We've taken lemon butter garlic shrimp and amped it up—'Greek-style'—with chili powder and feta cheese, and I can't imagine anything much better. A steaming pot of succulent tender shrimp in spicy, lemon, butter garlic sauce, to serve as an appetizer, with crusty bread or to toss this with pasta for a hearty Mediterranean shrimp pasta dinner.
An Over-The-Top Shrimp Recipe
It's hard to beat the deliciousness of lemon butter garlic shrimp but what sets this recipe apart is the rich heat of chili powder, the melting comfort and tang of feta cheese and the fact that instead of being sautéed, the shrimp is simmered gently in a covered pot, resulting in succulent spicy shrimp in luscious lemon garlic butter sauce.
This dish couldn't be easier to prepare. All you do is scatter the ingredients in a pot, put the cover on, turn on the heat, and the magic happens. You can make this in 25 minutes, start to finish.
How To Make This Greek-Style Lemon Garlic Shrimp
Here's an overview of the recipe with photos. For precise details, scroll down to the recipe card.
Gather all of your ingredients together because once you start cooking, things with move quickly.
Ingredients
- Shrimp: Large or jumbo, peeled and deveined.
- Butter & Olive Oil: For that rich, silky sauce base.
- Garlic: Lots of it, finely minced.
- Parsley: Fresh flat-leaf parsley adds brightness.
- Lemon Juice: Freshly squeezed is best here.
- Chili Powder: Choose the level of heat you desire. If you like a lot of heat, add extra chili powder or choose a fiery hot chili powder such as peri-peri.
- Salt: To bring all the Mediterranean flavors together.
- Feta Cheese: Use a high quality feta such as Velbreso or Mt Vikos
You'll need a heavy casserole dish or shallow pot with a lid. The one I use is a 5-quart Le Creuset Signature Braiser.
Directions:
- First Layer: Cut the butter into pieces and spread it over the bottom of the pot. Lay half the shrimp over the butter and scatter on half the garlic, parsley and chili powder. Drizzle with olive oil.
- Second Layer: Repeat with another layer using the rest of the shrimp, the rest of the garlic, parsley, chili powder and salt. Drizzle with more olive oil.
- Simmer: Cover the pot and simmer for a few minutes until the shrimp is half cooked.
- Finish: Add the lemon juice and feta cheese and cook, covered, for another 5 minutes or so, until the shrimp is just cooked through and the cheese is melted.
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Inside the steamy chamber the flavors meld and everything gets warm and tender. When you take off the cover an intoxicating aroma is unleashed and the sight of steamy fresh shrimp in rich lemon butter garlic sauce with melted feta is truly irresistible.
And just wait until you taste it!
How to Serve Greek Lemon Garlic Butter Shrimp
- As an Appetizer: My favorite way to serve this is at the start of a party. I take the pot right from the stove, steaming hot, and set it on my kitchen island on a trivet. I have a basket of sliced crusty bread nearby, a stack of bowls, and napkins on hand. When guests arrive, I take off the lid and let people dig in. Pure heaven!
- As a Main Dish: Serve this for dinner with a green salad and plenty of crusty bread for sopping up the amazing sauce.
- Garlic Shrimp Pasta: This dish works really well over pasta. There’s plenty of delicious lemon butter garlic sauce to coat the noodles and make a delicious hearty shrimp pasta meal.
It's great to have some simple but special recipes like this in the repertoire. So nice when you don't have to work very hard and you can still get something incredibly delicious on the table fast. This garlic shrimp recipe gives way more than it takes.
If you're looking for more quick and delicious shrimp recipes, give this Gambas Al Ajillo recipe a try.
If you try this Greek-Style Lemon Butter Garlic Shrimp recipe, I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think!
PrintRecipe
Greek-Style Lemon Butter Garlic Shrimp Recipe
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 8 Servings 1x
Description
A quick and easy Greek-style lemon butter garlic shrimp dish with feta. This makes a great appetizer or main dish. Serve it with crusty bread to soak up all the delicious sauce or toss it with spaghetti or linguini for a hearty shrimp pasta dish. Easy enough for a weeknight, special enough for a dinner party.
