Easy Grilled Shrimp Recipes

Grilling shrimp on the BBQ is easy if you follow these grilling tips for shrimp.

How To Make Grilled Shrimp

Grilling Tip:
Grilling shrimp with their shells on help to keep them moist.

If the shrimp you're grilling are big enough not to fall through the the grill, you may find it easier to dispense with the skewers.

After you've brushed them with olive oil or followed one of our easy grilled shrimp marinade recipes (to the right), clean and preheat grill for medium-high heat. Lightly oil grate and lay shrimp out on the grill.

Grill shrimp until they are opaque. For shell-on shrimp the grilling time is about 3 minutes per side, while shell-less shrimp only take about 2 minutes per side. These grilling times apply whether or not you are using skewers.

Single Skewer Method for Shrimp on the Grill

Grilling shrimp on skewers is a good way to keep control of the cooking time for your shrimp because they make for easier and quicker turning.

1. Presoak wooden skewers in water for 20 minutes to prevent them from burning (too much) while grilling shrimp. (Metal skewers work too.)

2. Place 4 - 5 shrimp per skewer, piercing each shrimp once through the head and once through the tail.

Grilling Tip:
The tip of the skewer may burn a little while on the grill. That's okay.

Two Skewer Method for
How To Grill Shrimp

Sometimes skewered shrimp will rotate on the skewer when you try to flip them. One way to avoid this is to use two parallel skewers instead of one.

1. Push one skewer through the head of the shrimp and the other skewer through the tail. Slide the shrimp to the bottom and repeat.

2. Because the shrimp tend to stretch out between the skewers, you will find you can fit more shrimp (6 - 8) on one set of skewers than just a single skewer.

Grilling Tip:
This method also enables you to use tongs instead of your fingers when flipping your shrimp on the grill.