Sautéed shrimp tossed in zesty turmeric-lime sauce. Ready in just 20 minutes and best served with crusty bread.
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Why You'll Love this Shrimp in Turmeric Sauce
There are two chief reasons I love cooking with shrimp.
- First, it's high in protein and cooks in a flash.
- Second, it can take on any flavor profile you throw its way. Here, we toss it in a buttery turmeric-lime sauce with loads of fresh garlic, shallots, and fish sauce.
I love serving the shrimp and turmeric sauce over grilled bread for a light lunch or dinner. Alternatively, you can serve it over rice or in a pita.
By now, you're probably well-aware of my deep love for turmeric. Why? Because this Indian spice abounds with anti-inflammatory benefits.
For more turmeric recipes, check out Honey-Turmeric Black Pepper Shrimp and this amazing Turmeric Tahini Sauce.
The Ingredients
- Shrimp: Look for medium or large peeled and deveined shrimp. You can choose to remove their tails before cooking or after.
- Butter: I prefer using a grass-fed butter, such as Vital Farms brand. Using unsalted helps prevent the sauce from getting overly salty.
- Turmeric: Whether in dry or fresh root form, turmeric adds flavor depth (and a lovely golden yellow hue) to the sauce.
- Fish Sauce: You may be questioning the need for fish sauce when cooking fish, but it actually doesn't make it overly "fishy"—it just brings out all that scrumptious shrimp flavor.
- Lime: Using both the zest and juice of 1 lime boosts the tartness of turmeric, and gives the sauce a fresh finish.
- Aromatics: A mix of shallots and garlic form the aromatic backbone of the sauce.
- Cilantro: A must for giving the dish a fresh lift.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Season and sauté shrimp in a large skillet for about 2 to 3 minutes per side, until no longer opaque. Transfer shrimp to a plate.
Step 2: Sauté shallots and garlic in butter until aromatic, about 2 minutes. Stir in turmeric and fish sauce; cook 1 more minute.
Step 3: Finish sauce by stirring in lime zest and juice, and cilantro. Add shrimp back to pan and toss in turmeric sauce. Serve with crusty bread.
Serving Suggestions
- Crusty Bread: My go-to serving vessel for this shrimp is grilled bread. It's perfect for sopping up the remaining turmeric sauce.
- Pita: You can also enjoy the shrimp and sauce with grilled pita or naan bread.
- Rice: For a gluten free option, serve the shrimp and sauce over white rice, such as Basmati or Jasmine.
Recipe FAQs
Frozen - Since shrimp is flash-frozen promptly after being caught, frozen is often better quality (for a better price) than what’s sitting in the seafood case. Buying frozen also gives you greater control over the defrosting process, since you can cook them immediately afterwards.
Look for raw (not precooked) shrimp that is deveined and either EZ-peel or already peeled. Deveining shrimp is a tedious, rather unsettling task, if you ask me! Also, for reference, raw shrimp is always gray-ish white, while cooked shrimp is pink.
Store: Refrigerate leftovers for 3 days.
Reheat: You can either reheat individual portions in the microwave, or toss the shrimp and sauce back in a skillet and cook over medium heat until warm.
The turmeric sauce goes extremely well with chicken OR tofu.
If you give this shrimp in turmeric sauce a try, snap a pic and tag #dishingouthealth on Instagram. I also really appreciate readers taking the time to leave a rating and review! Lastly, follow along on Facebook and Pinterest for the latest recipe updates.
More 30 Minute Shrimp Recipes:
Shrimp in Turmeric-Lime Sauce
Equipment
- Large skillet
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 lb. peeled and deveined shrimp
- sea salt and black pepper to taste
- 3 Tbsp. butter
- ¼ cup minced shallots
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 Tbsp. ground turmeric
- 1 ½ tsp. fish sauce
- Zest and juice of 1 lime
- 3 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh cilantro
- Crusty bread (preferably grilled or baked) for serving
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Pat shrimp dry with a paper towel, and season with salt and black pepper. Arrange shrimp in skillet, and cook for 2 minutes per side, until just cooked through. Reduce heat to medium, and transfer shrimp to a plate.
- Add butter, shallots, and garlic to pan; cook 2 to 3 minutes, until aromatic. Stir in turmeric and fish sauce.Add shrimp back to pan, along with lime zest and juice, and fresh cilantro. Toss shrimp in sauce until well-coated, and serve with crusty grilled bread.
Beth Hill
My daughter and I always enjoy Jamie's recipes. We served this dish on Easter Sunday. It was easy to prepare and very flavorful.
Caitlin
So delicious! Added some frozen corn after sautéing the aromatics. Thanks for a great, simple recipe!
Heather
Enjoyed this recipe. The sauce was tasty and love the tumeric benefits.
Jamie Vespa
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Heather! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review!
Melissa C.
Absolutely delicious! I used frozen (raw) shrimp and peeled the tails before tossing in the sauce. My husband loved it! For my preference, I may reduce the fish sauce since it was a tad salty for me. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
dishingouthealth
Hi Melissa, I'm so glad you and your husband enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for letting me know about your preference with the fish sauce. Thank you for coming back and leaving a review! Cheers.
Mary Kay
Just made this because I had a pound of beautiful large fresh shrimp that were about to be wasted. Oh No! I ran out of fish sauce and didn't realize! Substituted a little sesame oil and Bragg's Liquid Aminos and was great! Strong turmeric fragrance and flavor which we all love. Thank you! Fish sauce is on the grocery list so I won't find myself without it again 🙂 Can't wait to try it the "real" way.
dishingouthealth
Hi Mary Kay! I'm so glad you were able to put those shrimp to delicious use!! Also glad to hear the substitutions worked out well—sesame oil and liquid aminos were a good call! Cheers.
Mark Sz
Made this last night. Everyone loved it. I used frozen shrimp???? but it still worked out really well. I may cook the turmeric a little longer next time since it seemed just a tad raw. It will be in the rotation and my daughter had me send it to her. Thanks
dishingouthealth
Hi Mark—that's great!! Happy to hear. And thanks for letting me know the frozen shrimp worked—I'll add that note to the recipe. Cheers!
Val
Would this also work w peeled shrimp? I'd love to make for a dinner party but spare my guests hands!
dishingouthealth
Hi Val! Absolutely—let me add that note to the recipe now. Enjoy! 🙂