Grilled Garlic Shrimp Skewers

Easy grilled shrimp basted with garlic butter. It’s shrimp on a stick!

Shrimp On A Stick

Anyone up for shrimp on a stick? Grilled, slathered with garlic butter, and sprinkled with chives, these big beautiful prawns are perfect party food for a backyard cookout.

Here’s a tip when grilling shrimp. First make sure you soak your wood or bamboo skewers (I recommend bamboo, they hold up better to heat) in water for at least half an hour. Then set up your grill so you have one side that is hot, and another cool.

Put the shrimp over the hot side, and the exposed skewers over the cool side. That way the shrimp cook quickly and the skewers don’t burn.

Simply Irresistible

Once you take the shrimp off the grill, immediately brush them with garlic butter, while the shrimp are still hot. The shrimp will absorb the garlic butter flavors better that way.

I do recommend you make more of these than you’ll think you need. Because even though 1 pound of shrimp should serve four, you’ll want to eat them all yourself. They’re sort of irresistible that way.

Grilled Garlic Shrimp Skewers Recipe

  • Prep time: 15 minutes
  • Cook time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 1 pound 16-20 count large prawns, peeled and deveined (can still have tail on for presentation)
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon minced chives for garnish

Special equipment:

  • Short bamboo skewers, about 20, soaked for 30 minutes in water before grilling

Method

1 Prepare grill: Prepare your grill for direct high heat, with one side of the grill as a cool side with no coals or flame.

2 Thread shrimp on skewers: While the grill is heating, thread the pre-soaked skewers through the shrimp. Start at the tail and push the skewers through the middle and end of the shrimp. Brush shrimp with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.

3 Melt butter with garlic: Place butter and garlic in a microwave-safe bowl and heat in microwave until the butter has melted and is hot. (If you don’t have a microwave you can also just melt the butter with the garlic in a small saucepan on the stovetop.)

4 Grill shrimp: Arrange skewers on grill so that the shrimp are over the coals or flame and the exposed bamboo skewer ends are over the cool side of the grill. Grill for about 2 minutes on each side.

5 Serve basted with garlic butter: As soon as the shrimp are done, remove from grill and place in a serving dish. Baste generously with melted garlic butter. Sprinkle with chives to serve!

Serve immediately.