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I’m currently working my way through “Ducksoup: The Wisdom of Simple Cooking.” It’s a really excellent cookbook full or recipes that require only a few quality ingredients and minimal cooking to yield maximum flavor. These grilled shrimp with zesty lemon chili salt are a perfect example. The authors note ” you hardly need a recipe to make this dish” but I’m glad they provided one. I’ve been grilling shrimp with olive oil, sea salt, and lemon for ages but I’d never though to grind the lemon zest into the salt – genius and more importantly, delicious!
Looking for more shrimp recipes? Try my warm shrimp salad or shrimp risotto.
Notes on Grilled Shrimp with Zesty Lemon Chili Salt
Simple recipes like this are all about the ingredients. Use the freshest seafood you can find (and preferably wild caught shrimp). Good sea salt and organic lemons are also recommended. If your lemons are not organic, make sure to give them a good scrub under hot water to remove their wax coating.
Suggested Pairings
These shrimp make a great appetizer dish. You can serve them alongside a few simple small bites like olives and a bit of bread and olive oil for a delightful cocktail hour. We often make a meal out these too. Grilled shrimp and a simple side salad is all you need for an easy weeknight dinner. For the wine, shrimp generally goes great with many whites or rose. For this recipe I prefer a crisp sauvignon blanc.
Grilled Shrimp with Zesty Lemon Chili Salt
- Prep Time: 4
- Cook Time: 6
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2 to 4 1x
Description
This recipe is from “Ducksoup: The Wisdom of Simple Cooking”
Ingredients
- 1 lb large shrimp, raw with heads and shells on
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp dried chili flakes
- 2 lemons
- olive oil
Instructions
- Zest the lemons. Place lemon zest, salt, and red pepper flakes in the base of your mortar and pestle. Grind to combine. Cut lemons into wedges and set aside for serving.
- Coat the shrimp in olive oil and sprinkle with some of the zesty lemon chili salt (reserving the rest for serving)
- Heat a large cast iron skillet or grill pan until smoking hot. When the pan is hot, add the shrimp and grill for 3 minutes on each side.*
- Transfer the shrimp to a large serving platter. Sprinkle generously with zesty lemon chili salt and arrange with lemon wedges. You will still have some lemon chili salt reserved. You can put that in a small dish for individual servings.
- Don’t forget the napkins!
Notes
*I’ve taken to grilling my shrimp in a cast iron skillet but you can easily grill the shrimp with your gas or charcoal grill. Just make sure to get it nice and hot first. Cook time is 2-3 minutes per side.
I generally use large shrimp for this dish (around 20 to 24 a pound) but jumbo work too – just avoid the super large ones. You want at least 12 per pound.
