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Sharing an easy…let’s make this weeknight feel special…dinner, Saucy Garlic Butter Shrimp with Coconut Milk and Rice Noodles. Spicy, garlicky, and gingery shrimp, pan seared and tossed with a touch of butter and coconut milk. This dish is creamy, saucy, a touch salty, and just a little spicy. It’s served over rice noodles and comes together in no time at all (about 30 minutes). Perfect for busy weeknights when you’re looking for something a little more special, but still quick, healthy-ish, and DELICIOUS.
Recipes like this saucy shrimp are my favorite. This shrimp has a mix of flavors, fusion food as some might say. It’s quick, it’s saucy, relatively healthy (there’s some sneaky greens in all that sauce), and just an all around delicious meal.
Traditionally garlic shrimp is more of an Italian dish, and is served simply with butter and lemons. But I wanted to put a twist on the classic and switch things up a bit.
So I threw in some Thai flavors by adding creamy coconut milk, a squeeze of fresh lime, and rice noodles. Yes, it’s different, and I will probably get criticized for this not being “authentic” over on Instagram (if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all, right?). But hey, my purpose here is to provide you guys with easy and delicious recipes, this shrimp is both, so all is good.
The shrimp is first tossed with a little olive oil, garlic, ginger, and spicy jalapeño. These are the main flavors, so if you don’t love garlic, this recipe might not be for you. And if you want to tame the spice level, just use one jalapeño.
Let the shrimp sit a few minutes and cook the rice noodles. I really love using vermicelli rice noodles, but any noodle works, so use your favorite.
Next, cook up some bacon. It adds a really deep flavor and a hint of saltiness that is delicious. Go with me on this. Now, pan sear the shrimp. The key is to remove the shrimp from the garlic marinade. If you cook the shrimp in the marinade, the shrimp with steam, and the garlic will burn. So first remove the shrimp, cook, add the butter, and then add all of that garlicky marinade. As the butter melts, the garlic caramelizes around the shrimp creating truly the most mouth-watering smell (and delicious sauce).
This is that moment you know the recipe is going to be good…so good.
At this point, I like to remove half of the shrimp and save it for topping. Honestly, you don’t have to do this step. You can instead leave the shrimp in the skillet and combine it with the coconut milk. I just like to remove some of the shrimp so that it stays crisp…and if being truly honest, for photo purposes.
Once the coconut milk has been added, the shrimp looses it’s crispness a bit. It’s also a little more visually appealing to have a few shrimp sitting atop the rice noodles. And we all know that I’m all about a visually good-looking dish…
You guys always ask if I do anything special to the food for photos, and the answer really is no. But I like to add garnishes or pull out tricks like this one…
If you have something extra saucy, or you’re making a soup and want to keep the dish both colorful and full of texture. To create a beautiful looking dish, remove a little bit of one of the main elements of the recipe. In today’s case the shrimp. But think along the lines of keeping out some of the chickpeas in a curry, or the noodles in a soup, things like that. Then reserve them for topping the dish just before serving. Again, this is not necessary for flavor purposes. But if you want to create that “Instagram worthy” food photo, this is one of my go-to tricks to really make food pop off the page, as seen in the cacio e pepe, lemon garlic chicken soup, and herb salad.
Okay, styling talk over. Moving along now.
Once I’ve removed half the shrimp from the skillet, I add the coconut milk. I know the coconut milk might seem like an odd ingredient to add, but as I mentioned, I wanted to put my own twist on a classic, and the coconut milk creates a creamy, flavorful sauce.
It’s beyond good. Especially with the rice noodles. It’s kind of like Italian meets Thai. A weird, but delicious mash-up that’s just a touch cozy, a touch on the healthy side, and all things good. And quick, which is always a very nice bonus!
If you make this saucy garlic shrimp, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Watch the How To Video:
Saucy Garlic Butter Shrimp with Coconut Milk and Rice Noodles
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 970 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces rice noodles
- 3 strips thick cut slices bacon, chopped
- 1 1/2 pounds raw jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1/4 cup extra olive oil
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 4-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
- 1 inch fresh ginger, grated
- 2 jalapeños, seeded and chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro OR basil, roughly chopped (use you personal favorite)
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 can (14 ounce) coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 cups baby spinach or kale, roughly chopped
- juice and zest from 1/2 a lime
- sliced jalapeño pepper and green onions, for serving
Instructions
- 1. In a medium size bowl, toss together the shrimp, olive oil, honey, garlic, ginger, and jalapeños. Toss well to combine. 2. Cook rice noodles according to packaged directions.3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp and the fat has rendered, about 5 minutes. Remove the bacon from the pot and drain on a paper towel lined plate.4. Working with the same skillet, use a slotted spoon to scoop the shrimp out of the marinade, reserving the marinade, and into the hot skillet, season with salt and pepper. Cook the shrimp until pink, about 2-3 minutes per side. Add the reserved marinade, the butter and a large pinch of pepper. Continue to cook the shrimp in the butter until the garlic begins to caramelize and turn light golden brown, about another 1 to 2 minutes. Remove half the shrimp and reserve for topping. 5. To the skillet, add the coconut milk, 1/3-1/2 cup water, spinach, and the fish sauce. Stir to combine, bring the mixture to a boil, cook 3-5 minutes, until warmed through. Remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice and zest, and the cilantro, or basil.6. To serve, divide the noodles among bowls. Spoon the sauce and reserved shrimp and bacon over the noodles. Top with peppers and green onions. Enjoy!
