Shrimp Piccata
Easy Shrimp Piccata with lite and crispy cooked shrimp in a delicious lemony caper and garlic Piccata pan sauce. A restaurant quality Shrimp Piccata dinner that you can make at home in 25 minutes.
Sharing my seafood take on classic Chicken Piccata with this Shrimp Piccata recipe. Lite crispy shrimp with lemony caper, garlic and wine sauce is quick to make and taste so delicious that it will become your favorite shrimp dinner. Serve with pasta and crusty bread to mop the delicious sauce. Or serve zoodles for low-carb dinner. (Recipe in notes)
Honestly, for me Piccata is all about a well prepared and tasty piccata sauce. This recipe is a keeper as piccata sauce get cooked-an-hour taste in just 15 minutes. (Read on to know more)
Do you love Shrimp? Then, I'm sure you will enjoy these recipes on the blog: Shrimp Caesar Salad (dinner salad), Coconut Shrimp Curry, and Shrimp Fra Diavolo (spicy).
Shrimp Piccata
Piccata is an Italian main dish made with skillet-cooked chicken thighs and lemon, garlic, and capers pan sauce.
Shrimp Piccata is my lite seafood-inspired take on Chicken Piccata. For this recipe, I replaced chicken with shrimp but kept most method of preparation close to how traditionally Chicken Piccata is prepared. This way; 1) the piccata sauce tastes good (actually even better) than Piccata of Italian Restaurants. 2) we get to enjoy a lite and delicious shrimp dinner.
Only 25 minutes start to finish, Shrimp Piccata makes great option for weeknight dinner.
Let's make Shrimp Piccata for dinner tonight!
What Do You Need to Make Shrimp Piccata?
There are just a few ingredients that you need to make Shrimp Piccata. The start ingredients to make Shrimp Piccata are Shrimp, Capers, Wine and Garlic. Here is a complete list of ingredients:
- Shrimp
- Capers
- White Wine
- Garlic
- Thyme
- Olive Oil
- Lemon Juice
- Flour
- Salt and pepper
A few ingredients make magic in the skillet and in 25 minutes, start to finish, you have a delicious Shrimp Dinner to devour. Honestly, this is my best Shrimp Piccata recipe that my friends and their friends ask for. In-fact, I'm sharing this on blog on few special requests.
What is best about this Shrimp Piccata Recipe?
Two things get great consistent feedback:
- crispy cooked shrimp
- shrimp piccata sauce.
Crispy Cooked Shrimp
I cook shrimp the same way how traditionally Chicken Piccata is made. That is; dredge shrimp in little bit of flour and cook until nice crust develops. It only needs 1-2 tbsp of flour for 1 pound of shrimp. The lite dredged shrimp develops very delicious crust. Crust also helps soak up the flavor of lemony caper and garlic piccata sauce which makes it even more delicious.
Note: Pat shrimp dry is must to develop crisp crust faster. Please take 2 minutes to pat shrimp dry before dredging. This will make a lot of difference.
Cooking dredged shrimp does not need egg wash or length 3-dish dredge station. I use one of the two ways to cook crispy shrimp for Shrimp Piccata:
- Toss shrimp in a plastic sealable bag (food safe). Add salt, pepper, followed by flour. Seal and shake until shrimp is lite dredged in flour.
- Or pat shrimp dry. Layer on a plate in single layer. Season each side with salt, pepper, and lite sprinkle of flour.
Don't forget to shake off excess before adding shrimp to oil for cooking.
Tip: To keep shrimp perfect cooked and succulent, cook it on high heat so that crust develops but shrimp is not overcooked. Once sauce is ready, pour hot sauce over the cooked shrimp to warm it up. This way Shrimp stays perfectly cooked (never tough).
Shrimp Piccata Sauce
When dredged shrimp for Shrimp Piccata cooks in skillet, it gets crispy and lots of tasty brown bits stick to bottom of the skillet. This is the secret to a tasty Piccata Sauce. When chicken stock and wine cook in skillet. Brown bits give Piccata Sauce flavor of shrimp and slightly thickens the sauce. In just 15 minutes of cooking, start to finish, Piccata Sauce gets amazing depth of flavor. It tastes like a sauce cooked for an hour.
Tip: You can use same sauce to serve Chicken Piccata. (hint hint)
I love to serve extra sauce on the side. My friends and family love extra sauce on the pasta.
What to Serve with Shrimp Piccata?
Shrimp Piccata is delicious on its own. The sauce is perfect to mop with a crusty toasted bread.
Here are my 3 top favorite ways to serve Shrimp Piccata:
- Serve Shrimp Piccata with pasta such as angel hair noodles lite coated in olive oil and parmesan.
- For low carb, serve Shrimp Piccata with zucchini noodles. Sauté noodles in same skillet in which cooked Shrimp Piccata. After Step-4, i.e., removing sauce from the skillet, add 2 tsp of oil and zoodles. Sauté on high heat until noodles are slightly caramelized. Serve immediately.
- Serve Shrimp Piccata with Cauliflower Mash or Potato Mash with side of lite sautéed spinach, Or steamed broccoli, or asparagus.
