Garlic Prawns – who feels like a big pile of plump juicy prawns marinated in garlic, seared until golden and laced with a lemon garlic butter?? Hands down, my favourite way to cook prawns!
Quick and easy, never fails to impress. And the secret ingredient that makes all the difference? A splash of white wine which adds an extra edge of flavour. Restaurant secret!
Garlic Prawns
This is a spectacular way to cook prawns that’s been a family favourite for as long as I can remember.
- Just 6 ingredients – prawns, garlic, white wine, butter, olive oil and lemon (I get salt and pepper for free). Prawns are delicious plain, so simple is best!
- Quick to cook – just 6 minutes. Any longer and you’ve over cooked the prawns ?;
- Though the recipe calls for a 20 minute marinade, it’s optional; and
- It’s always a hit. ALWAYS!!
A splash of white wine is the secret ingredient that makes these prawns amazing!
What you need for Garlic Prawns
Here’s what you need. The key ingredient here that makes all the difference is white wine. Wine adds complexity and depth of flavour to this otherwise simple dish.
Use any white wine you have. Dry white wine is best but even sweet ones work great. Rose and Champagne are also terrific!
How to make garlic prawns
This is a 6 minute recipe so make sure you have all the ingredients on hand, ready to throw into the skillet!
- Marinate prawns in olive oil, garlic and pepper for just 20 minutes, if you have time (otherwise skip it). PRO TIP: Add salt just before cooking so it doesn’t draw juice out of the prawns = less juicy prawns and not as golden!
- Sear in batches – don’t crowd the pan! Less prawns = better colour = easier to handle = won’t overcook. (PRO TIP: We use butter AND oil for searing. Butter = better flavour, but if you only use butter, it burns at the high heat required to make prawns golden)
- Wine – it will sizzle and steam when the wine hits the hot pan which is GOOD! This means it reduced down very quickly (~30 seconds) which is exactly what we want (fast cook = juicy prawns)
- More butter (optional) – this is optional, it will create extra sauce for wow factor when you plate it up (pictured!) and provides plenty of sauce for mopping up with bread. PRO TIP: This is added at the end because if you add it at the start, you end up deep frying prawns in butter!
- Lemon – an essential finishing touch;
- Parsley – a little sprinkle for garnish!
Oh – here’s the reason I like to make extra sauce: FOR MOPPING UP WITH BREAD. All that garlic and the juices from the prawns makes the most outrageously delicious butter.
Some people start fist fights over the Garlic Prawns. I’ll fight you for the butter!!?
Garlic Prawns are super easy to make, but I do have a few tips to make sure you nail it every single time!
Tips for the BEST Garlic Prawns
- CHOP the garlic, don’t use a garlic press. Garlic press = finer garlic that’s also juicy which will burn at the high heat we use to cook the prawns;
- Fresh is best, but frozen is really great nowadays! 5 years ago, I never would have said that. But nowadays, there are very good quality frozen prawns. Look for big, plump frozen ones – they work best if using frozen;
- Dry prawns – especially if using thawed frozen prawns. Wet prawns will not get that lovely golden sear in the short time it takes to cook prawns and you’ll end up with stewed prawns;
- Fast cook – overcooked prawns are rubbery and hard, rather than juicy and plump. They take 3 minutes max to cook (medium to large);
- Cook in batches – don’t crowd the pan! Crowded pan = stewed prawns rather than seared. We want to sear for maximum flavour. Remember, colour = flavour! So cook half the prawns then remove, then cook the other half. Also, cooking less prawns at a time is easier to handle ie turning them one at a time.
- High heat, large pan – to help cook the prawns perfectly and get a nice sear on them;
- Use tongs not a spatula – turn each prawn individually, don’t stir them;
- Sear in butter + oil – butter provides flavour, but butter burns at high heat. To counteract this, we use a combo of butter + oil here;
- Wine will SIZZLE and STEAM! The pan should be super hot when you pour the wine in so it sizzles and evaporates quickly (30 seconds or less). If your prawns simmer in a pool of wine, then you’ll simmer away the seared surface = loss of flavour ?
- 6 minute rule – This should take 6 minutes or less to cook. Any longer, and the prawns will probably be overcooked……?
