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This baked honey cajun shrimp recipe can easily be doubled or tripled to feed a larger crowd. It’s so simple to put together and tastes amazing. Serves 4 for Dinner or 8 as an appetizer, (or 1 pregnant lady and her 6’4″ husband ;).
The shrimp taste wonderful over mashed potatoes, pasta or white rice. It’s not fiery hot by any means but if you want it to be a little more kid-friendly, you might consider cutting the cajun seasoning in half.
Ingredients for Baked Shrimp:
1 lb large raw shrimp (21-26 count), peeled & deveined
2 Tbsp fresh lemon Juice (juice of 1 small or 1/2 large lemon)
1/4 cup extra light olive oil (not extra virgin)
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp cajun seasoning
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Garnish:
1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
How to Make Baked Honey Cajun Shrimp:
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together: juice of 1 lemon, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp honey, 1 Tbsp Cajun seasoning and 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley. Add 1 lb shrimp and stir well to coat.
(P.S. I left the shrimp tails on only because I love the look of them – it’s more practical to remove them). Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the fridge for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
2. To make the garnish/topping: In a small bowl, stir together 1/2 Tbsp chopped parsley with 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest – cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
3. Preheat Oven to 450˚F. Transfer shrimp to a baking dish large enough to hold shrimp in a single layer. Bake uncovered until firm (8-10 minutes). Don’t over-bake or shrimp can become rubbery. Sprinkle the top with optional garnish and serve. P.S. The sauce left in the pan makes for an excellent bread dip :).
Baked Honey Cajun Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 lb large raw shrimp, 21-26 count, peeled & deveined
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, juice of 1 small or 1/2 large lemon
- 1/4 cup extra light olive oil, not extra virgin
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1 Tbsp cajun seasoning
- 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Optional Garnish:
- 1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together: juice of 1 lemon, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp honey, 1 Tbsp Cajun seasoning and 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley. Add 1 lb shrimp and stir well to coat. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
- To make the garnish: In a small bowl, stir together 1/2 Tbsp chopped parsley with 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest - cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Preheat Oven to 450˚F. Transfer shrimp to a baking dish large enough to hold shrimp in a single layer. Bake uncovered until firm (8-10 minutes). Don't over-bake or shrimp can become rubbery. Sprinkle the top with optional garnish and serve. P.S. The sauce left in the pan makes for an excellent bread dip :).
♥ FAVORITE THINGS ♥
Shown in this post: (nope, no one paid us to write this; just stuff we love):
* This is my favorite baking casserole dish. I love that it has a lid.
* These glass bowls by pyrex are perfect for prepping & serving.
* McCormick Cajun seasoning is flavorful & not overpowering
* Credits: Recipe modified from one of my favorite cookbooks: Joy Of Cooking‘s Baked Honey Shrimp (p. 154). This was a wedding gift 11 years ago from my Maid of Honor :).
Are they little bit spicy?
Hi Dana, they do have a little bit of spice but it is subtle and not overwhelming.
Wondering if lime can be substituted for the lemon. (I’m in Yucatan Mexico; lemons barely exist while limes are cheaper than dirt…)
Hi Dave, I haven’t tried it with limes but I do think that would taste good! 🙂
Great recipe. I grilled them and they were fantastic!
I’m glad you enjoy the recipe! Thanks for sharing your great review with other readers!
Should I extend the cooking time if I double or triple the recipe?
Hi Chandra, if you are using an extra large baking sheet and keep them in a single layer, you can keep the baking time the same but if you crowd the shrimp, you will need to increase the baking time and maybe even stir halfway for even baking.
So glad this popped up in my fb feed..I just took a pound of Red Argentine Shrimp out to cook tonight…I’m gonna make this but serve it over pan seared white fish filets with fresh skinny greenbeans with garlic and pearl onions and a nice salad 🙂
Perfect timing Teresa! Please let me know what you think of the recipe!
Hello! Can you use frozen shrimps?
Hi Jana, if they are raw frozen shrimp, you will want to thaw according to package instructions before using for them to bake properly. Sometimes I cheat and thaw under running cold water and pat dry really well with paper towels and that works for me 😉
I only have extra virgin olive oil or canola oil, which one should I use?
Hi Kathy, since you will be baking on high heat, I would go with the canola oil.
Most of recipes for baked shrimps recommend to bale at 350 for 6 to 8 minutes. 450 for 8 to 10 minutes seems a lot
Hi Gigi, You would do less time if they are smaller shrimp and these are baked in a sauce rather than dry rubbed so they require a longer baking time.
How long can I marinate the shrimp? I would like to do it the day before I need to cook it.
Hi Rebecca, since the marinade has lemon juice, it’s best not to marinate longer than 1 hour since the lemon juice can start to “cook” the shrimp and make them toughen up. I would suggest prepping your shrimp (peel & devein) ahead of time and make your marinade ahead of time and combine the two an hour before baking. I hope that helps!
Hey Natasha. So I picked up cooked and deveined large shrimps what’s your recommendation on cook time?
Hi Michael, I haven’t tried making this with pre-cooked shrimp, but my reader Melanie shared a good report using cooked shrimp: “We use frozen cooked shrimp that has been partially thawed (so it takes in all of the flavors) and then bake the shrimp to completely reheat and caramelize them and we’ve never had issues with over cooking.”
Hey Natasha great recipe my family loves it. I was wondering can i make the shrimp with skin on? And also to make them a little spicy will adding fresh jalapeños or red pepper flakes work?
Hi Tammy, yes that should work with the skin on and adding some extra heat. You may need to bake a little longer with the skins on so keep an eye on them so they aren’t under or over baked.
Hi Natasha, I’ve made this recipe 3 times and it’s been absolutely great and sooo easy! I’m not much of a cook, but do you think I could use rotisserie chicken strips instead of shrimp – marinade them in the fridge for an hour and then re-heat everything in the oven for a couple of minutes? I thought that might be pretty tasty over mashed potatoes.
Hi Sue, do you mean using cooked rotisserie chicken? It might work, but I’m also concerned that baking already cooked chicken might toughen it.
Hi Natasha! This recipe is Amazing!!!! I made it for my family and it was a HIT!!!! My boyfriend’s mom is a chef at the restaurant and as usually she is not satisfied with a food which she didn’t cook 😊😊 but she asked me to cook more!!!!! Thank you so much!!! It was super delicious!!!
That is just awesome! What compliment to you!! Thank you for sharing your awesome review 🙂
So yummy! And an effortless recipe with ingredients I always have on hand is an added bonus. I especially liked these cold out of the refrigerator the next day.
Thank you for the nice review, I’m glad you liked them 😀.
Can you tell me the nutritional information on this dish. Thank you
Roma, I don’t typically include calorie counts because of the time constraint that I have. I really need to hire some help to do that for me! When I need a quick answer though; I have used Caloriecount (their recipe analyzer is free).
Omg!!! I love this recipe I’ve made it several times had it over some angel hair noodles…hmm hamm good!!!
Thanks for sharing!!☺
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!! 🙂
Yummy
This may be an insanely dumb question, but did you use raw shrimp for this recipe? I can’t tell from the pictures. 🙂
Yes, I used raw shrimp. Let me know how it turns out 😀.
I’m trying this tonight-question though, why not extra virgin olive oil?
Denise, the reason for not using extra virgin olive oil is because it’s not recommended for high heat cooking. Hope this helps 😁.
Absolute delicious! All 3 of my kids loved it! Must eat with garnish it makes it!
That’s so awesome! Thank you for sharing that with us 🙂