Spicy Marinated Baked Shrimp

This spicy shrimp in sauce is packed with bold lemon, garlic, and sriracha flavors, making it one of the best-ever spicy jumbo shrimp recipes. Whether you need an oven-baked shrimp dish or something great for grilling, this easy marinated shrimp recipe is a healthy, high-protein, low-carb, keto-friendly dinner that comes together fast. Serve it over pasta, rice, or in tacos for a flavorful meal everyone will love. Pin this quick and delicious shrimp recipe to have a go-to seafood favorite ready for busy nights!

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Why this is the best spicy marinated shrimp recipe

This recipe tastes amazing! Something magical happens when you mix these spices. Let the shrimp soak in them, and you have a big winner that everybody's going to rave about.

The ingredients for this easy recipe are common and inexpensive. You probably have most of the simple ingredients already in your pantry, and the remaining couple are available in most grocery stores or Amazon.

This baked shrimp recipe is easy to prepare and takes just a few minutes of active cooking time. You'll need to measure everything and then cook the marinade for a few minutes, but after that, it's just a matter of waiting for the marinade to soak in and then moving the skillet to the oven and waiting for it to bake.

The best shrimp marinade recipe is the easiest comfort food. The simple ingredients pack a big punch in terms of flavor.

This spicy garlic shrimp recipe is easy to serve. It doesn't get easier than a dump-and-go marinade, which makes this a perfect weeknight dinner for a busy mom or dad.

This recipe is allergy-friendly and great for special diets. As written, this recipe is gluten-free (some Worcestershire sauces have malt in them which is a source of gluten, so check the labels), soy-free, egg-free, and nut-free. You can replace the butter with additional olive oil and easily make it dairy-free. It is very high protein which makes it great for vegetarian, keto, low carb, and bariatric diets. As always, check the labels of your specific ingredients to ensure they fit your needs.

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What you'll to make spicy baked shrimp

Equipment

• Large cast iron skillet - This is a true one-pot meal. You'll mix and cook the marinade in the same skillet that you'll marinate the shrimp in, and then you'll throw the whole thing in the oven straight out of the fridge. Few skillets will hold up to this process, but a trusty cast iron (enameled or not) sure will. There's no need for a large bowl, a baking dish, or a bunch of skillets. It's all done in the one.
• Garlic press - This will turn your fresh garlic cloves into a thick paste that is easy to mix into the other ingredients. If you don't have a garlic press, (you should definitely get one!) mince the fresh garlic as small as you possibly can with a very sharp knife.
• Citrus juicer - If you don't have a citrus press, look on YouTube for how to juice a lemon with a fork.

Ingredients

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See the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page for all measurements and nutrition facts.

• Salted butter - Salted butter includes about a teaspoon of salt per pound of butter, and you aren't using anywhere near a pound, so the amount of salt here is negligible. If you only have unsalted butter, use that. You won't notice a difference.
• Olive oil - This is what makes the marinade a liquid instead of a paste.
• Sweet chili sauce - This is sometimes labeled Thai sweet chili. It's got a lot of sugar in it which balances the heat. It's one of my favorite sauces.
• Worcestershire sauce - This gives the marinade a salty umami flavor.
• Dark chili powder - I've actually never seen light chili powder, so I'm not sure why dark chili powder is labeled dark chili powder. At any rate, you need some to add flavor in this marinade.
• Liquid Smoke - This is, as the name would imply, a liquid that gives foods a smoky flavor. Don't taste it out of the bottle. It's worse than vanilla. If you can't find Liqiud Smoke, you can substitute soy sauce.
• Smoked paprika - Smoked paprika has a very rich and warm flavor with no heat.

