Hawaiian Garlic Shrimp with Sweet Onion Salad
on Feb 28, 2024
This post may contain affiliate links! For more info, check out our privacy policy.
On the dinner agenda tonight: Hawaiian garlic shrimp with loads of butter, fresh garlic, and a sweet onion salad to go along with it. This Hawaiian garlic shrimp recipe is filled with flavor. It has LOTS of garlic, and butter and works perfectly with this crisp sweet onion salad. We love serving this dish up with jasmine rice, or having it on its own!
What is Hawaiian garlic shrimp?
Hawaiian garlic shrimp is a popular staple in Hawaii, we first tried it on Oahu’s North Shore at Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck. There are a lot of other shrimp trucks around the island, and recently they are quite popular in other parts of the world, too. A delicious blend of tons of garlic, butter, and shrimp. It can be served with rice, macaroni salad, or even with pineapple.
What ingredients do you need for garlic shrimp?
Shrimp: We’re using shell-on deveined shrimp here, so it keeps the flesh of the shrimp tender, but you can use any shrimp available to you.
Flour: To add a flaky crunch, we’re using all-purpose flour. Our flour mixture is the perfect balance between light and crunchy, it doesn’t overpower our garlic butter or shrimp, but adds a nice bite to our shrimp! If you’re looking for a gluten-free option, we recommend rice flour.
Garlic: This Hawaiian shrimp is very garlicky, in the best way possible!
Unsalted butter: To add a creamy and nutty complexity to our garlic shrimp, we add butter to the skillet.
Instructions to make this Hawaiian garlic shrimp with sweet onion salad
Make your sweet onion salad
Finely slice your onion, or by using a mandolin. Transfer to a mixing bowl and toss with chopped parsley, salt, pepper, and 1/2 of your lemon juice. Set aside.
Prepare your shrimp
In a large mixing bowl, toss together paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and flour. Add in your shrimp and toss to coat.
Melt your garlic butter mixture
In a large skillet, add your butter and melt until glistening on medium-low heat. Add your garlic and let it slightly turn golden, but you don’t want any dark brown color on here, about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer this butter-garlic sauce to a bowl.
Cook up your shrimp
Add your oil to the pan and bring the heat up to medium-high heat. When hot, add in your floured shrimp, turning to coat until the shrimp gets cooked throughout. They should start to pick up a golden crust from the flour, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Do this in batches if needed.
Combine our sauce and shrimp
Plate and serve with your sweet onion salad, alongside lemon wedges with your other half lemon.
When your shrimp are cooked, add back in your garlic sauce and toss to combine until glossy and saucy! Season with salt.
Tips, Tricks and Substitutions
If you’re not finding shell-on shrimp around you, you can use any type of shrimp, it can be peeled already! If you’re not into shrimp, you can change it up with proteins like scallops, too.
If you have any leftovers, we recommend storing your cooked shrimp in the refrigerator for around 1 to 2 days (if you have any!)
Our absolute favorite pairing is fluffy white rice since we find the saucy shrimp adds such a nice, flavorful component to the rice. For something sweet, adding fresh pineapple (which is oftentimes served alongside Hawaiian-style shrimp) is another great addition, or Hawaiian mac salad.
More fish and seafood recipes for inspiration
Appetizers
Steamed Mussels in White Wine & Lemon
Fish & Seafood
Halibut en Papillote with Green Olive Salsa Verde
Fish & Seafood
Mussels in Spicy Tomato Sauce
If you do make this Hawaiian Garlic Shrimp with Sweet Onion Salad recipe (first of all, thank you!!), be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram and through social media so I can be sure to see what you’re making! If you’d like to stay in touch and get the latest to your inbox, sign up for our Newsletter here as well!
In addition, we can also be found on YouTube, Facebook, and Pinterest!
Hawaiian Garlic Shrimp with Sweet Onion Salad
Ingredients
- 2 sweet onions
- 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Juice of 1 lemon, divided
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- ½ tablespoon garlic powder
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 pound shell-on jumbo shrimp, dried on paper towels and deveined
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cubed and divided
- ½ cup finely chopped garlic
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil, such as avocado oil, canola oil, or vegetable oil
Instructions
- Finely slice your onion, or by using a mandolin. Transfer to a mixing bowl and toss with chopped parsley, salt, pepper, and 1/2 of your lemon juice. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, toss together paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and flour. Add in your shrimp and toss to coat.
- In a large skillet, add your butter and melt until glistening on medium-low heat. Add your garlic and let it slightly turn golden, but you don’t want any dark brown color on here, about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer this butter-garlic sauce to a bowl.
- Add your oil to the pan and bring the heat up to medium-high heat. When hot, add in your floured shrimp, turning to coat until the shrimp gets cooked throughout and starts to pick up a golden crust from the flour, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Do this in batches if needed.
- When your shrimp are cooked, add back in your garlic sauce and toss to combine until glossy and saucy! Season with salt.
- Plate and serve with your sweet onion salad, alongside lemon wedges with your other half lemon.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
