Lemon Garlic Shrimp in White Wine Sauce

In the winter I crave cozy meals—stews, chilis, casseroles, lasagna, the list goes on. But in the summer, I’m all about those lighter meals. Caprese salad with sliced tomatoes and basil from the garden. Cold pasta salad with a can of seltzer at a picnic. And of course, lemon garlic shrimp in a white wine sauce. Add some crusty bread to dip in the sauce and you have yourself the perfect summer dinner.

Shrimp requires minimal cooking.

Want to know how long this recipe will take you? 5 minutes.

Really, I’m not kidding. Once you have the butter, garlic, lemon, and white wine in the skillet, you’ll drop the shrimp in, cover the lid, and wait 5 minutes. Then voilá! Dinner is served.

It’s one of those easy weeknight dinners that saves you so much time and will have you back to watching whatever show or reading whatever book in no time.

For cheaper shrimp, look for frozen in shells.

First things first, skip the fresh seafood section entirely. While it is nice to buy fresh seafood for dinner, it’s not exactly cost-effective. If you’re looking for the best bang-for-your-buck when it comes to shrimp, hit up the frozen seafood section. When you’re there, you’ll notice that there are different kinds of frozen shrimp to buy, and at all different prices. So I’ll just make it easier for you.

Buy a bag of Large Raw Shrimp, Shell On. You can easily get a bag with about 20-30 shrimp in it for under $10 if you stick to this kind. If you buy a larger shaped shrimp, or shrimp that has been shelled and deveined, the prices increase immensely. So stick with this kind of bag, and you’ll be eating shrimp on the cheap. Plus, buying this type of shrimp is actually preferred for this meal, and here’s why.

Shrimp cooked in the shell has more flavor.

I know it’s a pain in the butt to have to shell the shrimp as you’re eating the, but I promise you, you’ll want to cook them in the shell. Not just because the price (although that seriously helps), but because of the flavor.

You see, the shells help to keep the meat of the shrimp flavorful and juicy when you leave the shell on. When you cook with it off, the shrimp won’t retain as much as the flavor versus what it would taste like when cooked in the shell.

Since this shrimp is simmering in a lemon garlic white wine sauce, you’ll want the shrimp to have shells. The flavor is unbeatable.

Use a skillet with a lid.

You could definitely make this work in a cast-iron skillet if you needed to (you know how much I love my cast-iron skillet recipes). However, for a recipe like this, it does help to have a lid. So I would suggest either using a skillet that has a lid that matches, or grabbing the largest lid you have that will cover the skillet.

As you can see, for this I used a round double-handle skillet with a lid. You can snag one like that here. However, if you’re still looking to invest in a cast-iron skillet, here’s one you can grab with a lid!

Sides to go with the shrimp.

For this recipe, I highly recommend grabbing crusty bread to dip (or toasted slices of homemade sourdough or foccacia), but a bowl of linguini could also work. If you need even more ideas, here are a few of my favorites that will go really well with the dish.

• Zoodles
• Zucchini Fritters
• Instant Pot Risotto
• Gnocchi
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts
• Oven-Baked Fries

Alright here’s how to make the easiest lemon garlic shrimp!

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Lemon Garlic Shrimp in White Wine Sauce

This is an easy recipe to throw together when you're in need of a quick, light dinner on a busy weeknight.

Prep Time5 mins

Cook Time10 mins

Total Time15 mins

Course: Dinner

Keyword: cast iron skillet, seafood, shrimp

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 176kcal

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 3/4 cup white wine
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 1/2 lbs. large shrimp shells on
• Parsley for garnish

Instructions

• Heat up a skillet on medium heat. Melt the butter.
• Once melted, add the garlic, white wine, and lemon juice. Cook for 30 seconds.
• Add in the shrimp. Cover the skillet and turn the heat down to medium-low. Cook for 5 minutes.
• Remove the lid and garnish with parsley and extra lemon wedges, if desired.

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