- Be generous with lemon! Seafood loves lemon. I make garlic prawns with a medium amount of lemon in it, but I always serve with extra wedges for people to serve themselves.
What goes with Garlic Prawns
Crusty bread for mopping up that tasty garlic butter sauce is essential! For homemade options, try No Knead Soft Dinner Rolls or Irish Soda Bread (my emergency bread loaf).
Round out your meal with some sides – here are some classics for warm summer days:
Barbecue Option
Also – BBQ option!! This recipe I’m sharing today is for Garlic Prawns cooked on the stove. For larger get togethers, I tend to do big batches on the BBQ and I make the sauce separately – here’s my Grilled Garlic Prawns/Shrimp with Lemon Garlic Butter.
You will love how crispy you can get the prawns on the barbie! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Garlic Prawns (Shrimp!)
Ingredients
Garlic marinade for praws:
- 500g / 1lb prawns (shrimp) , peeled and deveined, tail on (unpeeled weight 1kg/2lb, Note 1)
- 4 garlic cloves , finely chopped (don't use crusher/mincer)
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (separated)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Cooking
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1.5 tbsp olive oil
- 50g / 3.5tbsp unsalted butter , cut into 1.5cm / 1/2" cubes (Note 2)
- 1/4 cup (60ml) dry white wine (Note 3)
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
Serving
- 2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped (garnish)
- lemon wedges
- Bread for mopping!
Instructions
- Marinade: Place the prawns, garlic, olive oil and pepper in bowl. Gently toss then set aside for 20 minutes.
- Salt: Add salt into prawns just before cooking and toss.
Cooking
- Sear in batches: Heat oil and about 1/3 of the butter in a large heavy based fry pan over high heat. When the butter is melted, add half the prawns - don't crowd the pan.
- Cook for 1 minute until light golden then turn with tongs. Cook 1 minute then remove onto a plate. Cook the remaining prawns also for 1 minute each side (you shouldn't need more oil).
- Return first batch of prawns back into pan.
- Add wine - it will sizzle and be steamy! Stir, scraping the bottom of the pan, until wine mostly evaporates - around 30 seconds.
- Butter & lemon: Scatter remaining butter across pan, add lemon juice. After butter melts, stir for 30 seconds, then remove from stove.
- Garnish & serve: Transfer to serving plate, sprinkle with parsley and serve with extra lemon wedges. Bread for mopping is essential!
Recipe Notes:
- Chop garlic, don't use mincer because it will burn at the high heat
- Marinading is optional
- Cook in batches, don't crowd the pan - the prawns will stew rather than sear.
- You don't get charring on the prawns because of the addition of the wine. It's what stops the garlic from burning.
- Oil + butter stops butter from burning and smoking out your house
- SALT - you shouldn't need loads because prawns are naturally salty.
Nutrition Information:
Originally published May 2017. Updated with better video and photos – because it’s a personal favourite recipe and it deserves the best I can do! 🙂
More prawn recipes
Life of Dozer
Even if garlic wasn’t bad for dogs, he still wouldn’t get one. They’re for the homeless man! Shame on you Dozer!!!
Hi Nagi,
It was simply outstanding, tried this a couple of weeks back, I was lucky the other spared a few for me :). You’re my go-to person for any recipe, you spoil me.
Can I use the same with squid? Will the cooking time differ, or do I need to alter the recipe/ingredients ?
Hi Merl, I’m so happy you enjoyed it – you could use the same recipe for squid but the cook times would be completely different – N x
Could you suggest the cook time please?
I am drooling over this recipe!! We just brought several pounds of Royal Reds (a shrimp native to the Gulf area of Florida) back home and this will be the perfect way to fix them.
hello Nagi I have been cooking a similar recipe for years use it as a starter with crusty bread or main course with pasta , my recipe I cook onions with lots of garlic and chilli peppers , then add the prawns and a good cooking sherry ,then add lots of fresh coriander know here as cilantro. its enjoyed by all my friends
Yum! Sounds divine Margaret!! N x
Can’t wait to make this!
BTW, I was just telling a friend how toilet paper is selling out in Australia (your message), and now it’s selling out here!
Go figure! Thanks for the heads up, we have plenty.