Adapted from a recipe in Pure Simple Cooking by Diana Henry.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds large or jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails on
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch slices
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 garlic cloves, finely minced
- ¾ cup chopped flat leaf parsley, divided
- 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon chili powder (see notes)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt.
- 10 ounces good quality feta, crumbled, about 2 cups (see notes)
- Thick slices of crusty bread, for serving
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Instructions
- Set aside ¼ cup of the chopped parsley to use as a garnish
- Layer the ingredients:
You’ll need a large (4-5 quart) shallow heavy pot or Dutch oven with a lid. Scatter the butter pieces around the bottom of the pot. Layer half the shrimp over the butter, then scatter on half the garlic, half of the remaining parsley, half of the chili powder, and half of the salt. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. - Repeat:
Add the rest of the shrimp, followed by the remaining garlic, parsley, chili powder, and salt. Drizzle on the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. - Simmer:
Cover the pot and turn the heat to medium-high. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until the shrimp start to lose their raw color. - Finish Cooking:
Add the lemon juice and scatter the feta cheese on top. Baste the shrimp with a few spoons of sauce from the bottom of the pot, and gently jiggle the pot to distribute the sauce throughout. Lower the heat, cover, and gently simmer for another 5-6 minutes or until the shrimp is just cooked through and the feta is melted. - Serve
Top with fresh parsley and serve hot with crusty bread for dipping, or toss with pasta for a hearty shrimp pasta meal. (see notes)
Notes
- Chili Powder: I use a standard medium hot chili powder. If you prefer a more intense kick, use a spicier variety such as peri-peri.
- Feta: My favorite Feta: Valbreso and Mt Vikos
- Serving Suggestions: Crusty Bread is a must-have for sopping up the lemon garlic butter sauce, especially if you're serving this as an appetizer. To make things easy and keep the shrimp hot, I suggest you serve this directly from the pot. Set it out on a trivet on the table, with a basket of bread and small bowls so everyone can dig in. If you want to make this into a pasta meal, cook up a pound of spaghetti or linguini and toss it with the lemon butter garlic shrimp.
- Nutrition Information: We do our best to provide accurate nutrition values using an online nutrition calculator however our nutrition information should only be used as an approximation.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Main course or Appetizer
- Method: simmer
- Cuisine: Greek, Mediterranean
This post was originally published in December of 2013. It has been updated with clearer directions in the recipe card, an added note on 'serving suggestions,' and the cooking time has been shortened by a few minutes, based on reviews and retesting, to ensure the shrimp is cooked perfectly. The title of this recipe has been changed to better describe this dish. The original name was "Greek-Style Garlicky Shrimp with Feta."
Kathleen McCabe
wonder if anyone has added ouzo? or would that need to be flamed?
Deanna
This recipe is fabulous. I used Aleppo chili pepper (my favorite) and added some white wine. Served over rice. It will be in the dinner rotation.
Brenda
FANTASTIC recipe!!!! I added spinach and chopped sundried tomatoes, it was AMAZING!!! Served it over protein angel hair. Sublime!!
Sara
Can you use frozen shrimp? And how would be best to do this? Thanks!
Lisa Goldfinger
Hi Sara - that's a great question. Yes, you can use frozen shrimp for this. in fact I often do. Make sure the frozen shrimp is raw and look for peeled and deveined raw shrimp with the tails on, if possible. Defrosting frozen shrimp is quick and easy. Fill a large bowl with cold water. Remove the frozen shrimp from their packaging, and seal them in a zip-top bag, squeezing out the air. Submerge the bag in the cold water, placing a plate or lid over it, to keep it fully submerged. Let sit for 20 to 30 minutes, until the shrimp are fully thawed. I hope you enjoy this recipe!
