp juice) and slice the rest of the lemon for garnish.
- Mince the garlic. Add the garlic to a deep skillet along with the butter and sauté the garlic over medium heat for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the rice and continue to sauté for 1-2 minutes more. You should hear the rice begin to snap and crackle a little as it sautés in the hot butter.
- Carefully add the chicken broth, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, water, Tony Chachere's (or seasoning salt), and chopped parsley. Stir to combine.
- Place a lid on the skillet and turn the heat up to medium-high. Allow the broth to come up to a full boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and let it continue to simmer for 10 minutes.
- After simmering for 10 minutes, most of the broth should be absorbed by the rice. Lift the lid briefly in order to scatter the shrimp over the surface of the rice. Replace the lid and allow the skillet to continue to cook over low for an additional 5 minutes.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and allow it to rest, lid in place, for an additional five minutes. After resting, lift the lid. The shrimp should be opaque and pink.
- Use a fork to carefully fluff the rice and partially stir the cooked shrimp into the rice. Add the leftover lemon slices and sprinkle with extra chopped parsley, if desired. Serve hot.
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Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Lemon Garlic Shrimp and Rice – Step by Step Photos
Thaw and peel 12oz. shrimp. You can leave the tails on or remove them if you prefer. Juice half of a lemon (you’ll need 2 Tbsp juice) and slice the remaining lemon for garnish.
Mince four cloves of garlic and add them to a deep skillet along with 2 Tbsp butter. Sauté the garlic in the butter over medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Add 1.5 cups long grain white rice and continue to sauté for 1-2 minutes more. You should hear the rice kind of making a snap-crackle sound as it cooks in the butter.
Add 2 cups chicken broth, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, ½ cup water, 1 tsp Tony Chachere’s seasoning (or your favorite seasoning salt), and 2 Tbsp chopped parsley to the skillet. Stir to combine.
Place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to medium-high, and allow the broth to come to a full boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and let the rice simmer on low for 10 minutes. After ten minutes most of the broth should be absorbed.
Lift the lid just briefly enough to scatter the shrimp over the surface of the rice. Replace the lid and continue to simmer over low for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, remove the skillet from the heat and let it rest, lid in place, for 5 more minutes.
After resting, the shrimp should be pink, opaque, and cooked through.
Use a fork to gently fluff the rice and partially stir the shrimp into the rice. Add the remaining lemon slices and an extra pinch of chopped parsley.
Serve hot and enjoy!
This was amazing! I doubled the recipe (works perfectly with a large pan) and upped the garlic, lemon juice, seasoning, and parsley a little bit. I could eat this every day!
will this freeze well?
It will freeze pretty well, but the shrimp will probably overcook some during reheating, so just be careful not to overheat.
Loved this ! Tried it was pilaf rice and it was delicious!
This recipe is fast, easy, and delicious! The only thing I changed was to replace the 1/2 cup water with white wine., and served it with the 3-bean salad, such a nice combo, thank you!
Could this be made using minute rice?
I’ve never actually cooked with minute rice before, so I’m not sure what type of adjustments would be needed to make that work.
This came out AMAZING! I and my boyfriend loved it. So easy even I could do it! I used jasmine rice since that’s my favorite and it was delicious!
This looks delicious! Any thoughts on why doubling this wouldn’t work?
It should work as long as you’re able to deliver even heat throughout the pot. If the pot is a lot wider than the burner the outer edges may not simmer hard enough to cook the rice evenly. If you’re using a really tall narrow pot, sometimes the top layer won’t quite cook as well as the bottom. So aim for a pot that will provide even heat compared to the heat source. I hope that made sense! :)
This recipe looks delicious! I’d be lost without your Budget Bytes. 🤓
Do you think this would work with medium grain rice?
You will probably need to adjust the liquid ratio for medium grain, since each rice type generally needs a different amount of water. And keep in mind that medium grain tends to be more sticky and less fluffy. :)
my family LOVED this recipe! I did use orzo instead of rice because my kids like that better and I served with a side salad. This was so easy and quick to make and will definitely become a part of our rotation!! Thanks!!!
I made this to eat throughout the week. I reheat it for lunch with a fried runny egg on top. I loved this recipe because it’s a legit one pot yumminess. Easy to make and comes together well. I left the shell on my shrimp and added sun- dried tomatoes.
Could this be adapted to have brown rice instead of white?
Yes, but brown rice needs more liquid and a much longer cooking time, so you’ll need to adjust both of those. Use the rice to liquid ratio suggested on the your package of brown rice and make sure not to add the shrimp until the last five minutes so it doesn’t overcook.
Mmm, yummy. A gentle recipe on the tummy, in my opinion, with nice flavor. It also heats up well the next day. Thank you!
Also, side question: What’s your thought on throwing in a vegetable like zucchini or yellow squash? Would you put it in with the garlic and butter, then maybe add more butter for the rice portion? Just trying to think about how I can squeeze a vegetable into this awesome recipe.
You could potentially do that, but I think having it simmered with the rice would leave it rather limp. I think the best bet would be just to prepare a vegetable on the side, like my Lemon Pepper Zucchini. Super fast and easy. :)
This would be perfect with some broccoli on the side. Looks like it’s gonna be a school time favorite!!
I have prepared a version of this many times, and it’s excellent. If you have time, I recommend using the raw shrimp shells to make shrimp stock instead of using chicken stock. You can do that in about 15 minutes. Shrimp stock always provides a more flavorful dish. Also, different rice has different coking times. I interpret the recipe as simply adding the shrimp to the rice for the last 5 minutes of the cooking time, whatever that is for they type of rice you use.
This was fantastic! Fast, easy, a new staple!