Here’s an incredible way to cook shrimp in the oven – baked in a lemon garlic butter white wine sauce, finished with a golden crunchy parmesan breadcrumb topping. People call it Magic Baked Shrimp – because it’s so simple to make, yet it tastes like a million bucks. It’s basically an oven baked Shrimp Scampi!
Baked Shrimp (Prawns)
When you bake shrimp in the oven, you simply can’t achieve that same caramelisation that you get from searing prawns on the stove or grill, which means less flavour.
And frankly, shrimp is pricey compared to other day-to-day proteins. So when I cook it, I’m not going to compromise!
So here are the two things in this recipe that adds an extra edge to compensation for loss of flavour because we can’t caramelise shrimp in the oven:
- White wine reduction flavour base – white wine is the “secret ingredient” that gives many sauces a flavour edge to take them from fine to soooo tasty!! It’s used in the classic recipe for Garlic Prawns/Shrimp and it’s essential to include for Baked Shrimp to make a seriously amazing sauce!!
- That crunchy parmesan breadcrumb topping – Texture! Flavour!
This is an effortless, utterly incredible way to cook shrimp in the oven that’s worthy of company!
What you need to make GREAT baked shrimp
There’s not that many ingredients required – part of the Magic of this recipe!!
For convenience, I use store bought grated parmesan and frozen prawns/shrimp.
Note: The prawns/shrimp shown below ARE raw! They are from Costco and they’re a particular type that are pink when raw.
How to cook prawns / shrimp in the oven (and make them really tasty!)
So here is how I cook prawns / shrimp in the oven:
- Start with a white wine reduction in an empty pan in a hot oven. This creates an exceptional flavour base that’s usually missing from baked shrimp recipes!!
- Toss shrimp (prawns) with lemon, garlic, butter, salt and pepper;
- Top with parmesan panko breadcrumb topping;
- Bake just 12 minutes.
Yep, it’s that easy. No stirring, no stove splatters, all done in one pan!
And here’s what you end up with:
- Juicy, tender shrimp that are perfectly cooked;
- A pool of incredible lemon-butter-garlic-white wine sauce with an extra flavour boost from the shrimp juices; and
- The crowning glory – a golden crunchy parmesan topping. It just doesn’t get any better than this!!
The sauce that comes with this Baked Shrimp really is amazing. Even if it was just lemon and butter, it would be delicious. But with the white wine reduction, it’s INCREDIBLE!!!
Simple, effortless yet amazing
Recipes like this Baked Shrimp are my jam. It’s incredibly simple, yet utterly delectable.
It’s got it all! Flavour, juiciness, texture, depth of flavour, tang from lemon, savoury from parmesan.
So few ingredients, so effortless.
It’s like…. MAGIC!!! – Nagi x
PS I presume you figured it out from the outset, but just to clarify: prawns = shrimp. 🙂 I’m in Australia, and we call them prawns here. So most of my recipes are titled “prawns (shrimp)” but from time to time, depending on the recipe and given I have a large proportion of US readers, I will title a recipe “shrimp” rather than prawns. 😇
Watch how to make it
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Crispy Baked Shrimp in Lemon Butter Sauce (Prawns)
Ingredients
- 500g/ 1 lb jumbo prawns/shrimp , peeled and deveined (Note 1)
- 3/4 cup dry white wine (sub chicken broth)
- 75g/ 5 tbsp unsalted butter , melted
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Crunchy Topping:
- 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs (Note 2)
- 1/4 cup parmesan , finely shredded
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1.5 tbsp olive oil
Garnish:
- Finely chopped parsley
- Lemon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220°C/430°F (all oven types).
- Pour wine and half the butter into 9 x 13" / 22 x 33cm baking pan (see Note 3 if using glass). Place in oven for 10 minutes to reduce.
- Toss prawns with remaining butter, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Butter may harden - that's ok.
- Mix Crunchy Topping ingredients.
- Remove pan from oven. Add prawns - spread out in single layer, but snug.
- Top with Crunchy Topping. Bake 12 minutes.
- Flick to broiler/grill on high, broil for 1 - 2 minutes (max) to brown top a bit more.
- Sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately with lemon wedges and crusty bread to mop up the incredible sauce!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published August 2019. Tidied up for some housekeeping matters July 2020 – no change to recipe!
More Fuss-free yet amazing Prawns / Shrimp recipes
- Asian Chilli Garlic Prawns (Shrimp)
- Garlic Prawns (Shrimp) and Creamy Garlic Prawns
- Garlic Shrimp Mac and Cheese
- Creamy Prawn Risotto (Shrimp)
- Prawn Mango Avocado Summer Salad
- Browse all Prawn / Shrimp recipes
Life of Dozer
Too much garlic in this Baked Shrimp for Dozer. So I offered him something else to taste test instead (this Bacon and Egg Muffin – with a whole egg baked inside!) – and he seemed totally ok with it. 😂
I mistakenly bought frozen cooked shrimp, is there any way that to “reheat” the shrimp with this recipe? Or do I need just need to go buy another bag of shrimp? Thank you so much in advance
Easy and delicious!
Made this for my mom’s bday and everyone loved it! She wants to have it for Christmas again. I don’t eat shrimp, so I can’t say personally… But judging from how everyone gorged themselves, I would say it’s a winner :). And unlike other seafood dishes, it didn’t have a strong seafood smell while cooking, which is also a plus! Thanks again Nagi 🙂
My go to website, every recipe so far has been 5 star and this one is another winner. I am looking like a first class chef following Nagi’s recipes!
I love hearing this Tony, thanks so much!! N x
I was wondering what you could use in place of the wine. Not a wine drinker, so never have it on hand. Thanks in advance for suggestions. Sorry, I just saw that chicken broth was suggested.
Hi Vicki – the sub is chicken broth (noted next to wine in the ingredients list) – I hope you love them! N x
I was wondering what you could use in place of the wine. Not a wine drinker, so never have it on hand. Thanks in advance for suggestions.
First I love the view on the other recipe of Dozer sprawled out on the sofa but I opted for the baked prawns in this delightful recipe 😋
This was beyond exceptional! Dipping the bread into that sauce after consuming those amazing prawns! This was beyond good!
Made this for dinner tonight. I WAS AMAZING!
The only thing I did differently was to ise crushed up pork rinds to know down the carbs.
Will make this again.
Made for dinner tonight. Wonderful. I did not put under the broiler since it was brown enough
So great! Found almost same recipe on 12 tomatoes and made it from that one. Then saw she got it from you. So great and can even make low card with a low card bread dried out and made into bread crumbs. Tonight I am making it with some krab(imitation crab) and shrimp I don’t doubt it will turn out awesome. Always a perfect dinner with a glass of wine and a salad with the hubby!
Love love love this! Perfect every time and so easy. Thanks!!!!!
made few of your recipes now and they are incredible, thanks!
… looking for a crab baked dip from you, thanks again!
vv
I am making this this weekend for my husband (I’ve been accused of spoiling him). The problem is that I hate shrimp. I was thinking I could make some extra sauce and panko topping and do a chicken thigh for myself. I know chicken takes a lot longer to cook than shrimp. How long should I cook the chicken at that temp before adding the shrimp to the oven?