25 Essential Ways to Cook Shrimp

Delicate, briny, and sweet, it's no surprise shrimp are the most popular seafood to cook in the United States. While a great shrimp recipe may call for little more than lemon and butter, we've collected some of our very best recipes to show off just how delicious this crustacean can be. (Allie Wist/)
Purists may note that this Italian-American specialty isn't really scampi (Adriatic crayfish)—but as its name promises, it really is shrimp cooked scampi-style. Get the recipe for <a href="https://www.saveur.com/shrimp-scampi-recipe/">Shrimp Scampi</a> (Farideh Sadeghin/)
With a little prep, chef Andy Ricker's classic pad Thai is the easy noodle stir fry you need. Get the recipe for <a href="https://www.saveur.com/story/recipes/andy-rickers-pad-thai-with-pork-and-shrimp/">Andy Ricker's Pad Thai with Pork and Shrimp</a> (Eva Kolenko/)
This lighter shrimp salad recipe is a substitute for the more traditional, but heavier, Italian roasted-eel salad. Roasting large red bell peppers adds a smokier element to the tangy, cured shrimp. Get the recipe for <a href="http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Salad-of-Shrimp-and-Roasted-Peppers-">Shrimp and Roasted Pepper Salad</a> (Matt Taylor-Gross/)
Rice flour is the secret to the crispy crust of these habit-forming twice-fried shrimp. Get the recipe for <a href="https://www.saveur.com/salted-fried-shrimp-recipe"/>Salted Fried Shrimp</a> (Allie Wist/)
Bittersweet satsumas, a citrus fruit native to Louisiana, brighten these pickled shrimp, which chef Justin Devillier of New Orleans' La Petite Grocery spikes with Korean chile flakes. Substitute tangerines or any orange-related citrus and crushed red chile flakes, if necessary. Get the recipe for <a href="http://www.saveur.com/pickled-shrimp-with-satsumas-recipe">Pickled Shrimp with Satsuma</a> (Christina Holmes/)
The term saganaki refers to the skillet in which Greeks cook ingredients with cheese. In this dish, shrimp is topped with crumbled feta and broiled. Get the recipe for <a href="https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Shrimp-with-Tomatoes-and-Feta-Garides-Saganaki/">Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta (Garides Saganaki)</a> (Rachel Dolfi/)
Shrimp pulls double duty here: the shells are used to make the flavorful rundown sauce, and the meat is marinated with citrus and lightly cooked with the pasta. Get the recipe for <a href="https://www.saveur.com/spaghetti-with-shrimp-rundown-sauce-recipe/">Spaghetti with Shrimp Rundown Sauce</a> (Jenny Huang/)
Mother-daughter chef team, Kirsten and Mandy Dixon, turn this staple of Indonesian and Malaysian cuisine into an addictive snack and appetizer served at their rural Alaskan adventure lodges, Within the Wild. Get the recipe for <a href="https://www.saveur.com/homemade-shrimp-chips-recipe/">Alaskan Shrimp Chips</a>
A classic Lowcountry breakfast dish, shrimp and grits also makes a splendid easy supper. Get the recipe for <a href="https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Shrimp-and-Grits/">Shrimp and Grits</a> (Kat Craddock/)
This seafood gumbo from Brooklyn's Maison Premiere features smokey andouille sausage, seared shrimp, oysters, and crab. Get the recipe for <a href="https://www.saveur.com/maison-premiere-gumbo-recipe/">Maison Premiere Gumbo</a> (Thomas Payne/)
Ma Ya's rice dishes, curries, and treats show coconut's sweet and savory versatility. Get the recipe for <a href="https://www.saveur.com/southern-thai-rice-salad-recipe/">Southern Thai Rice Salad with Shrimp (Khao Yam)</a> (Austin Bush/)
Spicy paprika and whole-grain mustard sauce coats plump shrimp in this classic New Orleans red rémoulade from the late chef Warren Leruth. Get the recipe for <a href="https://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/leruths-red-shrimp-remoulade/">LeRuth's Red Shrimp Rémoulade</a> (Ingalls Photography/)
Juicy mango, buttery avocado, and lightly charred sweet shrimp get packed into rice paper along with crispy cabbage and cucumber for a summer appetizer that hits all the right textural notes. Prep the spicy, tart dipping sauce ahead to give the flavors time to meld. Get the recipe for <a href="https://www.saveur.com/grilled-shrimp-summer-rolls-chile-lime-dipping-sauce-recipe/">Grilled Shrimp Summer Rolls with Chile-Lime Dipping Sauce</a> (Matt Taylor-Gross/)