T Shields
simple recipe but the cook time for shrimp is way too long. the shrimp and lemon juice could be added last to cook for 4-5 minute, then finish with the feta. an extra drop of parsley would work for serving.
Kim
This recipe was delicious with a few modifications. The main change was substituting an equal amount of Za’atar seasoning for the chili powder. I sautéed the garlic and seasonings in olive oil and butter for 1-2 minutes, then added the lemon juice, shrimp and feta and cooked in the covered pot for about 5 minutes, stirring a couple of times. This shrimp recipe is a keeper!
Michelle
We loved this! I do believe the next time I make this, I will be adding some Greek olives.
Lisa Goldfinger
I'm glad you enjoyed! I bet this will be great with olives!!
Gerasimos Makaras
The only reason I didn’t give this 5 stars was the chili powder - that’s not Greek … And 8 minutes plus 8 more minutes would have resulted in rubberized shrimp. 3-4 minutes total was plenty.
I also added a touch of Greek Oregano and dill.
yummy, Yummy, YUMMY!!
This recipe will get made again!
Rachel
can this be halved? I'm only serving 3. It seems like it is possible if I just use a pot that can hold it similarly stacked, yes?
Lisa
Hi Rachel - Yes - You can definitely cut the recipe in half. It should work out well. I hope you enjoy!
Christine
This looks and sounds really delicious and I can't wait to make it.
I don't mean to appear as if I'm questioning you, but I am just wondering if the shrimp will not become rubbery if cooked for 16 minutes.
Lisa
Hi Christine, that's a great question considering shrimp is fast-cooking. The shrimp is never rubbery for me, when I make this. I think the reason this needs a bit more time than usual is that there's a lot of shrimp piled up and a good amount of feta that has to heat up and melt. It doesn't have to go for the full 16 minutes - I mention that in the recipe but maybe it's not as clear as it could be. I'll take another look and see if the recipe needs clarification. In any event, I'm glad you're going to make this. I hope you'll report back on how it turns out.
Erin Moore
This looks delicious! Can't wait to try.. I wonder if it could be done with something other than shrimp though.. ?
Lisa
That's an interesting question. What were you thinking? I wonder if you could use boneless chicken? It would be worth a try. If you do make this with something other than shrimp I hope you'll circle back and let me know how it turned out.
Julia
Nice and fresh for a very hot day! Used fresh dill instead of parsley and it was delish! Thanks!
Christine
Even my 5 year old asked for more! We served it over cod with a side o fresh garden greens and fried potatoes, and the shrimp sauce made it amazing, my husband said it is his new favorite meal!
Lisa
Wow, Christine, that's a sophisticated palate for a 5 year old! What a delicious sounding meal!! I'm glad your whole family enjoyed the Greek Shrimp. Thanks so much for your note 🙂
Niamh
I loved this. I swapped coriander for parsley (just personal preference) and added in layers of spinach, cherry tomatoes and cubed (floury) potato. And served as a main course with rice. We were licking our chops. Also used some Bay seasoning along with the chilli powder. Thanks for the inspiration!
Kelly Hayes
Hi there,
I've had your recipe booked marked for quite some time and finally made it last night; wow! We all loved it!
So easy and made for a wonderful social appetizer before dinner. Thank you!
Karen Lynch
THIS was phenomenal!!! It couldn't have been a bigger hit. It was a group dinner to which others were contributing, so I shared your site with a friend and she made this kale salad (https://www.panningtheglobe.com/easy-roasted-vegetable-salad-kale/) and it was GREAT right on the same plate! I also had a side of orzo because on of the guests was a big guy -- thought he might need more carbs. All good! Thanks!
Lisa
I'm SO happy to hear you all enjoyed!! Thank you so much for coming back to leave a comment Karen and for spreading the word about Panning The Globe 🙂
Courtney Harrison
Amazing. Just made this for my family over the holidays. Easy, fast and delicious. It was everyone’s favorite meal of the whole week! Thank you! It made me look like an incredible Chef.