🍯🍤😍 This honey barbecue shrimp recipe is easy, healthy, and ready in 10 minutes! The shrimp always turn out tender, juicy, and full of great flavor, thanks to the barbecue sauce and honey. In my opinion, it’s the perfect way to enjoy shrimp!
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Easy Barbecue Grilled Shrimp Recipe
This BBQ shrimp recipe is my go-to for a quick protein source when the weather is warm. I’ve nailed hte recipe, making it as simple and as failproof as possible. And the grilled shrimp have so much flavor, especially when they’re brushed with a mixture of honey barbecue sauce, garlic, olive oil, and finished with lemon juice for a tangy pop and fresh cilantro to round out the flavor profile.
Plus, cleanup is practically nonexistent, which is another huge perk. The shrimp are tender, juicy,and full of great flavor from the barbecue sauce and honey.
Because I am a fan of spicy foods, I added a couple of tablespoons of sriracha to the sauce that’s both brushed onto the shrimp as they grill as well as to the dipping sauce you serve them with, but it’s optional. The shrimp don’t turn out wildly spicy, but rather have lots of flavor and a gentle heat. The grill seems to temper and mellow the potency of the sriracha.
It was absolutely delicious, will definitely make it again 🤤
Lily
What’s in Grilled Barbecue Shrimp?
For this honey barbecue shrimp recipe, you’ll need:
- Barbecue sauce – You can use any barbecue sauce you’d like for this recipe, but my personal favorite is Trader Joe’s organic brown sugar BBQ and marinade. If you want your grilled barbecue shrimp to be gluten-free or refined sugar-free, double-check the ingredients on your barbecue sauce before using it
- Honey
- Garlic
- Sriracha (optional)
- Fresh shrimp – I used U20 fresh shrimp, which means there are approximately 20 shrimp to a pound. You can go with bigger shrimp like U12-16, which are meatier and larger, but also cost more, pound for pound. I buy deveined shrimp with the shells off and the tails on. I could save a little money and buy intact shrimp and clean them myself, saving just the tail, rather than having the butcher at the grocery store do it, but time is money. I always buy fresh shrimp. I have not tested this recipe with frozen shrimp and while it would probably be ‘okay,’ it wouldn’t be my preference for flavor and not something I would do
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Lemon wedges
- Cilantro
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Honey Barbecue Shrimp
This simple bbq shrimp recipe is guaranteed to be an instant favorite with your whole family. Here’s a step by step overview of how it comes together:
- Mix the honey barbecue sauce, and divide it between two bowls.
- Thread the shrimp onto metal or wooden skewers. If you grill often, I highly recommend investing in a set of metal skewers. They’re easy to clean and can be used over and over again. If you use wooden skewers, you’ll need to soak them in water for 30 minutes before threading the shrimp onto them. If you don’t soak them, the skewers may catch on fire on the grill.
- Then, brush them with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.
- Grill over medium heat, brushing the honey BBQ sauce onto each side once grilled. Continue brushing the shrimp with sauce as needed while they cook.
- Serve immediately with the reserved sauce. Squeeze lemon juice over top and garnish with fresh herbs like cilantro, fresh parsley, thyme, or oregano.
How Long to Grill Shrimp?
Although it’s somewhat dependent on the size of the shrimp and the overall hotness of your grill, generally speaking shrimp will cook very quickly on the grill. Likely in about 2 minutes per side and because my outdoor grill is a serious hot monster, I always need to keep a close eye on things.
There is nothing worse than overcooked shrimp (or lobster) because it’s tough and rubbery and I find it to be nearly inedible. A little charring from the grill on the tails or certain parts of the flesh is okay and adds a ton of flavor, but just be careful not to overcook them as a whole. Note that I have not made this recipe in an indoor grill pan, but I’m sure you could.
What to Serve with This Barbecue Shrimp Recipe
Recipe FAQs
I don’t recommend it! Grilled shrimp is best enjoyed right away. Seafood in general doesn’t reheat well, so if you wind up with leftover shrimp, you might want to enjoy it cold (this shrimp would taste wonderful atop a salad the next day). Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Yes, you can heat oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Then, add the shrimp and cook on both sides, brushing them with barbecue sauce.
New Orleans BBQ shrimp is a shrimp dish that is made with tail-on, head-on shrimp, flavored with Cajun seasoning or Creole seasoning and sautéed in a Worcestershire-spiked butter sauce.
10-Minute Honey Barbecue Grilled Shrimp
Equipment
- 2 Bowls
- 1 Grill
- Wooden or Metal Skewers
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup your favorite barbecue sauce
- ⅓ cup honey
- 2 to 4 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
- 1 to 3 tablespoons sriracha or chili garlic sauce, optional and to taste if you prefer some spiciness
- 1 to 1.25 pounds fresh shrimp, cleaned and deveined (I use U20 shrimp, with tails still on; you can use larger shrimp or shrimp without tails on if desired)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning
- fresh lemon wedges, for serving
- fresh cilantro or parsley, optional for garnishing
Instructions
- To a medium bowl, add the barbecue sauce, honey, garlic, optional sriracha or chili garlic sauce, and stir to combine. Divide mixture into two bowls (one for brushing on the shrimp while grilling and the other as a dipping sauce when serving); set bowls aside.
- Preheat an outdoor grill to medium-high heat (or indoor grill pan).
- Thread about 5 to 6 shrimp onto one metal or wooden grilling skewer (soak wooden skewers in water for about 30 minutes prior to using); repeat the threading with all remaining shrimp.
- Brush shrimp liberally with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Grill the shrimp for about 2 minutes on the first side.
- Flip and brush the just-grilled side with the barbecue sauce mixture from one of the bowls.
- Grill for about 2 minutes on the second side, and brush the first side with the barbecue sauce mixture. As necessary, continue to brush the shrimp with the sauce and flip every 30 to 60 seconds or until done. Note – Shrimp cook very quickly, especially on a hot grill. Keep an eye on them and do not overcook or they will become tough and rubbery. There is a difference between a little charring on the tails from the grill versus overcooking them.
- Drizzle with lemon juice, optionally garnish with fresh cilantro or parsley, and serve immediately with the reserved dipping sauce. Shrimp are best warm and fresh.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Originally posted September 7, 2018 and reposted June 18, 2021 with updated text.
It was absolutely delicious, will definitely make it again 🤤
Thanks for the 5 star review, Lily, and I’m glad it was delicious and you’ll make it again!
Love your sauce. The recipe is clear and easy. I hope more people can try this.
Wow! Thank you so much for providing this recipe, so that I can learn more, I also want to collect recipes from all over the world to cook, but maybe I need to increase my English ability first haha, so I consider going to 線上課程. So and other websites like 家教網網上課程兒童線上英文 for learning.
Wow I’m going to give it a try!! Looks awesome!!
I tried the Lemon Butter Garlic Shrimp With Angel Hair Pasta recipe you provided, and the pasta was delicious and went well with the shrimp. I believe I will have to try this Grilled Shrimp recipe. My mouth is watering just looking at the photos.
Looks so delicious, I and my kids are fans of grilled shrimps, you’ve stimulated my appetite, can’t wait anymore, I will definitely try it your way, step by step looks seems easy :D. Thanks so much for this guide. Looking forward to seeing more.