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• Dried oregano - Oregano isn't only for Italian food! It's often found in spicy, Mexican, and Cajun dishes.
• Sriracha - Or a similar pepper sauce like sambal oelek.
• Fresh garlic - You will not get the same flavor from garlic powder or jarred garlic. Fresh garlic is cheap. Buy a bulb.
• Fresh lemon - You will only use the juice. If you felt so inclined and wanted more lemon flavor, you could scrape the lemon zest off before you juice it and throw the zest in with the marinade. Please don't use the stuff in a bottle. It does not taste like fresh lemon juice. Also, this is the acid that helps the marinade to soak into the shrimp. You can't leave it out or the marinade won't work.
• Salt & black pepper - This is just to taste.
• Raw shrimp jumbo - Just raw, not frozen shrimp, and definitely not precooked. I buy mine already deveined and cleaned.
• Chopped fresh parsley or green onions - This is for garnish, if desired.

How to make the best shrimp marinade

1. Add butter, olive oil, sweet chili sauce, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, liquid smoke, smoked paprika, dried oregano, sriracha (we've also used sambal oelek when we were out of sriracha), garlic, and salt and pepper to a large skillet. Heat on the stove top over medium-high heat until the butter is melted then stir to combine and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
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2. Remove the skillet from the heat and let it cool for 5 minutes. Add the shrimp and toss so that they are well coated.
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3. Cover the skillet with foil and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. I have occasionally skipped this step, and it turns out fine, but if you have time to marinate, it will make the flavor richer and deeper. At the same time, you don't want to marinate the shrimp for longer than 3-4 hours tops because the acid will break the proteins in the shrimp down and make it weird.
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4. To cook the shrimp, preheat the oven to 400ºF.
5. Bake the shrimp and sauce in the skillet in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, until the shrimp is opaque and white.
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6. Serve with a spoonful of sauce over pasta or rice. Squeeze some fresh lemon juice over it just before serving.
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Variations & substitutions

If you're in a pinch, you can use white vinegar or fresh lime juice in place of lemon juice in the marinade, but it won't taste the same. You do need an acid in the marinade though, so if you don't have a lemon, lime or vinegar is the next best thing.

You can't use all melted butter in place of the oil because the butter will harden in the fridge instead of soaking into your shrimp. You need the oil in there to keep the butter liquid.

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If you can't find Liquid Smoke or Worcestershire, you can substitute soy sauce for one or the other (but not both at the same time). Soy sauce is different from both Liquid Smoke and Worcestershire, but it has a similar umami flavor so it will work in pinch but it will significantly change the flavor of the marinade.

If you don't have Sriracha, you can substitute sambal oelek or another similar hot pepper sauce. I've never tried it, but a hot sauce like Frank's would probably work in a pinch.

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I think this spicy shrimp marinade recipe has a pleasant amount of heat. If you want yours to be spicier, you could add ground cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, chili flakes, or additional sriracha. Just add a little at a time and taste the marinade often to ensure it's not too hot.

Another way to add heat is to sprinkle some chili crisp over the shrimp when you serve them.

If you want to make this shrimp into a complete meal, you could add some chopped red or green bell peppers, red onion, and/or mushrooms to the shrimp before you marinate it. If you add veggies, I'd double the marinade at the beginning.

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Storing shrimp leftovers

Transfer fully cooled shrimp and sauce to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to three days.

You can freeze this spicy shrimp. Transfer fully cooled shrimp and sauce to a freezer container or plastic freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to three months. To reheat, move the container to the fridge overnight to thaw before warming it up.

To reheat an individual portion, use the microwave. To reheat most of the recipe, you can put it back in a cast iron skillet and reheat in the oven at 350ºF for 10 minutes or until heated through.

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Check out these other delicious shrimp recipes:

• Garlicky Butter Shrimp
• Traditional Old Bay Steamed Shrimp
• Buttered Lemon Shrimp with Old Bay
• Garlic Buffalo Shrimp
• Cheesy Shrimp Pasta
• Cold Shrimp Avocado Cucumber Appetizer
• Cilantro Lime Shrimp Burrito Bowls
• 15 Minute Cajun Shrimp Scampi With Cauliflower Rice
• Shrimp and Asparagus Stir Fry with Lemon Sauce
• Spicy Sriracha Shrimp with Peanut Zucchini Noodles
• Air Fryer Coconut Shrimp with Red Lobster Copycat Pina Colada Sauce

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