Fiery well seasoned spicy grilled shrimp, perfect as an appetizer skewered or not skewered. Clean, season, grill, eat!
This grilled Piri Piri Shrimp appetizer is vibrant, fiery, with a little citrus this was a great way to start. After all, what's not to love about perfectly grilled jumbo shrimp.
Piri Piri Shrimp Ingredients
The flavor is in the rub with the complexity achieved via the cardamom, ginger, and oregano. With the cardamom, you get that fruity aroma and lemony, flowery taste.
The ginger has milder lemony notes but is also peppery which makes it a good partner for the floral cardamom and earthy paprika.
Traditional peppers used in native African cuisine are super spicy. If fire isn’t your thing, I recommend deseeding the chiles prior to using them in your spice rub.
Likewise, if you choose to avoid whole chiles, use minimal amounts of chile flakes.
Low involvement is just what these Piri Piri shrimp are. All you need is a hot grill or grill pan and some Piri Piri seasoning to get these juicy jumbos in a few minutes!
I like to leave the tails on for cooking
For a homemade Piri Piri spice mix you'll need: smoked sweet paprika, cardamom, red pepper flakes, brown sugar, ground ginger, garlic powder, sea salt, and dried oregano.
How To Make Spicy Grilled Shrimp (Step By Step)
Step 1: Season the shrimp generously
let shrimp rest long enough to be at room temperature before grilling
Step 2: Grill on high heat
If grilling outdoors I recommend using skewers
Step 3: Season Again!
Serving Suggestions
Top the shrimp off with a quick hit of fresh lemon juice and thyme right before serving. Enjoy these as an appetizer before any of these dishes:
Grilled Spicy Shrimp Expert Tips
- Jumbo and larger are the easiest shrimp to grill. Their size also help prevent them from falling through the grates or overcooking.
- For the best possible results, buy fresh shrimp on the day that you plan to grill them.
- Remove most of the shell from the shrimp except for the part that is around the shrimps tail end. Removing the shell will allow the dry marinade to penetrate and provide more flavor
- Dry the shrimp out in the refrigerator first which will help with browning later.
- If using wooden skewers soak them in water ahead of time
- These are a quickly cooked over some seriously high heat, so if you want these Piri Piri shrimp to tasty very Piri Piri, then do two things: One - use a good high quality smoked sweet paprika, as it will provide that smoky essence familiar to cooking over an open fire plus that bright red Piri Piri color. Two - be generous with the grilled shrimp seasoning before and after cooking.
- Once the shrimp turn an opaque pink they are done, it only takes a few minutes!
- Top the shrimp off with a quick hit of fresh lemon juice and thyme right before serving.
For similar recipes, try these:
Nigerian Grilled Shrimp Skewers
If you make this spicy grilled shrimp recipe as an appetizer or quick weeknight main dish, please come back and leave me a comment below with your feedback. Definitely take a photo of the dish and be sure to tag #foodfidelity so that I can see them.
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Ingredients
- 6-8 Jumbo Shrimp shells removed, deveined, and cleaned
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground Cardamon
- ½ teaspoon brown Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Ground dry Ginger
- 2 teaspoons Paprika
- 2 teaspoons ground dried Pequin or birds eye chili substitute red chili flakes
- 2 teaspoons Garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon dried oregano
Instructions
- Add all spice/herb ingredients to a mixing bowl and blend well
- Pat dry the shrimp with a paper towel. Season with half the spice mix and let sit in the refrigerator uncovered for 20-30 minutes
- Pre-heat stove-top grill pan on high heat. brush shrimp on both sides with oil. Grill shrimp on each side 2-3 minutes
- Serve with the reserve spice mix, fresh lemon juice, and fresh thyme.
Notes
- For an interior moist shrimp make sure to dry the exterior well before cooking. The refrigerator step helps this.
- You can adjust any spice amounts to suit your taste. Rub will last for up to 2 months if stored in air tight jars
- Jumbo and larger are the easiest shrimp to grill. Their size also help prevent them from falling through the grates or overcooking.
- For the best possible results, buy fresh shrimp on the day that you plan to grill them.
- Remove most of the shell from the shrimp except for the part that is around the shrimps tail end. Removing the shell will allow the dry marinade to penetrate and provide more flavor
- Dry the shrimp out in the refrigerator first which will help with browning later.
- If using wooden skewers soak them in water ahead of time
- These are a quickly cooked over some seriously high heat, so if you want these Piri Piri shrimp to tasty very Piri Piri, then do two things: One - use a good high quality smoked sweet paprika, as it will provide that smoky essence familiar to cooking over an open fire plus that bright red Piri Piri color. Two - be generous with the grilled shrimp seasoning before and after cooking.
- Once the shrimp turn an opaque pink they are done, it only takes a few minutes!
- Top the shrimp off with a quick hit of fresh lemon juice and thyme right before serving.
Ellen
Thursday 4th of June 2020
This was a super flavorful and easy recipe! I had 1lb medium shrimp and no grill, so I made this on the stove top, but still turned out great. The dry-out-in-fridge trick was a great tip and prevented the shrimp from steaming in the pan like they normally do. Thank you!
Marwin Brown
Friday 5th of June 2020
Nice! I'm glad this dish worked for you. I make it on the stovetop all the time