Grilled chimichurri shrimp skewers made with homemade parsley chimichurri sauce. This bright and refreshing skewer is the perfect quick summer grilling recipe! Serve as an appetizer or turn them into quick shrimp tacos!
This post is sponsored by Andronico's Community Markets, a year-long partner of Snixy Kitchen, but the opinions are all my own.
Chimichurri grilled shrimp skewers
Looking for a quick summer grilling recipe that's packed with flavor? These grilled chimichurri shrimp skewers are just the thing. Marinated in lemon and garlic, then grilled for a bit of smokiness and drizzled with a bright summery parsley chimichurri, these skewers take less than 30 minutes from start to finish.
Serve as a skewered appetizer for entertaining, over rice with grilled zucchini, or toss them in a taco with avocado, pickled onions, and cotija! In all the forms, this simple quick recipe is in a regular rotation at our dinner table.
Sustainable Seafood at Andronico's
I'm sharing this recipe as part of my year-long partnership with Andronico's Community Market. Each month, I'll share a new recipe that features some of the unique and specialty ingredients found at Andronico's.
Andronico's is a Bay Area neighborhood market that, in addition to everyday grocery staples, carries a range of eclectic specialty ingredients. They've also got a commitment to selling sustainable seafood that is environmentally and socially responsible.
Choosing sustainable seafood help protects the health of both our oceans and fishing communities, while also ensuring the future supply of seafood. This means choosing seafood that isn't overfished nor fished/farmed in a way that is environmentally or socially destructive.
Look for the Responsible Choice logo to easily identify seafood that comes from responsible and traceable sources. In fact, 100% of the seafood in their Waterfront BISTRO® and Open Nature® brands are responsible seafood choices and by year-end, they're committed to 100% of their top 20 wild and farm-raised fresh and private label frozen seafood meeting this responsible seafood threshold, including the shrimp featured here! Everything you need for this recipe comes straight from Anronico's.
What kind of shrimp for grilling
When picking shrimp for grilling, you should look for large or jumbo raw shrimp. I recommend 21/25 ct, as seen here, but 26/30 ct will also work. Anything smaller than that will be hard to thread on skewers. Be sure the shrimp isn't pre-cooked or it'll turn rubbery when grilled (ie. cooked again).
For this recipe, the shrimp should also be peeled and deveined. While keeping the tails on isn't absolutely necessary, the tails add a bit of flavor, make the shrimp look more appealing, and make great handles for quick eating.
If serving them in tacos, though, be sure to remove the tails before serving!
Marinade for shrimp grilling
We add the chimichurri to the shrimp after cooking so the parsley doesn't burn on the grill. However, you don't want bland shrimp! Impart some underlying flavor by marinating the shrimp in a quick marinade of olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt.
With this citrus-based marinade, you want to marinate for around 15 minutes. They can marinate for up to 30 minutes, but after that, the citrus will start "cooking" the shrimp.
How to make Parsley chimichurri
As a specialty sauce hailing from Argentina and Uruguay, chimichurri is made of parsley, olive oil, red wine vinegar, oregano, and garlic. Many folks also add in cilantro, which explains why I avoided it for years. This version here uses just parsley as the herb base and I want to smother it on everything.
Last year, we made the mistake of adding parsley to our garden. It took over like a weed and invaded everything. In a rush to try to use up as much parsley as possible, we started making parsley chimichurri every week. We store extras in the freezer and serve it over everything from grilled shrimp to pork tenderloin to roasted carrots.
Here are all the ingredients you need to make this parsley chimichurri:
- Flat-leaf parsley leaves
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Warm water
- Red wine vinegar
- Dried oregano
- Shallot
- Garlic
- Salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes
You can prepare chimichurri by hand, with a blender, or with a food processor.
By hand: finely chop/mince parsley, shallot, and garlic, then toss it together with the remaining ingredients until well combined.
Blender or food processor: add everything to a blender or food processor and pulse 5-10 times until finely chopped, but not yet a puree. The sauce should be oily and chunky, as opposed to emulsified like pesto.
Store any leftover sauce in the fridge for up to a week and bring it to room temperature before serving.
How to grill shrimp skewers
Shrimp is one of the quickest things to grill! Preheat the grill to medium-high heat and grill for 2-3 min per side, until the outside is pink and the inside is just opaque.
Chimichurri shrimp tacos
One of my favorite ways to serve this chimichurri shrimp is to turn them into quick tacos. In a warm corn tortilla, layer avocado, chimichurri shrimp, a drizzle of additional chimichurri, quick-pickled red onions, and cotija cheese. Squeeze with fresh lime juice and serve!
Recipe
Zesty Grilled Chimichurri Shrimp
Ingredients
- 8-10 large skewers
- 1.5 lbs large raw shrimp, I use 21/25 count, peeled and deviened (with tails)
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup packed flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons warm water
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon minced shallot
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- Pinch red pepper flakes
INSTRUCTIONS
- If using wooden skewers, begin by soaking the skewers in water while you marinate the shrimp. I use a baking sheet with a thin layer of water. This will help keep your skewers from quickly burning.
- Next, prepare the marinade. In a large bowl, mix together olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt. Add the shrimp and toss to coat. Let marinate for 15 minutes while you make the chimichurri.
- Prepare the chimichurri. You can either prepare it by hand, with a blender, or with a food processor. If doing it by hand, finely chop/mince parsley, shallot, and garlic, then toss it together with the remaining ingredients until well combined. Alternatively add everything to a blender or food processor and pulse 5-10 times until finely chopped, but not yet a puree. The sauce should be oily and chunky, as opposed to emulsified like pesto. Set aside.
- Skewer the marinated shrimp onto skewers, 5-6 at a time. Preheat grill to medium-high heat then grill the skewers on both sides, 2-3 minutes per side, until the outside is pink and the inside is just opaque. Remove from grill and drizzle the chimichurri over the shrimp. Serve warm. Serve as an appetizer, or over rice with a grilled vegetable, or quickly turn it into tacos with quick pickled red onions, avocado, cotija cheese, and a squeeze of lime.
Comments
No Comments