I’m not sure what the tradition is at your house, but at ours, the holidays mean lots of shrimp! Today I’m sharing one of our favorite easy appetizers – marinated shrimp.
If you’ve been a Natty Gal reader for a while, you know that do-ahead recipes are one of my tricks for keeping entertaining stress to a minimum. This recipe is simple and you make it up the day before your event. We’ve served it numerous times and it’s always a crowd-pleaser.
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Easy Appetizer: Overnight Marinated Shrimp
The original recipe comes from Southern Living magazine – one of my favored “go-to’s” for easy, delicious recipes. I’ve made a couple of minor adjustments as follows:
- Use the largest shrimp you can find, I typically look for 16-20 size.
- Poach your shrimp for perfect results every time. To do so: Add water to a large pot. Stir in any seasonings you like: lemon, bay leaves, etc. Bring water to a boil. Remove from heat. Add 2 pounds of thawed, unpeeled raw shrimp. Cover and let stand for about 5 minutes (depending upon the size of the shrimp) until shrimp turn fully pink. Drain and plunge into an ice bath.
- The red onions at my grocery are quite large and two sliced would be way too much! I probably used slightly less than one full red onion and just gauged the amount by sight.
- This recipe is very easy to double (or triple) for larger crowds.
Ingredients
- 7 ½ cups water
- 3 pounds unpeeled, large fresh shrimp
- 2 small red onions, sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon white wine Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed
- ½ cup chopped fresh basil
Instructions
- Bring 7 1/2 cups water to a boil; add shrimp, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until shrimp turn pink. Drain and rinse with cold water. Peel shrimp, and, if desired, devein.
- Layer shrimp, red onion slices, and bell pepper slices in an airtight container.
- Whisk together vegetable oil and the next 9 ingredients; pour over the shrimp. Cover and chill for 24 hours, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in 1/2 cup chopped basil 1 hour before serving.
Enjoy this at your next bring-a-dish or feature it at your holiday gathering this year!
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