How to Cook Frozen Shrimp

Frozen shrimp is a brilliant ingredient. It’s a tasty protein that’s endlessly versatile. It’s delicious cold in salads or by itself. It’s great in soups and pastas. It makes a fantastic street taco. You can sauté it in garlic and butter, or you can spice it up with any number of interesting herbs and seasonings.

But this versatility is not even the best part of shrimp. The real reason it’s the weeknight home chef’s best friend is that it cooks crazy fast and does not need to be thawed hours ahead of time. You can take shrimp out of the freezer, run it under cool water for 5 minutes, and then sauté it on the stove in less than 10 minutes. You can’t do that with chicken or beef.

Are you ready to add frozen shrimp to your weeknight menu arsenal? Pick up a bag or two of frozen, peeled, deveined shrimp and get started. Here are directions for how to cook frozen shrimp:

●       Rinse the shrimp in a colander under cool water until thawed, about 5 minutes.

●       Shake off excess water and place shrimp in towels to dry. The drier, the better. Season with salt or anything else you’d like to add.

●       Heat a skillet and add a bit of vegetable oil.

●       Once the oil is shimmering and hot, add your shrimp. You need to cook only a handful of shrimp at a time. Don’t overcrowd the pan; this leads to steaming and soggy shrimp. Instead, space them far apart and give them plenty of room to get a nice sear. It only takes a couple of minutes on each side. We like to cook them on the first side over medium high heat for two minutes, flip them quickly, and then turn off the heat and let them finish on the second side in the hot pan. Repeat this process for successive batches until all your shrimp is cooked.

 You’ll know they’re done when you see the following:

o  They turn from a pale blue/gray color to a soft shrimpy pink.

o  They become opaque

o  They start to curve gently into a C shape. (If you get Os, you’ve overcooked them.)

And that’s all there is to it. Once you master this simple technique, you can cook up a delicious batch of shrimp in a snap.

With your cooked shrimp in hand, you have a world of options including the following:

●       Toss it into any green salad

●       Add it to your favorite pasta dish. Shrimp alfredo and shrimp scampi are especially nice.

●       Serve it alongside your favorite sides. Sauteed shrimp pairs well with rice, quinoa, and couscous.

●       Add it into your favorite stir fry. Once the veggies are done, simply toss in your cooked shrimp and stir to coat with sauce.

●       And so many more!

Tonight’s a great night for shrimp!