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    You are here: Home » Food » Appetizers

    Easy Grilled Prawns with Garlic Butter Sauce

    April 11, 2023 By Mary 2 Comments

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    Jump to Recipe
    Grilled prawns and grilled lemon on a serving plate.

    Grilled Prawns finished in an easy garlic butter sauce is the perfect appetizer or light meal for seafood lovers. This simple prawn recipe starts with a savory seasoning and rich garlic butter sauce finish and is ready in minutes.

    Grilled Prawns with a lemon garlic butter sauce on a serving platter
    Jump to:
    • Ingredients for Grilled Prawns
    • Prawns versus Shrimp
    • Buying Prawns
    • Equipment
    • Preparation
    • Seasoning for Grilled Prawns
    • Grilled Prawns
    • Other Shellfish Recipes We Love
    • Side Dish Ideas
    • Grilled Prawns with Garlic Butter Sauce

    If you want an elegant yet simple recipe for grilled prawns, this is it. It can be served as an appetizer or as the a main dish. The prawns are seasoned first with our herbal and savory seafood seasoning and then finished with a garlic butter sauce. The whole meal can be done from beginning to end in less than 15 minutes once the grill is ready.

    Ingredients for Grilled Prawns

    • Prawns in the shell, with heads on. This makes for a great presentation.
    • Seafood Seasoning
    • Lemon juice
    • Butter
    • Red Chili Flakes
    • Garlic
    • Fresh parsley
    Ingredients for Grilled Prawns on a baking sheet

    Prawns versus Shrimp

    Prawns and Shrimp are not the same thing, even if they are both decapods (external skeleton with 10 legs). They both come from different sub-orders of decapods.

    You can, however, use the recipe interchangeably between the two, but it’s important to know when you are sourcing the ingredients. If you have shrimp be sure you are using larger shrimp, in the shell, as that is how we recommend you prepare and cook this recipe.

    Eater has a useful article that highlights the differences between prawns and shrimp in more detail.

    Buying Prawns

    Like shrimp you buy prawns in various sizes. The size references the average number of prawns per pound. So if you see U10 that means on average you get 10 prawns per pound. If you see 22/28 then you get an average of 22 to 28 per pound (these are much smaller).

    You may also see them frozen or sold as jumbo, colossal, and super colossal. That is more a marketing term referencing the general sizes.

    For this recipe you want large, or colossal, prawns. These are best for grilling. So the smaller the number the better. We purchased 16/20 prawns for referencing these.

    raw prawns on a cutting board

    Equipment

    • Cast iron sauce pot – We use a Finex quart size pot.
    • Grill gloves – For removing the sauce pot
    • Long Tongs

    Preparation

    Be sure the prawns have been deveined. Often you can buy them already with the shell and deveined. This means the intestinal track has been removed already.

    If they weren’t deveined then you’ll want to do it yourself to avoid the texture and grittiness that can come from leaving the veins in.

    Using a sharp knife (we use our filet knife), cut a line along the back of the shrimp from the head to the tail. Make small careful incisions. You’ll see the black (or sometimes clear) vein stretch from the head to the tail. Remove it with your finger. You can use the knife blade to carefully pull it out. Discard it. This lets you leave the shells on but have the vein removed.

    Seasoning for Grilled Prawns

    Once the prawns are deveined add them to a large bowl. Toss in the olive oil and seafood seasoning and then mix it all up with your hands.

    Be sure all the butter ingredients are prepped and the lemon cut in half (for grilling).

    Grilled Prawns

    You need a hot fire and good long tongs to best grill prawns. It saves you from burning the heat off your arms. Also these will cook quickly so you don’t want to walk away from the grill once you put the prawns on.

    Prawns over direct heat on a Big Green Egg.
    Grilled prawns after flipping and grilling direct on a Big Green Egg.
    1. Preheat Grill: Prepare the grill for direct grilling using lump charcoal for the best flavor. Target an internal temperature of 500 degrees inside the grill. Place a cast iron sauce pan on the grates to warm up with the grill (or any other grill safe sauce pan).
    2. Grill Prawns: Place the whole prawns on the hot grill grates. Cook over direct heat for 2 – 3 minutes. The prawns will start to turn a red color. Flip the prawns and grill direct for an additional 2 – 3 minutes. The entire prawn should be red and the flesh should no longer be opaque.
    3. Make Garlic Butter Sauce: While the prawns are grilling place all the butter sauce ingredients into the pre-warmed pan. Stir frequently and remove once butter is melted. We recommend using a good grill glove (as the pan handle will be hot). Remove the pot from the grill once the sauce has melted.
    4. Grill Lemons: Add the grilled lemon to the grill at the same time as the prawns. Grill until they brown and then use for the finish. In a large bowl, toss the prawns with the garlic butter sauce.
    5. Serve on the shell immediately while warm and drizzle with the grilled lemon and sprinkle with parsley.
    Grilled Prawns topped with a Garlic Butter Sauce on a serving platter

    Other Shellfish Recipes We Love

    • Grilled Scallops – Grilled in cast iron in a white wine butter sauce.
    • Grilled Lobster Tails – We make a red chili compound butter and serve with the grilled lobster tails.
    • Grilled Scallops and Shrimp Platter – This is great for a party. Grill up scallops and shrimp and then serve with a chimichurri.
    • Chipotle Shrimp Skewers – Marinated shrimp in chipotle and grilled over a live fire.