The TP crisis is spreading!!!! N x
Well Nagi this one is right up my ally, seeing I work on prawn farm in Far North Queensland this recipe certainly enhances the beautiful crunch texture and ocean flavour of freshly harvested prawns… Well done
I’m so jealous, would LOVE fresh prawns here!!! N x
The prawns u use in the vid look like they’ve been cooked already. I always use raw prawns. Am I doing it wrong?
Hi Mulloes – these prawns are raw 🙂
PS It’s a particular type of prawns that has a more pinky colour to them when raw. But I can absolutely promise you they are raw!! N xx
Hi Nagi
Lovin ur recipes
Love to see a good satisfying spring roll recipe.
Hi Mulloes, thanks so much – just pop it into the search bar and you’ll see the spring roll recipe 🙂
LOVE your recipes Nagi – just a few Qs on the garlic prawns – do you add the marinade with the prawns to the pan or do you use separate oil and butter? if the latter then what ratio of oil to butter do you recommend for the cooking? I live in the best prawn area of Australia – Exmouth where the Exmouth Gulf Prawns are from – delicious!
Lucky you Alan!!! You’ll find that with the small amount of oil used in the marinade, the garlic sticks to the prawns so you don’t need to scrap the marinade in 🙂 Oil and butter gets heated/melted in the skillet together. I use the minimum amount of oil required to stop the butter from smoking out the house while still being able to get a nice sear on the prawns, the quantity as listed in the ingredients! N x
Yes ! A definite ‘yes’ on a Friday afternoon in Australia. Before you were born this dish must have been the first ‘foreign’ and ‘strange’ and ‘stinky’ food the then almost entirely Anglo-Saxon population dared to try ! Made as delightfully easily and quickly as you have just shown us ! A great idea for the weekend !! And I am still waiting to get up your way and be taken, alongside Dozer, down to the Park to meet the delightful ‘man who lives in the car’ !!
WHAT??!! I can’t imagine prawns EVER being in the stinky food category – are you serious???
*loud laugh* So you think it was acceptable in the 1950s in predominantly Anglo-Saxon Australia to know what garlic even was ? It was that ‘wretched thing them forriners eat . . . wish them stinky folk went back where they came from . . . ‘ Oh, yes !
Weekend homework for you and any Sydneysider reading – you know who first brought fish sauce and lemongrass to Sydney – look up Mogens Bay Esbensen, an absolutely delightful gay Danish chef who brought Thai cooking to Australia and had the first Thai restaurant in Darlinghurst . . . fantastic 🙂 “Lived’ there ! Happy Sunday !
Hi Nagi. I love your website and the great choice of recipies. Also, I love the photos of Dozer. Nice touch, warm and personal. Thanks for sharing
Hi, Nagi. Thank you for sharing this tantalizing dish with us! I will surely try out this dish and tell you how it taste. I will also share this amazing post with my relatives for their reference.
It is completely ridiculous that such a simple recipe can taste so amazing! How do you do it Nagi? I made these bad boys as part of a girly tapas evening and they went down a storm. I even forgot the splash of wine but they were still fantastic (and delicious the next day dunked in lemon Mayo!!). Thank you so much for all of your wonderful recipes.
I know!!! I’m so glad they were a hit!
What on earth does the “(seperated)” note mean in the recipe list, after olive oil?? I tried searching on line for info about this and came up empty.
Hi Ashleigh, it just means that you’ll use 2 1/2 tbls of oil in total in the recipe but it will be in separate amounts
Fantastic. I’ve been cooking prawns for a l-o-n-g time but getting depth of flavour has been a bit ‘hit-and-miss’. Marinading them, of course. In lots of chopped garlic and oil. Put the lemon juice in a the end. Thanks for the details; much appreciated.
You’re so welcome Vivienne – N x
Yummy!
I’m so happy you love it Alexis!
Amazing! I tried this with bargain frozen prawns that I wasn’t super sure of. Best ever. Thanks!
Perfect!
I made this last night – both the corn salad and the garlic prawns. DELICIOUS!! And so fast and easy. Marinated the prawns 20 minutes per your recipe and it was perfect!!
I love hearing that! So glad you enjoyed this Cathy! N x
Hi Nagi,
These look amazing! I am going to try them this week and put them on skewers under the grill. With this cooking method, would you recommend I put the wine in the marinade first – or splash it over the prawns like you described for the skillet method?