Honey Garlic Shrimp

If you are looking for a super quick, satisfying, and healthy dish for a weekday dinner, this honey garlic shrimp is a perfect choice! Simply use a couple ingredients that you already have in the kitchen, lots of garlic and ginger to add depth of flavor, and plenty of honey. The shrimp is briefly marinated, then cooked in butter with the sweet-savory sauce. I serve it with steamed rice with a side vegetable for a balanced meal. YUM!

Check out my recipe below to learn more about how to make a healthy honey garlic shrimp stir fry with less sugar and sodium, but more flavor. 

Honey garlic shrimp ingredients

When you’re ready to cook, your table should have:

• Sliced green onion
• Minced garlic and ginger
• Butter
• Mixed sauce (soy sauce and honey)
• Marinated shrimp

How to cook honey garlic shrimp

Cooking honey garlic shrimp involves 4 simple steps:

1. Cook the aromatics in butter
2. Pan fry the shrimp until crispy
3. Add the sauce
4. Garnish with green onion

Once cooked, the shrimp is crusty on the outside and tender inside, slightly caramelized with the honey. It’s so good!

Cooking notes

My version contains way less sugar and sodium than most of the recipes out there. The recipe is super simple, but I want to share a few quick tips on how to make the tastiest honey garlic shrimp that is healthy at the same time.

1. How to make juicy and flavorful shrimp without overcooking

I used the Asian kitchen secret – briefly marinating the shrimp in Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, and cornstarch. The wine and soy sauce will add great flavor to the shrimp. And the cornstarch will form a thin slurry and protect the shrimp from the hot pan. So even if you cook the shrimp a bit longer than you should, they won’t dry out and will stay juicy.

2. You don’t need a wok

I’ve tried making honey garlic shrimp in a wok and in a nonstick skillet. I can’t really taste the difference. I’ve come to realize that when you properly marinate the shrimp and make a good stir fry sauce, a normal frying pan will make a great dish just like restaurants do!

3. Use fresh aromatics

This is super important. It will add so much fragrance to the dish. Plus, fresh ginger is good for your health. 

Quick tip: Since I cook at home a lot, I do a bit of food prep on the weekend to make my weekday cooking easier. I peel a whole ginger root, and 1 to 2 bulbs of garlic. Then I use the small grinder that came with my Cuisinart immersion blender to mince them separately and store them in the fridge in airtight containers. They will stay fresh for almost a week. And I’ve found that I can shorten my dinner prep time by a LOT every day.

Definitely try this out if you like to make hearty and healthy homemade meals during the week.

How to serve honey garlic shrimp

I like to serve honey garlic shrimp over steamed rice with a side vegetable. If I am feeling fancy, I might cook fried rice and add a soup as well. You can also serve the honey garlic shrimp as a main dish by itself. It also goes great with fries and a side salad, if you prefer a Western-style dinner.

More easy weekday recipes

• Thai Sweet Chili Chicken
• Yang Zhou Chao Fan
• Easy Chicken Curry
• Crispy Sesame Chicken (without Deep Frying)
• Beef and Broccoli

Honey Garlic Shrimp (蜜汁虾球)

By Maggie Zhu

5 from 8 votes

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 2 to 4

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Honey garlic shrimp is a super easy takeout dish you can put together quickly for your weekday dinner. The tender and juicy shrimp are cooked with a sweet sauce and plenty of aromatics. Serve it on steamed rice and you’ll have dinner ready in 20 minutes! {Gluten-Free adaptable}

To make this dish gluten-free, use dry sherry instead of Shaoxing wine, and use tamari instead of soy sauce.

Ingredients 

Marinade

• 1 lb (450 g) shrimp , peeled and deveined
• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

Sauce

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/4 cup honey

Stir-fry

• 1 tablespoon butter (or vegetable oil)
• 3 cloves garlic , minced
• 2 teaspoons ginger , minced
• chopped green onion for garnish (Optional)

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Instructions

• Combine all the marinade ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and mix well. Let sit for 10 minutes while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
• Mix the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.
• Heat butter in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add garlic and ginger. Stir and cook for a few seconds to release the fragrance.
• Add the shrimp. Cook and stir occasionally, until both sides turn golden.
• Add the sauce. Cook and stir until it thickens slightly, 1 minute or so. Add the green onion if using and stir to mix well. Immediately transfer everything to a plate. Serve hot over steamed rice as a main.

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 210kcal, Carbohydrates: 22.9g, Protein: 20g, Fat: 4.3g, Saturated Fat: 2.3g, Cholesterol: 187mg, Sodium: 568mg, Potassium: 178mg, Fiber: 0.2g, Sugar: 17.5g, Calcium: 84mg, Iron: 1mg

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