New Orleans BBQ Shrimp from Closet Cooking Reviewed

• Estimated Cooking Time According to Recipe: 20 Minutes
• Actual Cooking Time (Including Prep): 16 Minutes

Another all-around winner recipe that took a shockingly short time of only 16 minutes to prepare! Of course, we ended up with just an entrée, so you'll need to prep something like rice or steamed veggies if you want to eat more than just shrimp tonight!

My only issue with this recipe is that the flavor heavily depends on the type of hot sauce you use. I bought Cholula because it's what I like (normally), but I don't think this Mexican style hot sauce did very well in this dish. I mean, it wasn't bad, but the flavor was quite overwhelming. I'll try a Louisiana style hot sauce next time!

Notice in the picture below that I've already got a pint of beer ready 🙂 I am a homebrewer, and was happy to give myself an excuse to pour myself a brew that I could cook with as well as drink while making this recipe from Closet Cooking.

The first step is pretty simple: Mix your ingredients to make a sauce, then boil down until it starts to thicken. The recipe didn't specify what type of beer to use. I used a dry-hopped California common because it's what I wanted to drink today. He may have meant something more plain like an American lager, but he didn't specify! You can use wine or broth too.

The lemon added certainly gave it some good flavor too!

Once it gets thicker, add the shrimp, and, um…cook them until they're done. I cut back on the butter in this recipe, and was happy with the results. With as much recipe testing as I do, I don't need the extra fat and calories. I know that buttery was part of the flavor description, but I'm happy to imagine what that tastes like rather than actually eat a butter-heavy dish.

The sauce will get nice and thick by the time the shrimp are done cooking.

You can garnish with scallions or parsley. I think this would do well with pretty much any starch, particularly rice or a baked potato! Try a different hot sauce to change the flavor of the dish significantly.