I recently listened to your podcast with Arlene Dickinson and immediately checked out your website. I made this recipe and it was delicious, loved the flavour of the shrimp. Going to try the easy greek sheet pan chicken souvlaki and potatoes tomorrow.
Hey Sharron,
I am delighted that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for trying it out! Happy Friday! xTieghan
This was sooo good!
Thank you so much for sharing! I am starting to replicate more of your recipes and they are amazing!
Greetings from Denmark (by a swiss),
LC
Hey Laura,
I am delighted that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for trying it out! Happy Friday! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan! We just made this recipe last night and it was super good! The only thing is that it turned out a little watery tasting even though we added only a 1/3 cup of water. Any suggestions for what we maybe did wrong or how to fix this next time? Thank you!!
Hey Carly,
So sorry to hear this! Next time, I would just completely skip the water. I hope this helps! xTieghan
I did this the first time with all fresh ingredients. Then I did it the second time with frozen shrimp and frozen spinach. Still amazing, but I skipped adding the water when I added the spinach as I knew some would be released when the spinach thawed. A fabulous recipe and ready in no time.
Hey Anne,
I am so glad the recipe was enjoyed, thank you for making it! xTieghan
I have a husband with high cholesterol so coconut milk is not good to use in our house. I love all your recipes though and still want to make the ones with coconut milk but I am looking for a good substitute. Do you have any suggestions on what we could use instead of coconut milk? Thanks!
Hey Susan,
Any other milk that you enjoy will work just fine! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
OMG the flavors of lime juice, coconut milk, garlic, butter was amazing! I will definately make this again!
thanks!
Hey Vivian,
I am so glad you have enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for making it! Have a great week! xTieghan
Delicious!! This will definitely be on repeat like so many of your other recipes!!
Hey Lori,
I am so glad you have enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for making it! Have a great week! xTieghan
I made this for dinner last night and it was so good we gobbled it up and made a new batch tonight!!!
I don’t see this in either of the half baked harvest cookbooks. Am I missing it? Will it be included in an upcoming cookbook?
We love all your recipes and just don’t want to lose this one!!!
Hey Katherine,
Thank you so much for making the recipe, I am thrilled it was enjoyed! Sorry, this is not in either cookbook. All of the recipes that are in the cookbooks are exclusive to the books. Have a great weekend:) xTieghan
This was great, definitely adding it to the rotation . Next time going to try adding some red curry.
Hey Natalie,
Thanks so much for making the recipe, I am delighted it was enjoyed! Happy Friday:) xTieghan
This recipe looked so pretty and came out so bland. Disappointed as it was my first after following and watching all the videos on IG.
Hey Susan,
So sorry to hear this, let me know if I can help in anyway! xTieghan
This is one of the best things I’ve ever made at home. Thank you for teaching me your ways! It is VERY similar to my favorite soup from Shuga’s in Colorado Springs. I don’t even need the noodles, but will eat them because I made them 🙂
Hey Kylie,
I so appreciate you giving the recipe a try, I am thrilled it was enjoyed! xTieghan
Made this on a cold snowy day and it was the perfect easy warm meal. Since I didn’t have rice noodles I just used some rice and I think it tastes just as good. I added a slight drizzle of honey at the end because I think I diluted the coconut milk with too much water but in the end very tasty recipe!
Hey Lauren,
I so appreciate you giving the recipe a try, I am thrilled it was enjoyed! xTieghan
OMG! This was so good and so quick and easy!
Hey Sara,
Thanks so much for making the recipe, I am so glad it was enjoyed! Thanks! xTieghan
This was amazing! Such great flavors & easy to make on a weeknight (added bonus)!! Thank you so much for sharing ❤️
Hey Megan,
Thanks so much for making the recipe, I am so glad it was enjoyed! Thanks! xTieghan
I made a vegan version of this using tofu & it was delish! Bursting with so much flavor! Thank you for another great recipe!
Hey Monica,
Thanks so much for making the recipe, I am so glad it was enjoyed! Thanks! xTieghan