Chili and Lime Shrimp is a delicious weeknight dinner with a hint of spice and loads of flavor! Quick and easy shrimp recipe that’s made with simple ingredients and makes for a crowd pleasing meal in less than 20 minutes! Have some white rice ready and let’s get cooking!
We love Seafood meals here, like we LOVE having seafood at least twice a week! The beauty of seafood dinners is that they’re light, healthy, quick, super easy and so satisfying! Today’s Chili Lime Shrimp recipe is one of them. Shrimp in particular cooks super fast like this Shrimp Chimichurri cooked on the grill.
Why You’ll Love Chili Lime Shrimp Recipe
- It’s so TASTY!
- The meal comes together in less than 20 minutes if your rice is ready!
- You don’t need to marinate the shrimp, the sauce is flavorful enough!
- It’s best to buy cleaned, peeled and deveined shrimp for this recipe as it saves you so much time!
- You can go as spicy or mild as you like with the sauce.
- The shrimp is super tender on the inside and has a delicate crunch on the outside thanks to a light cornstarch coating.
- As for the sauce, it has a spicy, sweet Asian flavor with lots of lime and cilantro.
- You can make the dish ahead of time!
- Leftovers taste so good the next day and reheat easily.
Ingredients for Chili Lime Shrimp
- Shrimp –Raw, peeled and deveined
- Fresh Ginger and Garlic –Minced/grated for the sauce
- Soy Sauce – for Flavor
- Chili Flakes-– for heat
- Hot Sriracha Sauce –More or less to your taste
- Fresh chillies –The heat in chili lime sauce
- Lime juice
- water — to thin out the sauce
- Light Brown Sugar--To balance out the strong flavors
- Cilantro –for freshness and brightness to the sauce
- Sesame Oil –For flavor and for cooking the shrimp
How to Make Chili Lime Shrimp
- Start by coating the shrimp in plain all purpose flour and add a dash of salt.
- You want a thin layer of flour and not a heavy coating.
Preheat a non stick skillet over medium heat and add in the sesame oil. Then add in the shrimp in a single layer. It’s important that the shrimp is in a single layer for that crisp crust.
- Flip the shrimp only when golden–that should take about 2 minutes per side at most. And when they’re ready you’re going to remove the shrimp from the pan.
- At that point you’ll make the chili lime sauce, add the sesame oil, ginger, garlic, soy sauce and water then add in the remaining ingredients and bring that sauce to a boil.
- Put the shrimp back in the pan and let it simmer in the sauce for just a minute. Finish off with cilantro.
- Serve the shrimp over whit rice with all the extra sauce!
Preheat a non stick skillet over medium heat and add in the sesame oil. Then add in the shrimp in a single layer. It’s important that the shrimp is in a single layer for that crisp crust.Chili Lime Shrimp Recipe Tips and FAQ
- To save time, buy peeled, deveined and cleaned shrimp for this recipe.
- Coat the shrimp in a very very light flour/cornstarch coating before searing. Make sure to dust any excess.
- Do not over cook the shrimp because they will becomes rubbery and tough. Just two minutes per side.
- Avoid crowding the pan when searing the shrimp, you may need to do the process in a few batches.
- Adjust the spice to your taste, adding more or less of chillies, chilli flakes and Sriracha.
- We love to serve the shrimp with white rice, but you can definitely have it with noodles or salad for a lighter meal.
- Store leftovers in a sealed container and reheat the next day in the microwave.
Can you use frozen shrimp to make this recipe?
Yes! I have used frozen shrimp today, but I defrosted it in the fridge and then proceeded to the recipe.
Do you have to marinate the shrimp?
Since the sauce is super flavorful, the shrimp doesn’t need any marinade at all.
What do you serve with Chili Lime Shrimp?
While we love it with white rice, you can most definitely enjoy it with noodles, tacos, salads and more!
Popular Seafood Recipes
Chili Lime Shrimp
Chili and Lime Shrimp is a delicious weeknight dinner with a hint of spice and loads of flavor! Quick and easy shrimp recipe that's made with simple ingredients and makes for a crowd pleasing meal in less than 20 minutes! Have some white rice ready and let's get cooking!
Ingredients
Shrimp
- 2 pounds shrimp raw, peeled and deveined
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt to tase
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
Chili Lime Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon ginger minced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon chilli flakes more or less to taste
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon Sriracha more or less to taste
- 1/3 cup cilantro minced
- 1 red chilli for garnish
Instructions
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Place the flour and salt in a large bowl and add in the shrimp. Toss to coat the shrimp in a thin layer and dust off excess flour.
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Preheat the sesame oil in a skillet and add in the shrimp in a single layer. You may need to do this step in batches because you can not crowd the pan.
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After 2 minutes, flip the shrimp and cook on the other side for another two minutes until golden and then remove the shrimp from the pan.
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repeat with any remaining shrimp, adding extra sesame seed oil if needed to the pan to avoid sticking.
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To make the sauce: add the sesame oil and garlic and ginger.
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Sautee for one minute and then add in the remaining ingredients except for the cilantro. bring the sauce to a boil and then lower the heat.
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Add the shrimp back to the sauce and simmer on low for a minute to infuse all the flavors. Then finish off with the cilantro.
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Serve the shrimp over white rice and enjoy!
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Chili Lime Shrimp Recipe Tips and FAQ
- To save time, buy peeled, deveined and cleaned shrimp for this recipe.
- Coat the shrimp in a very very light flour/cornstarch coating before searing. Make sure to dust any excess.
- Do not over cook the shrimp because they will becomes rubbery and tough. Just two minutes per side.
- Avoid crowding the pan when searing the shrimp, you may need to do the process in a few batches.
- Adjust the spice to your taste, adding more or less of chillies, chilli flakes and Sriracha.
- We love to serve the shrimp with white rice, but you can definitely have it with noodles or salad for a lighter meal.
- Store leftovers in a sealed container and reheat the next day in the microwave.
Can you use frozen shrimp to make this recipe?
Yes! I have used frozen shrimp today, but I defrosted it in the fridge and then proceeded to the recipe.
Do you have to marinate the shrimp?
Since the sauce is super flavorful, the shrimp doesn't need any marinade at all.
What do you serve with Chili Lime Shrimp?
While we love it with white rice, you can most definitely enjoy it with noodles, tacos, salads and more!
This was a delicious and flavorful meal. We love spice and Asian dishes. Thanks for the tip about buying pre-cleaned and deveined shrimp. That’s a timesaver.
The combination of the chilli and lime was amazing. Such a great way to cook shrimp.
Drooling over this. Love shrimp, and I cant wait to try your recipe. Thanks for sharing.
So So good! I never thought to use frozen prawns/shrimp so i’ll try that too!
Thankyou
This shrimp looks absolutely incredible! It is so inviting that I am already on my way to the kitchen as I type this LOL Amazing recipe!
It was a really huge hit at my house!! Will definitely make it again!
The flavours on this were incredible. So easy to make too.
So much flavor paired with the shrimp! I love how easily it all comes together too. Definitely the perfect weeknight meal.
I made this shrimp for dinner last night and OMG was it delicious! The flavor was outstanding!
I always have shrimp in the freezer. What a great dinner for any night of the week.