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When we were in Mexico on the Mexican Riviera cruise with Princess Cruises, it was shrimp all the things. Shrimp tacos, shrimp ceviche, shrimp shrimp shrimp. I am not one to ever turn down shrimp either so I was very happy with that predicament.
It is also what inspired this dish! It’s a twofer in the sense that I melded two different ideas into this dish. 1. Shrimp all the things when we were in Mexico and 2. quinoa because after that week-long cruise and all the eating we did, I had to do a total detox with quinoa and whole grains because I had a total splurge week :)
When we were in Mazatlán, we learned that they are well-known for their shrimp. So it was kind of a given that I would sort of make this dish as an ode toMazatlán – the city that we had a love/hate relationship with. Haha, I still can’t forget how freaking HOT that day was.
This dish totally reminds me of that day, though, because we ended up having shrimp tacos one of the restaurants (all while booking it back to our rhinos because everyone was waiting for us because the restaurant told us it was going to be ready in 10 minutes and it was more like 30 minutes). While we didn’t have quinoa there, the city of Mazatlán kind of reminded me an ancient city and since quinoa is an ancient grain…it kind of goes together, yeah? In all honesty, I truly love quinoa bowls so that’s why I threw this garlic butter shrimp on top of quinoa but the whole Mexico tie-in works as well ;)
My favorite part of this garlic butter shrimp and quinoa dish is obviously the shrimp. I coated the shrimp in cornstarch before I pan-fried the exterior to a crunchy crust. I sprinkled some paprika on top for color and slight sweet and smokey flavour. A quick and healthy weeknight meal!
Garlic Butter Shrimp and Quinoa
Ingredients
- 1 pound (454 g) shrimp, deveined and shells removed
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¾ cup (128 g) uncooked quinoa
- 4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Fresh basil, chopped
Instructions
- In a medium pot, boil chicken stock or water and cook quinoa according to instructions on the package.
- In a small bowl, toss shrimp, salt, paprika and cornstarch together until lightly coated.
- In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat then with tongs, grab individual shrimp and shake off excess cornstarch. Add to skillet and sear on both sides then remove and place on a plate so you don’t overcook the shrimp. It’s okay if it’s not fully cooked through. You will ensure it’s completely cooked through shortly.
- Add garlic to skillet and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add shrimp back in and cook until cooked through.
- Fluff cooked quinoa and season with salt and pepper. Add basil, toss to incorporate, then divide evenly amongst bowls.
- Divide shrimp evenly on top of quinoa and serve.
This looks so good! I love shrimp, so naturally this is right up my alley.
This meal looks so delicious that I can hardly believe it only takes 25 minutes total to make! I have got to try it!!
It looks great, I just need to figure out where to get shrimps :D
I love shrimp and this dish looks amazing!
Totally making this for dinner!
My boys will love this recipe!
I loved following along on your trip! And this shrimp and quinoa dish sounds fabulous!