Succulent shrimp tossed in a sweet and savory honey garlic sauce. This quick and easy honey garlic shrimp is restaurant-quality! Ready in 20 minutes with simple ingredients. Also great as a main or side dish satisfying the shrimp lovers!
Jump to:
This Asian shrimp dish features sautéed shrimp coated in garlicky honey sauce. The jumbo shrimp is velveted prior to cooking making it very tender and moist! Velveting is common technique used in Chinese cooking to tenderize meat and seafood.
You'll find this dish served at many Chinese restaurants and it's best paired with steamed rice and vegetables, like broccoli. I also share other pairing suggestions below. It's also a tasty way to add seafood to your diet!
What you'll love about this quick shrimp recipe is it's:
- so delicious and tender as the shrimp is velveted with a Chinese marinade! This is what sets my recipe apart from others.
- made with simple ingredients.
- ready in little time as shrimp cooks very quickly.
- made in one pan.
- great for families or picky eaters.
- low in calories!
Ingredients & Substitutes
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Raw Jumbo Shrimp: or substitute with extra jumbo or large shrimp but adjust the cooking time. You can use fresh or frozen shrimp.
- Neutral Cooking Oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil with a high smoke point. Avoid olive oil or coconut oil.
- Green Onion
- Sesame Seeds: if you're allergic to sesame seeds please omit as it's an optional garnish.
Shrimp Marinade
- Cornstarch: or substitute with tapioca starch or arrowroot starch.
- Black Pepper: or substitute with white pepper.
- Salt
- Water
- Neutral Cooking Oil: like vegetable oil or avocado oil. See above for more examples.
Honey Garlic Sauce
- Garlic Cloves
- Honey: the plain kind. Or substitute with maple syrup.
- Regular Soy Sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you're gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce.
- Water
- Rice Vinegar: or substitute with apple cider vinegar, white vinegar or Shaoxing wine.
- Sesame Oil: if you're allergic to sesame oil please omit.
- Cornstarch: or substitute with tapioca starch or arrowroot starch.
Note: Most Asian grocery stores will carry most of the Asian specific ingredients or check online stores, like Amazon.
Expert Tips
- Buy easy-peel or peeled and deveined shrimp to speed up preparation time and for ease.
- Opt for black tiger shrimp for a meaty bite and a gorgeous pink color! That's what I'm using for this recipe.
- Rinse the peeled and deveined shrimp with cold running water to remove natural odors, tiny shells and debris.
- Velvet the shrimp in the marinade for 15 minutes or more to tenderize and lock in moisture.
- Don’t overcook the shrimp as shrimp cooks very quickly.
Instructions
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make honey garlic shrimp:
- Transfer shrimp to a large bowl after it's peeled, deveined and rinsed with cold water. Pat dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture.
- Add the marinade ingredients to the shrimp as listed above. Mix well and marinate for 15 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients as listed above until honey is dissolved. Set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon or 15 ml vegetable oil in a large pan on medium heat. Cook shrimp until 90% pink flipping over halfway, about 60-90 seconds in total. Remove it from the pan.
- Pour the honey garlic sauce into the pan and simmer to thicken it. When it's thick enough, it will coat the back of a spoon and not immediately drip off.
- Then toss in the shrimp in the sauce until fully pink and cooked through, about 20 seconds. Remove the pan off heat. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Storage & Reheating
- Leftovers will last up to 2 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat: microwave for 2-3 minutes until hot or reheat in a pan on medium heat.
- Freezer friendly? I don't recommend freezing honey garlic shrimp as the shrimp will taste rubbery after reheating.
Pairing Suggestions
- starters like egg rolls, crab rangoons, egg drop soup, or hot and sour soup.
- white or brown rice, cauliflower rice, or fried rice.
- beef chow mein or chicken lo mein.
- cooked vegetables like bok choy, choy sum, gai lan, garlic green beans or stir fried snow pea leaves.
- protein dishes like Sweet Chili Chicken, Mongolian Beef, Honey Walnut Shrimp, Soy Garlic Tofu, and more!
FAQ
Honey garlic shrimp can be made up to 1-2 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge. To reheat, microwave or in a pan on the stovetop on medium heat until hot. I don't recommend making any earlier in advance as shrimp will taste fishier with time.
You can make honey garlic shrimp spicy by seasoning with 1 teaspoon of red chili flakes to the final dish.
Yes, feel free to add sautéed vegetables like bell peppers, carrots, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, snap or snow peas to this dish.
More Like This
📖 Recipe
Easy 20-min. Honey Garlic Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 lb jumbo shrimp peeled, deveined, rinsed & strained
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil
- 1 green onion finely chopped for garnish
- ½ teaspoon sesame seeds optional garnish
Shrimp Marinade
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch or tapioca starch
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon water cold or room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil
Honey Garlic Sauce
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- ⅓ cup honey
- 2.5 tablespoon regular soy sauce or light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon water cold or room temperature
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar / white vinegar
- ½ tablespoon sesame oil or any neutral oil
- ½ tablespoon cornstarch or tapioca starch
Instructions
- Transfer shrimp to a large bowl after it's peeled, deveined and rinsed with cold water. Pat dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture.
- Add the marinade ingredients to the shrimp as listed above. Mix well and marinate for 15 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients as listed above until honey is dissolved. Set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon or 15 ml vegetable oil in a large pan on medium heat. Cook shrimp until 90% pink flipping over halfway, about 60-90 seconds in total. Remove it from the pan.
- Pour the honey garlic sauce into the pan and simmer to thicken it. When it's thick enough, it will coat the back of a spoon and not immediately drip off.
- Then toss in the shrimp in the sauce until fully pink and cooked through, about 20 seconds. Remove the pan off heat. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Notes
Storage & Reheating
- Leftovers will last up to 2 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat: microwave for 2-3 minutes until hot or reheat in a pan on medium heat.
- Freezer friendly? I don't recommend freezing honey garlic shrimp as the shrimp will taste rubbery after reheating.
Raquel Ramalho
Wonderful and easy! 🙌✨
Thank you 🙏
Christie Lai
Very happy that you enjoyed it! Thank you for making my recipe, Raquel!