🍤 Butter garlic prawns
Butter garlic prawns are plump prawns sautéed quickly in foaming butter with plenty of garlic, a little chilli, lemon juice and chopped parsley. The prawns stay juicy and sweet while the glossy, garlicky butter sauce clings to them. They are served hot as a starter or light main, often with a salad or rice.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 400 g large raw prawns, peeled and deveined
- 30 g butter
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 small red chilli, sliced
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- Salt and black pepper
Method
- Pat the prawns dry and season with salt and pepper.
- Melt the butter in a wide pan over medium-high heat until it foams.
- Add the garlic and chilli and stir for 30 seconds without letting the garlic brown.
- Add the prawns in one layer and cook for 1–2 minutes per side until pink and just firm.
- Take off the heat, squeeze over the lemon, toss with parsley and serve at once.
How to make it lighter
- Halve the butter and add a splash of water or lemon juice to keep the sauce — 1 tbsp butter ≈ 100 kcal.
- Serve with a large green salad or steamed vegetables to make it a full, light meal.
- Leave the extra pan sauce on the plate rather than mopping it up.
History
Prawns cooked in garlic and fat appear in many coastal cuisines, from Spanish gambas al ajillo to Indian and Southeast Asian butter-garlic versions. Today the dish is a common starter in seafood restaurants around the world.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →