Here’s an incredible way to cook shrimp in the oven – baked in a lemon garlic butter white wine sauce, finished with a golden crunchy parmesan breadcrumb topping. People call it Magic Baked Shrimp – because it’s so simple to make, yet it tastes like a million bucks. It’s basically an oven baked Shrimp Scampi!
Baked Shrimp (Prawns)
When you bake shrimp in the oven, you simply can’t achieve that same caramelisation that you get from searing prawns on the stove or grill, which means less flavour.
And frankly, shrimp is pricey compared to other day-to-day proteins. So when I cook it, I’m not going to compromise!
So here are the two things in this recipe that adds an extra edge to compensation for loss of flavour because we can’t caramelise shrimp in the oven:
White wine reduction flavour base – white wine is the “secret ingredient” that gives many sauces a flavour edge to take them from fine to soooo tasty!! It’s used in the classic recipe for Garlic Prawns/Shrimp and it’s essential to include for Baked Shrimp to make a seriously amazing sauce!!
That crunchy parmesan breadcrumb topping – Texture! Flavour!
This is an effortless, utterly incredible way to cook shrimp in the oven that’s worthy of company!
What you need to make GREAT baked shrimp
There’s not that many ingredients required – part of the Magic of this recipe!!
For convenience, I use store bought grated parmesan and frozen prawns/shrimp.
Note: The prawns/shrimp shown below ARE raw! They are from Costco and they’re a particular type that are pink when raw.
How to cook prawns / shrimp in the oven (and make them really tasty!)
So here is how I cook prawns / shrimp in the oven:
Start with a white wine reduction in an empty pan in a hot oven. This creates an exceptional flavour base that’s usually missing from baked shrimp recipes!!
Toss shrimp (prawns) with lemon, garlic, butter, salt and pepper;
Top with parmesan panko breadcrumb topping;
Bake just 12 minutes.
Yep, it’s that easy. No stirring, no stove splatters, all done in one pan!
And here’s what you end up with:
Juicy, tender shrimp that are perfectly cooked;
A pool of incredible lemon-butter-garlic-white wine sauce with an extra flavour boost from the shrimp juices; and
The crowning glory – a golden crunchy parmesan topping. It just doesn’t get any better than this!!
The sauce that comes with this Baked Shrimp really is amazing. Even if it was just lemon and butter, it would be delicious. But with the white wine reduction, it’s INCREDIBLE!!!
Simple, effortless yet amazing
Recipes like this Baked Shrimp are my jam. It’s incredibly simple, yet utterly delectable.
It’s got it all! Flavour, juiciness, texture, depth of flavour, tang from lemon, savoury from parmesan.
So few ingredients, so effortless.
It’s like…. MAGIC!!! – Nagi x
PS I presume you figured it out from the outset, but just to clarify: prawns = shrimp. 🙂 I’m in Australia, and we call them prawns here. So most of my recipes are titled “prawns (shrimp)” but from time to time, depending on the recipe and given I have a large proportion of US readers, I will title a recipe “shrimp” rather than prawns. 😇
Watch how to make it
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Crispy Baked Shrimp in Lemon Butter Sauce (Prawns)
Ingredients
- 500g/ 1 lb jumbo prawns/shrimp , peeled and deveined (Note 1)
- 3/4 cup dry white wine (sub chicken broth)
- 75g/ 5 tbsp unsalted butter , melted
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Crunchy Topping:
- 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs (Note 2)
- 1/4 cup parmesan , finely shredded
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1.5 tbsp olive oil
Garnish:
- Finely chopped parsley
- Lemon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220°C/430°F (all oven types).
- Pour wine and half the butter into 9 x 13" / 22 x 33cm baking pan (see Note 3 if using glass). Place in oven for 10 minutes to reduce.
- Toss prawns with remaining butter, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Butter may harden – that’s ok.
- Mix Crunchy Topping ingredients.
- Remove pan from oven. Add prawns – spread out in single layer, but snug.
- Top with Crunchy Topping. Bake 12 minutes.
- Flick to broiler/grill on high, broil for 1 – 2 minutes (max) to brown top a bit more.
- Sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately with lemon wedges and crusty bread to mop up the incredible sauce!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published August 2019. Tidied up for some housekeeping matters July 2020 – no change to recipe!
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Life of Dozer
Too much garlic in this Baked Shrimp for Dozer. So I offered him something else to taste test instead (this Bacon and Egg Muffin – with a whole egg baked inside!) – and he seemed totally ok with it. 😂
So easy and so tasty! I can’t wait for the recipe book to be published.
