My Three Steps to Quick and Easy Lemon Pepper Shrimp
Last night’s success was making lemon pepper shrimp – it was quick and easy. A few days ago, my wife purchased a little over 2 pounds of easy-peel, previously frozen shrimp. Yesterday evening, she had a doctor’s appointment and told me we had to cook the shrimp before it went bad. I typically cook the shrimp on the barbecue, but it was raining outside. So, I decided to bake the shrimp in the Breville Smart Oven – I love my Breville, it makes things so easy.
The shrimp only took about 20 minutes and consisted of three simple steps: (1) marinate with lemon pepper rub, (2) cook, and (3) peel.
Here are the three simple steps for cooking the shrimp.
- Marinate the shrimp
My wife is an expert when it comes to marination. But tonight, I was flying solo. So, I turned to Kinder’s Lemon Pepper seasoning. I put the shrimp in a large mixing bowl and added the seasoning. I did not measure the amount of seasoning, but I used a very generous amount. I marinated and cooked the shrimp with the peel on, so I wanted to make sure that marination would be sufficient for the shrimp.
Next time, I am going to try the lemon butter and garlic seasoning. This seasoning must be amazing with shrimp.
- Cook the shrimp at 350 degrees for 16 minutes
I wasn’t sure how to cook the shrimp. Uncle Google entered the equation. I read several articles online stating that shrimp can be cooked at 350 or 400 degrees. The problem is shrimps are of different sizes, so the cooking instructions/times varied. Many of the articles emphasized the color of the shrimp is a good indicator to let you know when the shrimp is fully cooked – the color will change from gray and translucent to pink or orange and opaque.
I went with 350 degrees for 16 minutes.
I covered the cooking tray with foil and sprayed it with some oil. I placed the shrimp on a tray. I would keep an eye on the shrimp and judge its color to determine if it was properly cooked. See the before and after below. When I opened the oven, after 16 minutes, the shrimp were perfect. To be done again…
- Peel and serve
As I was peeling the shrimp, my son watched and stated, “The shrimp look juicy!” That was a good sign. Also, the shrimp were easy to peel – another indicator the shrimp were properly cooked. I served the shrimp with some rice. I know I passed the test because my son ate his entire plate. My wife also ate a bowl of shrimp when she returned from her appointment.
