Skillet Garlic Shrimp with Basil and Olives

Over the holidays at a neighborhood party, I tried an insanely delicious broiled skillet garlic shrimp recipe. I asked the host what the general ingredients were because I wanted to create a version for Mediterranean Living. I just loved how it was served right out of the skillet, and the shrimp were coated in this tangy, garlicky sauce that started to caramelize onto the shrimp from broiling it.

For my version, I’m adding pitted olives because I like how the saltiness contrasts the sweet spaghetti sauce. The olives get nice and blistered from the broiler. If you don’t like olives, you can easily omit them and add a quarter to a half pound more shrimp to fill up the skillet. I was really surprised when learning about my neighbor’s version of this recipe, that it calls for jarred spaghetti sauce. I actually loved this idea and this is one of the reasons this recipe is so easy. Lots of the flavor in this dish comes from the sauce.. Instead of taking crushed tomatoes and having to make your own sauce, the jarred spaghetti sauce increases the ease of this recipe tenfold.  You can use your favorite kind, we used Prego traditional sauce which was very good.

Depending on how large your shrimp are, you may need to broil this for more or less than 10 minutes. Because shrimp are very quickly overcooked, you should check it every couple minutes to prevent overcooking. The shrimp will also continue to cook a little bit after you remove them from the broiler because cast iron skillets retain heat very well. Nobody wants overcooked shrimp! 

You can serve this as an appetizer at a party, or this can be the main dish of your dinner along with pasta, rice or bread. I like to serve this garlic shrimp with a Caprese Salad and Olive Oil French Fries. Enjoy!

Skillet Garlic Shrimp with Basil and Olives

Skillet Garlic Shrimp with Basil and Olives

5 from 8 votes
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 277 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound fresh shrimp
  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 cup  jarred spaghetti sauce
  • 1 lemon juice
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1 pinch salt and pepper
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives

Instructions
 

  • Peel, de-vein, and rinse shrimp.
  • Mix olive oil, tomato sauce, lemon juice, garlic, basil, oregano, salt, pepper, and paprika together in a bowl.
  • Preheat broiler to 450 F. In a cast iron skillet, mix together the mixed sauce, olives, and shrimp.
  • Broil for 8-10 minutes or until edges of shrimp and sauce start to caramelize and shrimp are completely pink.

Nutrition

Calories: 277kcalCarbohydrates: 5gProtein: 16gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 143mgSodium: 1022mgPotassium: 241mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 649IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 91mgIron: 1mg
Have you tried this recipe? Tell us about it!Click here to rate this recipe in the comments section below.
About the Author: George Zikos
George studied International Business in Greece in 2015 for three semesters. His family is from the island of Crete, and he lived with them for a whole summer. During that time, he started working for Mediterranean Living and contributing his firsthand experiences of the traditional Cretan diet. He learned fluent Greek along the way, being fully immersed in a traditional Cretan village. He is since graduated with a business degree from Worcester State University. George loves language and traveling, so he completed a TEFL certificate program at the Boston Language Institute in order to teach English abroad and travel the world. He currently works full-time blogging, recipe formulating, and social media marketing for Mediterranean Living. His passions include language, gardening, hiking, skateboarding, and watching sports. He dreams of living in Crete one day, after he travels the world learning as many languages and cultures as possible.

2 Comments

  1. Anita November 20, 2021 at 4:08 pm - Reply

    Hi, if you only have an electric stove top and a standard frypan will that be adequate? And are prawns and shrimp the same or interchangeable?

    • Bill Bradley, R.D. November 24, 2021 at 11:17 am - Reply

      Hi Anita, An electric stove and standard frypan are fine for this dish. Prawns are different than shrimp and take longer to cook. You would also want them to be shelled. You could still use prawns, but just would cook longer. -Bill

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