I made this tonight and it was so tasty. However it wasn’t very saucy/liquid. Its almost like the sauce dried up too much though I did use the right amount of wine /butter. Any tips?
Hi Rita – it could be the pan was to too large or your oven runs hot – that would affect how fast it reduced the sauce. N x
Thanks so much, Nagi. Will remember for next time!
Love your recipes. Thank you!! Rx
This is the second time I made it and the breadcrumbs turn out to be soup. I think the better option is to sprinkle on the breadcrumbs at the end
Nagi did mention in the fine print that you need to fit the prawns snugly. And put breadcrumbs on top to avoid them falling into the sauce. Worth trying again. So delicious. Good luck
This was a big hit! Delicious but easy to prepare: we will definitely be making this again.
Love love love this. Made with shrimp and scallops. May use a little more butter and garlic…..don’t judge me…turns out beautifully every time!!!!!
Yum, yum, yum.
Hi Nagi!
Fabulous recipe! Made it twice within the past month. No leftovers the first time but doubled it the second, which was a bit too much! Which method do you recommend to reheat for leftovers? skillet or oven? for how long?
Thnaks
Hi Nagi,
Fabulous recipe! I made it twice within the past month. No leftovers the first, but made too much for the second go round. My question- what is the best way to reheat the baked shrimp? skillet or oven and for how long?
Thanks!
I love everything about your recipes. They are right to the point for directions. No guess work unless we want to change something; which isnt often. Thanks for your hardwork. Cant wait for more.
Love this recipe! I used to use a complicated ATC stovetop scampi recipe. Never again. This was so easy and better! I love dishes I can pop in the oven and out comes magic, You rock girl! Even my toddler ate some, and he usually lives on your Baked Chicken and Rice only, about to start a batch of that now!
absolutely loved this recipe!!! made it for my mom and i and it literally tasted like something you would get a restaurant! the flavors were incredible! thank you!
Hi! Nagi, do you reduce the oven temperature from 43o to 405 when using a glass baking dish? What size shrimp do you prefer ex. 16/20 or colossal?
Recipe sounds delicious!
That should be five stars for my review. Sorry, don’t know how I missed that final star ⭐️ !
Thanks so much Jan!! N x
I made this recipe last evening and it truly exceeded my expectations. It was just for two so only half a pound of shrimp and I kept the sauce ingredients exactly the same. I did use vermouth as I always do in place of white wine. We only drink red and vermouth works just as well with a longer shelf life once opened.
I served with spaghetti and it was perfect. I carefully removed the shrimp from the dish, added my cooked spaghetti, coated well, plated, and placed the shrimp on top, added Parmesan cheese…delectable! I now have big plans to make this in individual au gratin dishes and serve as a sit down appetizer with crusty bread…. no spaghetti though.
Thanks Nagi for your fantastic recipes. This is not the first of your recipes I’ve enjoyed.
Jan…🇨🇦
Crunchy Baked Shrimp in Garlic Sauce, FANTASTIC! Super easy & Costco Argentinian frozen shrimp was the best. I usually clean frozen shrimp even if it says it is cleaned, no need to do that with this shrimp. Time saver!
Plate-licking delicious shrimp! Another home run from Nagi! RTE is one of my “go to” sites for reliable and tasty recipes. Prepared these shrimp with the Greek Lemon Rice (adapted rice for the Instant Pot) and YUM – dinner completed in under an hour! Served with roasted sugar snap peas cooked for the same length of time as the shrimp. Just delicious. Always thankful for Nagi’s well-tested and delicious recipes. As someone who rarely strictly follows a recipe, I appreciate the recipe tips and notes regarding substitutions she includes with each recipe – these feed my inner chef and bolster my cooking knowledge. Can’t thank you enough for helping add easy, flavorful recipes to our family dinner table!
This was delicious. Just wondering about the ingredient amount (500 g) for the prawns. Is this for meat only? (ie after heads, shells and tails removed) thanks.
I need to start by saying I HATE to cook. I don’t cook. But I just retired and need something to do. My husband loves to eat so I thought I’d try to make one meal a week. This recipe was my first. Very simple to make. I like simplicity! There are only two of us so I cut the recipe in half. It turned out very well but there wasn’t enough ‘sauce’ after eating the shrimp to lap up with bread. There was sauce, just not enough :). Next time I make this, which I will, I think I will add more butter but it really was fantastic the way it turned out. #1 new meal is done. Next week……..we’ll see. THANK YOU!
This is a fabulous recipe. Couldn’t find panko breadcrumbs in my local supermarket so made my own! This will definitely be a regular in my house. Thanks Nagi
You continue to send recipes that are relatively simple but always delicious!