🦐 Gambas al ajillo
Gambas al ajillo are Spanish garlic prawns: peeled shrimp cooked quickly in plenty of olive oil with sliced garlic and dried chili, finished with chopped parsley. They arrive at the table still sizzling in a small clay dish, the oil fragrant with garlic. As a tapa, the shrimp are eaten with a fork and the garlicky oil is the highlight.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 400 g peeled raw shrimp
- 6 garlic cloves, sliced
- 80 ml olive oil
- 1–2 dried chilies, broken
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- Salt
Method
- Pat the shrimp dry and season with salt.
- Warm the olive oil gently with the garlic and chili until the garlic turns pale gold.
- Raise the heat, add the shrimp and cook 1–2 minutes per side until pink.
- Sprinkle with parsley and serve sizzling.
How to make it lighter
- Use half the oil; 1 tbsp olive oil is about 120 kcal and most of it stays in the dish.
- Serve with a big tomato or green salad to make it a light meal.
- Leave the extra oil in the pan rather than mopping it up.
History
The dish is a staple of tapas bars across Spain, and is especially associated with Madrid and Andalusia. Cooking “al ajillo” — with garlic and oil — is a traditional Spanish method also used for mushrooms, chicken and rabbit.
Count it in one photo
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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 →