With one pan, easy instructions and delicious ingredients, this garlic butter shrimp and quinoa recipe is a perfect meal to serve your family or special guests. This recipe will feed a crowd regardless who’s invited to dinner, so make sure you fire up the 10″ skillet!
In addition to only having to dirty up one pan, this dish includes veggies, grains and protein—it’s a great variety of ingredients in a single recipe!
The quinoa and veggies form a type of ‘pilaf’ that makes this dish hearty. Worried about where to find quinoa? Don’t! Quinoa is becoming a mainstream ingredient, so you can find it stocked in your local supermarket or health food store.

Garlic Butter Shrimp and Quinoa Recipe
what you'll need
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 green bell pepper yellow or red bell pepper, diced
- 2 celery stalks diced
- 3 - 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups uncooked quinoa
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 lb shrimp raw, tail-on
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 3/4 tsp garlic salt
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes optional
- salt and pepper to taste
- fresh parsley for garnish
- wedges lemon for serving
let's do it
- Place a large non-stick skillet over medium heat then add 3Tbsp of butter and melt completely. Add onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Cook for 3–4 minutes—until onion and bell pepper have begun to soften.
- Add uncooked quinoa then stir to combine. Cook for 1 minute, toasting the quinoa, then pour in chicken broth. Bring mixture to boil, reduce heat to low then add oregano and thyme. Stir to combine then cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.
- After quinoa has simmered for 15 minutes, remove lid then stir. Add shrimp then arrange on top of the quinoa. The shrimp will probably cover the entire top of the dish, so you may have to nestle a few of them into the mixture. Replace lid then allow shrimp to simmer for 3–4 minutes, or until cooked through.
- Remove lid and test quinoa for doneness. You’ll know quinoa is done when it’s completely soft but still ‘pops’ a bit when eaten. The quinoa should have absorbed nearly all of the liquid at this point, but it will continue to absorb moisture as it sits.
- Remove skillet from heat. Melt remaining 3 Tbsp of butter in microwave. Stir garlic salt and red pepper flakes into melted butter then drizzle over shrimp. Sprinkle the top with fresh parsley and serve immediately with lemon wedges on the side. Enjoy!
One Last Thing
If you don't want to use butter, you can substitute with the same amount olive oil.
Nutrition
Calories: 218kcalCarbohydrates: 16gProtein: 15gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 109mgSodium: 588mgPotassium: 310mgFiber: 2gSugar: 2g
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