Shrimp Marinade {Old Bay Shrimp} (2024)

By: April Woods On: 9/9/17 • This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

This Shrimp Marinade only has four ingredients but it will blow you away with how delicious it is. Perfect for an easy weeknight meal!

This is the best shrimp marinade ever. Evvvvver. I said it. I mean it. I don’t even care if I sound totally narcissistic – it really is the best. I’ve been making this marinade for a long time, it’s one of those that is in the regular dinner rotation but I never posted because I’ve never measured before!

Old Bay Shrimp Marinade

The Best Shrimp Marinade Ever, Ingredients:

• Seafood seasoning (like Old Bay), 1 tablespoon
• Lime juice, 1/4 cup
• Olive oil, 1/2 cup
• Water, 1/2 cup
• Minced garlic, 1 teaspoon
• Shrimp, up to 1 pound

The Best Shrimp Marinade Ever Directions:

• Combine seafood seasoning, lime juice, olive oil, water, and minced garlic. Emulsify with a stick blender or upright blender.
• Pour over shrimp and refrigerated for about 30 minutes.
• Remove shrimp with a slotted spoon and cook on a medium heat grill or in a hot skillet until shrimp is totally pink and opaque, and you see no more grey bits.
• Enjoy!

Don’t we all have those recipes we’ve been preparing for eons that we just know how to make. So when I made this amazing shrimp recently and someone asked if they could find the recipe at Mama Loves Food, I had to laugh that not only was it not here, but that I couldn’t even write it down on a post-it for them!

Obviously after that interaction I realized I had to get this recipe memorialized right away! It’s funny how easy it is to make something that you’d done a hundred times by sight and taste, but as soon as you start measuring, the second guessing begins! Not to worry though, we got this. We got this so good.

Want to make super quick work of this recipe? Grab some precooked shrimp. My personal preference is to start with raw, but hey time is of the essence, right? Make sure if you’re using precooked shrimp though, just cook it long enough to heat through! Overcooked shrimp is no bueno.

And while I do keep referring to it as a shrimp marinade, you could absolutely use this on fish, chicken, even steak! Oh, I bet it would be fabulous on a grilled flanks steak. Mmmmm.

Here’s a quick pro-tip. When you’re cooking raw shrimp, an easy way to know it’s done is when the top touches the tail! It’s super important not to overcook shrimp because it turns from tasty to rubber super quick. So watch for that curl!

You can serve this dish any way you like, but I’m partial to putting it over buttered angel hair pasta. This marinated shrimp is also perfection on shrimp tacos, or served chilled in a shrimp salad. Yum. Yummmm.We always keep frozen shrimp on hand, so this is one of our favorite last minute dinners.

In the time the shrimp is marinating, prep your pasta. Forty minutes tops and dinner is on the table.You can marinate the shrimp for up to thirty minutes, but it can be as little as 15 if you’re in a rush. I wouldn’t do it much more than a half hour though, because the acidity of the lime juice will begin to cook the shrimp.

More Amazing Shrimp Recipes

• Red Curry Shrimp
• Crispy Coconut Shrimp
• Easy Shrimp and Grits
• Honey Garlic Shrimp
• Shrimp Scampi

Suggested Tools

• Lodge Cast Iron Skillet, 12-inch
• Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender
• OLD BAY Seafood Seasoning