    Side Dish Ideas

    If serving as an appetizer then just plate it with the sauce. But if you are doing this as a main dish you can combine it with your favorite salad like our Grilled Caesar Salad. Or make a rich Prosecco Risotto and top it with the grilled prawns.

    Fire and Wine Cookbook

    Mary (a certified sommelier and recipe developer) and Sean (backyard pitmaster) are co-authors of the critically acclaimed cookbook, Fire + Wine, and have been creating content for the IACP nominated website Vindulge since 2009. They live in Oregon on a farm just outside Portland.

    Tried this recipe? Give us a star rating and we would love to see! Mention @vindulge or use the hashtag #vindulge on all the social media handles. And consider subscribing to our newsletter where we drop all our favorite ideas and inspirations every week.

    This post may contain affiliate links. This means if you click on the link, we may receive a small commission if you purchase through the link. We partner with brands we know and love and use and it helps keep the blog going!

    Grilled Prawns with a lemon garlic butter sauce on a serving platter

    Grilled Prawns with Garlic Butter Sauce

    Grilled prawns finished with a delicious garlic butter sauce.
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Pin Rate Save Saved!
    Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 5 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Servings: 2 pounds
    Calories: 688kcal
    Author: Mary Cressler | Vindulge
    Cost: $30

    Equipment

    • 1 Long Tongs

    Ingredients

    • 2 pounds prawns (We prefer them in the shell with heads on for presentation.)
    • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
    • 2 tablespoons seafood seasoning

    Garlic Butter Sauce

    • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
    • 4 cloves garlic, finely diced
    • 1 tablespoon seafood seasoning
    • ½ teaspoon red chili pepper flakes

    Finish

    • ½ grilled lemon, (Use to squeeze over the finished prawns.)
    • ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Preheat Grill: Prepare the grill for direct grilling using lump charcoal for the best flavor. Target an internal temperature of 500 degrees inside the grill. Place a cast iron sauce pan on the grates to warm up with the grill (or any other grill safe sauce pan).
    • Grill Prawns: Place the whole prawns on the hot grill grates. Cook over direct heat for 2 – 3 minutes. The prawns will start to turn a red color. Flip the prawns and grill direct for an additional 2 – 3 minutes. The entire prawn should be red and the flesh should no longer be opaque.
    • Make Garlic Butter Sauce: While the prawns are grilling place all the butter sauce ingredients into the pre-warmed pan. Stir frequently and remove once butter is melted. We recommend using a good grill glove (as the pan handle will be hot). Remove the pot from the grill once the sauce has melted (this happens quick, just a couple minutes total).
    • Grill Lemons: Add the grilled lemon to the grill at the same time as the prawns. Grill until you see nice grill marks, and then use for the finish.
    • Serve: In a large bowl, toss the prawns (still on the shell) with the garlic butter sauce immediately while warm and then drizzle with the grilled lemon juice and sprinkle with parsley.

    Notes

    Prep: Be sure the prawns have been deveined. Often you can buy them already with the shell and deveined. This means the intestinal track has been removed already.
    If they weren’t deveined then you’ll want to do it yourself to avoid the texture and grittiness that can come from leaving the veins in.
    Using a sharp knife (we use our filet knife), cut a line along the back of the shrimp from the head to the tail. Make small careful incisions. You’ll see the black (or sometimes clear) vein stretch from the head to the tail. Remove it with your finger. You can use the knife blade to carefully pull it out. Discard it. This lets you leave the shells on but have the vein removed.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 688kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 64g | Fat: 42g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 17g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 632mg | Sodium: 2579mg | Potassium: 686mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 2639IU | Vitamin C: 27mg | Calcium: 340mg | Iron: 4mg
    Tried this recipe? We would love to see!Mention @vindulge or use the hashtag #vindulge
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Arrien Schiltkamp says

      April 15, 2023 at 1:11 am

      Is it dangerous not to devein the shrimp. And, is cooked crispy enough to eat with the shell (like I have done in China many times)?

      Reply
      • Sean Martin says

        April 17, 2023 at 11:45 am

        Arrien – It is not a food safety issue to not devein – it’s more a texture issue as it will firm up. So technically if you don’t care I wouldn’t worry about it. As for the shell – if you choose to eat it with the shell on – I would remove the heads, especially the very barbed pointy portion of the head. That is not safe to eat. But the remainder of the shell will be crispy – although not deep fried crispy.

        Reply

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    Mary-Cressler-Sept-2015-smI'm Mary, a wine/food/travel writer, Certified Sommelier, mom of twins, former vegetarian turned BBQ fanatic, runner, and founder of Vindulge and author of Fire + Wine cookbook.  Thanks for stopping by!

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