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Ready in a matter of minutes, this effortless Old Bay shrimp recipe highlights the bold flavors of the most iconic seafood seasoning, balanced by fresh lemon juice, Worcestershire and a kick of heat from Tabasco, all finished with the earthy notes of fresh thyme. With its delicious buttery pan juices, you can serve it over rice, or our favorite, mashed potatoes.
Shrimp are one of our favorite proteins (you can tell because we have lots of shrimp recipes on the site) and we always keep a bag in the freezer. They’re perfect for last-minute meals because they defrost very quickly in cool water, cook in even less time, and are extremely versatile, taking on a wide variety of flavor profiles. This recipe, with its few simple ingredients and quick turnaround time, is one we make quite often, and it’s become a real favorite with our readers, as well. We hope you enjoy it!
Featured Ingredients
Here’s what you need to know about the key ingredients in this recipe. The complete list, including quantities, is in the printable recipe card below.
SHRIMP: We use large peeled and deveined shrimp (21 to 30 per pound), but we do keep the tails on the shrimp during the cooking process because they impart some additional shrimp flavor to the sauce.
LEMON JUICE: Fresh lemon juice complements shrimp and helps to balance out the richness of the butter and the more intense flavors of the Old Bay, Tabasco and Worcestershire in the pan sauce.
TABASCO: You can adjust the heat of this dish to your taste with the Tabasco sauce.
WORCESTERSHIRE: Worcestershire sauce adds an umami note to this sauce, as well as a hint of sweetness from the molasses and tamarind in its ingredients.
BUTTER: We use butter instead of olive oil to sauté the shrimp because it emulsifies with the other ingredients to make a luscious pan sauce to spoon over the shrimp.
OLD BAY: Old Bay is the most well-known seafood seasoning on the market (more about it below), and it adds some smoky notes from the paprika, some heat from the black pepper and red pepper flakes, and the unique vegetal flavor of celery salt.
THYME: Thyme is one of the 18 spices and herbs in Old Bay, so adding fresh thyme just enhances that flavor even more.
Overview
How to Make Old Bay Shrimp Sauté
Planning to make this recipe? Here’s a quick overview of how it’s done. Detailed, step-by-step instructions are in the printable recipe card below.
Mix the lemon juice, Tabasco, and Worcestershire in a small bowl.
Melt some butter in a pan, toss in the shrimp, sprinkle with Old Bay, and cook until they’re pink.
Add the lemon juice mix, thyme, and the rest of the butter, and toss it all together.
Season with pepper, take it off the heat, and serve right away, spooning that yummy pan sauce over the shrimp.
Serving Suggestions
Steamed rice might be the first thing you think of to serve with these shrimp, and that is undoubtedly a great choice. To serve, plate some white or brown rice, top with shrimp, and spoon all those delicious pan juices over the top.
We also love these flavorful shrimp served over mashed potatoes! Add a salad or a simple vegetable like green beans or peas to round out the meal.
More Easy Shrimp Recipes
Shrimp is our go-to protein for a speedy weeknight meal. If you’re looking for a light dinner, our shrimp cocktail salad and bang bang shrimp lettuce wraps are refreshing choices.
For something a little heartier than a salad, yet still fresh and flavorful, try our shrimp with orzo or pasta primavera.
If you enjoy the flavors of this dish, you may also want to try our Louisiana Style Shrimp and Rice.
Old Bay Shrimp Sauté
Ingredients
- 1-1/4 lbs large shrimp (21 to 30 per pound), peeled (tails on) and deveined
- 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, about 1-1/2 lemons
- 4 dashes of Tabasco, or more to taste
- 3/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, or more to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Combine the lemon juice, Tabasco, and Worcestershire in a small bowl and set aside.
- Heat 4 tablespoons of the butter in a large pan over medium-high heat until foamy.
- Add the shrimp, sprinkle with the Old Bay Seasoning and sauté until pink and opaque, about 3 minutes total.
- Add the lemon juice mixture, thyme leaves, and the remaining tablespoon of butter and toss until the shrimp are well coated.
- Season with freshly ground black pepper and remove from the heat.
- Serve immediately, spooning the pan juices over the shrimp.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
What can I use instead of butter???
Hi there,
Aside from adding flavor, butter is what helps to emulsify the pan sauce, but you do have a couple of options if you don’t want to use it. If you’re simply looking to go dairy-free, you can use your favorite plant-based butter. (We happen to like Country Crock Plant Butter with Avocado Oil.)
However, if your goal is to cut fat, we recommend the following: Whisk 1-1/2 tablespoons of low-sodium chicken broth together with 1/2 teaspoon of cornstarch and set aside. Briefly sauté the shrimp in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, then deglaze with an additional 1/4 cup of the broth. Add the lemon juice mixture and thyme leaves, then stir in the reserved broth-cornstarch mix and cook until the sauce thickens slightly and coats the shrimp. You can add more broth in small increments if needed, just be careful not to leave the shrimp in the pan too long. You don’t want them to get tough and dry.
I was excited to try this but it came out very lemony. I followed the recipe. Is the lemon flavor supposed to overpower all the other flavors?
Hi there,
Our concept for this dish is essentially a lemon-butter sauce for shrimp that uses Old Bay seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, and fresh thyme as flavor enhancers. It should have a noticeable lemon flavor and the quantity of lemon juice we call for is what we found to be appropriate in order to balance the assertive flavors of the Old Bay seasoning and Worcestershire sauce. That being said, we’re sorry it wasn’t to your liking and should you want to try it again, simply reduce the amount of lemon juice. It shouldn’t affect the overall success of the dish.
This recipe is delicious! We made tacos with homemade coleslaw, Mexican 4 cheese and sour cream.
Best ever!! Thank you so much.
Glad you liked the shrimp, Maureen! Thanks!
This was yummy. The only thing I did differently was half butter, half olive oil and didn’t measure the old bay, just seasoned the shrimp to our liking. The sauce addition was great. Thanks!
Hi Alicia,
I’m happy to hear you liked the shrimp. Thanks for taking the time to let us know!
This was one of the best shrimp dishes I’ve ever tasted!!! Definitely a keeper. I cooked it in my cast iron skillet.
This is really delicious. I like the kicky flavor pared with the shrimp. I would like to know how many calories are in it, however.
Hi Vivian,
We’ve been steadily updating all of our recipes to include nutrition info. I’ve just done this one for you!
Delicious!! Nice light calorie meal
Hi Tresha,
So glad you liked the shrimp. Thanks for letting us know!
Made it and loved it!! Thx for the recipe!!
Hi Alex,
Glad to hear you enjoyed the shrimp – thanks for taking the time to let us know.
Nice and easy recipe and the white rice with bacon and onion is a great accompaniment to the main flavors of old bay and shrimp..
Hi Betty,
The Old Bay seasoning really does have a unique flavor – just perfect for shrimp. Glad you enjoyed both the shrimp and the rice.