Shrimp with Cilantro Lime Dipping Sauce

How about an easy shrimp appetizer for watching the big game or whatever else has you gathering with family and friends? Our Shrimp with Cilantro Lime Dipping Sauce is bursting with flavors that will make your mouth happy! Even more so if you try our wine pairing that goes with the recipe!

We tend to serve shrimp as a main course around here, in large part because our son is always happy to hear I am making Easy Sautéed Shrimp for dinner.

But of course, shrimp is great to feature as an appetizer– there’s shrimp cocktail of course, right? With that big game coming up, I figured it would be a great time for a shrimp appetizer, so I bring you Shrimp with Cilantro Lime Dipping Sauce!

What makes this recipe work

In our shrimp with cilantro lime recipe, you’ve got a simple sautéed shrimp that is tasty on its own right. Ask our son– see above!

Serve that shrimp alongside some zesty cilantro pesto and your mouth will be singing for joy! Lots of great flavors popping on the palate, and we have a wine pairing for you that makes that combo even better! Hold on, we will get to that in a moment.

Oh yes, did we mention that this shrimp recipe can be ready in just fifteen minutes? Winner!

Making Shrimp with Cilantro Dipping Sauce

Here are a few tips for making this easy shrimp appetizer; click here to jump down to the recipe for the full details.

What kind shrimp to use?

• I typically buy frozen, raw peeled and deveined shrimp. I like the medium sized shrimp, that come say 31 to 40 shrimp per pound on the bag.
• You can move the portion you want to cook into a plastic bag in the morning, and let it defrost in the fridge. Or you can put that same bag in a bowl of warm water for about 30 minutes prior to cooking to quickly thaw.
• You can also use pre-cooked shrimp in this recipe. Just take about 2 minutes off the cooking time, as all you want to do is heat the shrimp and brown the outside a bit.

Making the recipe

• Start by making the cilantro lime sauce. Place the cilantro and garlic in a food processor, and pulse to chop both ingredients finely. Add the remaining cilantro sauce ingredients, and purée them together. Scrape the side of the processor and purée again to make sure all the ingredients get incorporated.
• With the cilantro sauce ready, mix the soy sauce, honey and oil for the shrimp. You can use 1 teaspoon of sugar in place of the honey if you’d like.
• Toss the shrimp in the marinade and let them sit for about 5 minutes at room temperature. Then you are ready to cook the shrimp; it just takes 2 to 3 minutes per side to sauté them.
• Plate the cooked shrimp, then serve the cilantro lime sauce alongside it. People can dip the shrimp right into the sauce, getting as much sauce as they would like.
• This recipe makes a dozen shrimp but you can easily scale up as needed. If doubling the recipe I’d suggest getting 2 bunches of cilantro.

Wine Pairing for Cilantro Lime Shrimp

A crisp white wine is the way to go with this Shrimp with Cilantro Lime Dipping Sauce!

We opened another bottle of the 2018 Cantina Numa Passerina ($12, 12% ABV) from Le Marche region of Italy. Le Marche is in Central Italy, on the Adriatic coast just above Abruzzo. The Passerina white wine grape is associated with Le Marche; we also sampled a fair number of them in Abruzzo when I visited.

The Cantina Passerina is light bodied, with lemon fruit and a hint of sweetness. The wine nicely offsets the zesty cilantro herb flavors. This is a great pairing — if you can track down this Passerina, I’d encourage you to grab it when you make this recipe. If you are in the Boston area, I got this from Bin Ends Wine which has locations in Needham and Braintree.

Other wine pairing ideas

Passerina isn’t a common wine to find in the U.S., so let me suggest some other wines I anticipate would work well. Sauvignon Blanc could certainly work here; and we have successfully paired our basic sautéed shrimp recipe with Pouilly-Fumé, a well-known Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley. You can read more about Pouilly-Fumé here.

Albariño is another shellfish friendly white wine I would think about trying with this recipe. Picpoul de Pinet could be a match, too.

But I also encourage you to experiment with pairings for this shrimp appetizer; just be sure to report any good finds in the comments or tag @cookingchatwine on Instagram!

Recipe card

Shrimp with Cilantro Lime Dipping Sauce

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Easy sautéed shrimp with a cilantro pesto dipping sauce make a flavorful appetizer. Makes 4 appetizer servings of 3 shrimp each; can be scaled up for a bigger group.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 5 mins
• Total Time: 15 mins
• Yield: 4 servings 1x
• Category: appetizer
• Method: sauté
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

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For the cilantro dipping sauce:

• ⅔ cup cilantro leaves
• 1 clove garlic
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ½ a lime, juiced (about 2 tbsp)
• pinch red pepper flakes
• pinch salt

For the shrimp

• 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tsp honey
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 12 shrimp, raw (I buy them peeled and deveined)
• cooking oil spray

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Instructions

1. Make the cilantro sauce: Place the cilantro and garlic in a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add the remaining cilantro dipping sauce items–olive oil, lime juice, red pepper flakes and salt–and puree the ingredients together. Scrape the sides and puree again to incorporate all the ingredients. Set sauce aside while you make the shrimp.
2. Shrimp marinade: Combine the soy sauce, honey and olive oil in a bowl large enough to hold the shrimp.
3. Prepare the shrimp: Rinse and pat dry the shrimp. Add the shrimp to the bowl with the marinade, and toss gently to coat the shrimp. Let the shrimp sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes.
4. Sauté shrimp: Heat a non-stick skillet on medium heat with some oil spray. When the skillet is good and hot, and the shrimp along with the marinade. Sauté the shrimp by stirring occasionally. Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes on one side, then turn the shrimp over. Sauté another two minutes or so until the shrimp are cooked through. The tails turn reddish and sauce gets caramelized and coats the shrimp when they are done.
5.  Serve: Plate the shrimp on a large plate or medium serving platter. Scoop out the cilantro sauce, and serve alongside the shrimp. You are ready to enjoy the shrimp!

Notes

• I typically buy a large bag of frozen shrimp. You can move the portion you want to cook into a plastic bag in the morning, and let it defrost in the fridge. Or you can put that same bag in a bowl of warm water for about 30 minutes prior to cooking to quickly thaw.
• You can also use pre-cooked shrimp in this recipe. Just take about 2 minutes off the cooking time, as all you want to do is heat the shrimp and brown the outside a bit.
• Another option is to simply buy the prepared shrimp similar to what you’d get for shrimp cocktail, and use the cilantro dipping sauce instead of cocktail sauce — or as another option.

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