Make Ahead
Shrimp Piccata stays good in refrigerator for up-to 4 days. Microwave on low until sauce and shrimp are heated through.
I must mention that smashed garlic in the sauce tastes pure divine. Specially for all garlic lovers like myself. It has almost marinated garlic flavor. If you don't like garlic, fish out garlic before serving. Don't discard. Reserve. Use it to flavor bread or apply on a avocado toast. It will make toast extra special. You can thank me later. :)
Serve Shrimp Piccata With:
Shrimp Piccata
(9 reviews)
Ingredients
Directions
- 1. Season and Dredge Shrimp in Flour: Pat shrimp dry. Place shrimp in single layer on a large plate or a work board. Sprinkle generous pinch of salt and black pepper, then sprinkle 1/2 tbsp of flour on the top. Flip each shrimp while still placed in single layer. Season now upside with salt, pepper and about 1/2 tbsp flour to lightly dredge all shrimp pieces. Additional Notes: You can also place Shrimp in a plastic bag, add salt, pepper and flour. Seal and toss until shrimp are dredged in flour.
- 2. Cook Shrimp for Shrimp Piccata: Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a heavy bottom skillet until oil is shimmering. Add shrimp in single layer (dust of extra flour while adding shrimp in the skillet). Cook undisturbed for 2 minutes or until shrimp is golden crusted from the bottom. Flip and cook other side the same way. Remove in a serving platter. See note 7.
- 3. Make Shrimp Piccata Sauce: Add garlic, capers, thyme with wine, stock and remaining olive oil into the empty skillet. Increase heat to high and bring to boil. Scrape brown bits attached to the bottom of skillet. Reduce heat to medium. Cook until sauce is reduced by 3/4 cup. Taste and adjust salt See Note 2,3.
- 4. Finish Shrimp Piccata Sauce and Serve: Take sauce off heat. Immediately mix in diced butter and half of the lemon juice. Stir until butter melts into the sauce. Add remaining lemon juice per taste. See Note 1. Add chopped parsley. Pour hot sauce over cooked shrimp. Serve and enjoy!
Savita's Notes:
- Secret to Best Piccata Sauce: Always take pan off heat before mixing in the butter. For a silky smooth Piccata Sauce, butter should melt on low heat and very gently.
- Adjust salt to taste. Since capers are salted and don't like to rinse capers, the finished Piccata Sauce needs no extra salt. All salt I add in this recipe is to season shrimp before the dredge. Please taste and adjust the salt in Step-3 as per taste preference.
- If prefer serving Shrimp Piccata in skillet. Add cooked shrimp back to the skillet with sauce made in Step-4. Coat the shrimp in sauce to warm-up. Garnish and serve.
If shrimp is cold to touch, add shrimp in skillet at the end of Step-3, then heat sauce until shrimp is heated through (about 30 seconds to 1 minutes), then proceed with Step-4. - Low Carb Shrimp Piccata Dinner: For low carb, serve Shrimp Piccata with zucchini noodles. Sauté noodles in same pan in which cooked Shrimp Piccata. After Step-4, i.e., after removing sauce from the skillet, add 2 tsp oil and zoodles. Sauté on high heat until noodles are slightly caramelized. Serve immediately.
- To keep shrimp perfect cooked and succulent, cook it on high heat so that crust develops but shrimp is not overcooked. Once sauce is ready, pour hot sauce over the cooked shrimp to warm it up. This way Shrimp stays perfectly cooked (never tough).
- Pat shrimp dry is must to develop crisp crust faster. Please take 2 minutes to pat shrimp dry before dredging. This will make a lot of difference.
- For concentrated lemon flavor, after removing shrimp. Add lemon slices in single layer cook until slightly caramelized from one side. Remove and reserve to garnish.
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19 Responses
Paulette Mulligan
This recipe sounds delicious. I have. Wild Argentine red shrimp that I have never used before, do you think I could use this and this dish?Savita
You can use any seafood you like to cook. Just adust cooking time accordingly.Jamie
Loved the flavors of this shrimp piccata. Capers and shrimp go so well together!Brenda
(You didn’t mention how much lemon to use…?)Savita
Thanks for pointing out. I updated the lemon juice.Geraldine
Love this! Thanks for sharing.Savita
Thanks. I'm happy to share.Beth
I can't wait to make this and serve it over rice. I love piccata dishes.Savita
Same here. Enjoy!Kali Alexandria
This is such a delicious shrimp recipe! Better than anything I can get at a restaurant!Savita
Thanks Kali. You got it. 🙌Helen
That buttery sauce looks so good! Thanks for this recipe.Savita
Thanks. I'm happy to share. 🙌Kushigalu
I love the flavors in the sauce here. Can't wait to make this. We love shrimp.Savita
Can't go wrong with Shrimp, right? :) Happy cooking!Gina
After a busy day this was the perfect dinner. It was so quick to make and incredibly tasty. Adding this to my dinner rotation!Savita
Thanks for the sweet feedback.Carrie Robinson
I never thought to use shrimp in a piccata recipe before! Genius idea. :)Savita
Thanks Carrie. Shrimp goes great with lemony buttery Piccata Sauce.