Grilled Key Lime Shrimp is a fast and easy, meat free alternative that can be served as an appetizer or can be added as the protein to any main meal. Shrimp is marinated in fresh key lime juice with garlic, rosemary and honey, which also serves as a dipping sauce.

Skewers of grilled key lime shrimp on a pewter plate garnished with fresh rosemary and lime wedges

I never want grilling season to end because I love cooking on the grill, but it must and this is the last grilling recipe of this season. This grilled key lime shrimp is a really easy and delicious one that can also be prepare indoors on a stovetop grill anytime of the year.

A perfectly grilled shrimp getting dipped into a key lime sauce

Firstly lets talk about key limes and more specifically, juicing them. There’s no easy way to do it, because they are so small it is difficult and time consuming. Confession, I did use bottled key lime juice after squeezing a whole bag of limes and not yielding enough juice.

I did use the key lime zest and you must zest the limes before trying to juice them. I don’t see what difference there would be in the taste since this is a marinade and not a baked dessert, like my key lime cupcakes where I did go crazy juicing all the limes, but only 1 teaspoon was needed for the cupcakes. Far less than 1/4 cup for this shrimp recipe.

The marinade for the shrimp also serves as a dipping sauce for the cooked shrimp which makes it a perfect appetizer. Only half of the marinade is used on the raw shrimp and the other half for dipping at the end.

A closeup of freshly grilled key lime shrimp

Do not marinate the shrimp for more than 20 minutes in this or any other citrus marinade because it will start to ‘cook’ the shrimp and break it down. I recommend pre-heating the grill when you begin the marinating process so you have time to skewer the shrimp without compromising them.

I served this grilled key lime shrimp with a wonderful seasonal heirloom tomato salad with feta and pistachios (below) that we enjoyed outside the other evening.

If you’ve tried these Grilled Key Lime Shrimp or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how it turned out in the comments below. I love to hear from my readers! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see daily recipe updates.

 

Yield: 4

Grilled Key Lime Shrimp

Skewers of grilled shrimp on a grey oval plate with fresh lime wedges and rosemary

Grilled key lime shrimp is a fast and easy, meat free alternative that can be served as an appetizer or can be added as the protein to  any main meal.

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 7 minutes
Total Time 27 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup (60 ml) key lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon key lime zest
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
  • 24 shrimp, peeled and deveined

Instructions

  1. To a mixing bowl add the key lime zest, juice salt, garlic, rosemary, honey and oil. Whisk well to combine.
  2. Add the shrimp to a bowl and pour over ½ of the marinade, cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Preheat the grill.
  3. Thread the shrimp onto skewers and grill for no more than 5 minutes on the first side then turn and cook for 2 minutes. Serve immediately with the rest of the marinade for dipping.

Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 69Total Fat 3gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 42mgSodium 367mgCarbohydrates 7gFiber 0gSugar 6gProtein 5g

This nutrition calculation is provided by Nutronix that is only a guideline and not intended for any particular diet.