Take avocado toast to a new level with this tasty Danish open-face sandwich. Get the recipe for <a href="https://www.saveur.com/shrimp-avocado-potato-smorrebrod-recipe/">Shrimp, Avocado, and Crispy Potato Smorrebrod</a> (Marcus Nilsson/)
Every element of this taco—inspired by those at <a href="http://taqueriadonpepe.com">Don Pepe Taqueria</a> in Fresno—is amped up, from the red rice simmered in a blend of chicken stock and puréed tomatoes to the quick-marinated shrimp. Use large flour tortillas as tacos or wrap them into a burrito. Get the recipe for <a href="https://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/shrimp-tacos/">Shrimp Tacos</a> (Dylan + Jeni/)
The best way to enjoy this sweet Gulf shrimp dish, adapted from Donald Link's Down South (Clarkson Potter, 2014), is with drawn butter for dipping. Get the recipe for <a href="http://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/peel-and-eat-shrimp-with-spicy-herb-butter">Peel-and-Eat Shrimp with Spicy Herb Butter</a> (Andre Baranowski/)
Light, tangy, and cooked with a modest amount of heat and any available seafood and fresh vegetables, kaeng som is an elemental and satisfying dish, and this curry from Pok Pok's Andy Ricker is an easy recipe to master. Learn to make the shrimp-enriched broth, which leads with tart, pungent flavors but also delivers measured amounts of sweetness, salt, and spice, and you'll begin to understand the balance in Thai cooking. Get the recipe for <a href="https://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/kaeng-som-kung-sour-curry-with-shrimp/">Sour Curry with Shrimp (Kaeng Som Kung)</a> (Joseph De Leo/)
At Hart's in Brooklyn, the chefs use urfa biber and aleppo chile peppers to lend a smoky-spicy flavor to succulent shrimp. Get the recipe for <a href="https://www.saveur.com/head-on-shrimp-with-chile-oil-and-scallions-recipe/">Head-On Shrimp with Chile Oil and Scallions </a> (Jenny Huang/)
This adaptable stew is from the Brazilian state of Bahia, where Iberian, indigenous, and African foodways intermingle in one of the country's most dynamic cuisines. Usually bread is used to thicken it, but some cooks use manioc flour. Sometimes there are ground peanuts, sometimes cashews. Onions, tomatoes, ginger, okra, and chiles might go into the pot, along with chicken, salt cod, or shrimp. But there's always coconut milk and palm oil, which provide a luxurious texture and signature floral notes. <em>—Neide Rigo</em> Get the recipe for <a href="https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Classic-Brazilian-Shrimp-Stew/">Brazilian Shrimp Stew (Vatapá)</a> (Todd Coleman/)
In Goa, a tiny, palm-fringed state on the western coast of India, seafood is central to the cuisine. Beloved regional specialty sembharachi kodi, or shrimp in a coconut curry, is prepared a number of ways, but always with the freshest local shellfish simmered in a rich, chile-spiked coconut sauce. Get the recipe for <a href="http://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/sembharachi-kodi-goanese-shrimp-curry">Sembharachi Kodi (Goanese Shrimp Curry)</a> (Ingalls Photography/)
These shrimp are cooked in a hot cast iron pan with tons of garlic and red Thai chiles. Get the recipe for <a href="https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Chile-Garlic-Shrimp/">Gambas Al Ajillo (Chile-Garlic Shrimp)</a> (Todd Coleman/)
Briny, faintly spicy pickled shrimp are a staple of Southern cuisine. In this Georgia-inspired version, frozen raw shrimp are a fine substitute for fresh. Get the recipe for <a href="https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Pickled-Shrimp/">Pickled Shrimp</a> (Todd Coleman/)
At Abu Dhabi's Al Arish restaurant, jumbo prawns are basted in a spicy-sweet ketchup-based sauce before they are grilled. Get the recipe for <a href="https://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/rubyan-meshwi-emirati-grilled-prawns/">Rubyan Meshwi (Emirati Grilled Prawns)</a> (Ingalls Photography/)
Baked and served in individual ramekins, this spicy seafood cornbread has a spoonably soft, luscious texture. Get the recipe for <a href="https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Brigtsens-Jalapeno-Shrimp-Cornbread/">Brigtsen's Jalapeño Shrimp Cornbread</a> (Todd Coleman/)
These crisp-edged fritters get their earthy flavor from chickpea flour. Get the recipe for <a href="https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Shrimp-Fritters/">Tortillitas de Camarones (Shrimp Fritters)</a> (Todd Coleman/)