Butterflied Grilled Shrimp with Garlic Butter

I often make grilled shrimp that I marinate, put on a skewer stick, and then grill 'em…they are always delicious and a cinch to make. But every once in a while I want to get fancy with my shrimp, so for dinner tonight I decided to make Butterflied Grilled Shrimp with Lemon Garlic Butter.

What made my so shrimp fancy was the fact that I took the extra time to "butterfly" them. Dave was quite impressed with my "butterflying skills." Butterflying shrimp simple means cutting the shrimp down the middle of it's back with a paring knife or scissors and then spreading the shrimp's flesh until it lies flat.  Butterflying shrimp takes some extra time and effort but the presentation results are far worth it. It makes you feel like you've prepared something truly special or something you'd see on the Food Network. You can butterfly your shrimp with shells on like I did or without. In my opinion leaving the shells on yields a more juicy, flavorful and succulent taste. Plus once they're grilled the shells peel off with ease. You can buy shrimp that's already "butterflied" but you will pay an arm and a leg for them. I buy jumbo sized frozen shrimp that has the shell on but has already been cleaned and deveined. That way that's all you have to do is defrost the shrimp and use a good paring knife to split and butterfly. It's so simple once you get the hang of it.

I marinated my shrimp with a little white wine, lemon, olive oil, fresh parsley and salt n pepper. Dave grilled them for approximately 8 minutes. The tailed end of the shrimp curled a bit after they were grilled but it made it super easy to pick up with your fingers and eat them. No utensils required with these tender and juicy morsels! I also made a warm garlic butter to dip the shrimp in. The boys kept double and triple dipping because the butter was that good and tasty….oh who am I kidding, I also kept double and triple dipping too! The grilled shrimp was good enough by itself but indulging in this butter made it seem like we were dipping chunks of lobster. This dinner was a treat for sure!

Next time you decide to grill shrimp, go the extra step and make it a fancy one! Salute to Butterflied Grilled Shrimp and Garlic Butter.

Butterflied 

Marinating with white wine, lemon, olive oil, parsley and salt n pepper

Grill for 8 minutes

Beautiful grill marks when the shrimp is butterflied

Succulent and moist shrimp

Even better once it's dipped and drenched in warn garlic butter

Butterflied Grilled Shrimp with Garlic Butter (Click to print recipe)

Preparation and Cook Time: 40 minutes

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds jumbo shrimp, cleaned and deveined, with tail and shells (about 24 shrimp)
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 2 tb minced fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
• salt n pepper

Garlic Butter:

• 2 sticks of unsalted butter
• 1 t fresh minced garlic

To butterfly the shrimp: Make sure to keep the shell and tail on. Using a paring knife, make a deep incision from the tail to the opposite end. The incision should be where the shrimp was already deveined. Make sure not to cut all the way through. Once the incision has been made use your fingers to spread open the shrimp's flesh until it lies flat. Place shrimp in a baking dish. In a bowl mix white wine, parsley, olive oil and lemon and whisk until well blended. Drizzle mixture over shrimp and add salt n pepper. Let sit for 15 minutes. Meanwhile heat grill to medium to high heat. Place shrimp on grill shell side down. Cook for 4 minutes and flip for another 3-4 minutes or until shrimp is opaque. 

For Garlic Butter: In a medium saucepan over medium heat and 1 stick of butter until melted. Add garlic and heat for 1 minute. Turn heat to a simmer and add the other stick of butter until melted. Stir continuously until all butter is melted and garlic is warm. Place in a small dipping bowl. 

You can drizzle butter over the shrimp or simply dip the shrimp. I prefer drenching it in butter!

Food Impressions:

Nate: "Ummm Ummm this is finger licking good"

Tyler: "The shrimp is so juicy and I love the butter. It's pretty easy to peel!" 

Zachary: "Mom, we should really get our own bowls for dipping the butter!" He's right with all of the double and triple dipping that was going on!

Dave: "Loved that you butterflied the shrimp…it really gave the shrimp a moist and flavorful taste. Feels like a meal we'd have on the east coast." 

Andrea: Next time we have someone over for dinner I will make these for dinner or for an appetizer. They were delicious! It was a hit with everyone. I need to buy a warming dish for my butter though. It cooled quickly without a warmer.