Cooking. Creating. Sharing
Meal Prep 101: The Key to Saving Time and Money
Preparing meals in advance is a great way to save time and money. It also allows you to spend more quality time with your family. By planning your meals and prepping ingredients ahead of time, you can quickly make healthy delicious meals on busy weeknights. You don’t have to resorte to takeout or fast food. This can help you save money on eating out. As well, it allows you to control the ingredients and nutritional value of your meals.
The Creamy Barbecue Shrimp recipe is life-changing! These shrimp are creamy, savory, and a little spicy. Perfect for any occasion!
This Big Easy favorite recipe is shrimp smothered in a creamy, buttery, and rich sauce. I kicked up the traditional NOLA barbecue shrimp by adding heavy cream to the rich buttery sauce.
On a side note… is it barbecue? barbeque? bar-b-q? or BBQ? 😲 And, WHY are there so many variations of the same word? (The English language drives me nuts!! …American English, well, and then there’s Southern English… 🤦🏼♀️
Well, it’s not barbecue in the traditional way. And, it’s also not cooked on a grill. Perplexed? I was too.
New Orleans style barbecue shrimp aren’t cooked on the grill and they don’t have bbq sauce on them. Instead, they’re cooked on the stovetop in butter and seasonings. Originally, the spices turned the sauce a deep redish color and resembled barbecue sauce so that’s how it got the name Barbecue Shrimp.
You’ll find barbecue shrimp on a lot of restaurant menus in New Orleans. I’ve never had barbecue shrimp in a restaurant that was made with shelled shrimp. They all have been in-shell but they would be so much easier to eat shelled. As well, some restaurants serve them with the head on and some with the head off.
Furthermore, it can be an appetizer and an entree. Regardless of how you serve it, offer ample crusty French bread to soak up the wonderful buttery.
The full recipe with ingredient amounts and instructions is at the bottom of this post in the recipe card.
Traditional BBQ Shrimp doesn’t have heavy cream. It’s totally delish and basically the only difference for ‘creamy bbq shrimp’ is the addition of cream. Prepare it both ways and see which style you prefer.
Oftentimes, I serve this as an appetizer. However, it’s great over pasta or grits as an entrée. We love New Orlean’s food including New Orleans Barbecue Shrimp Pasta, Shrimp Po’ Boy Sandwich, Shrimp Crawfish and Scallop Jambalaya, and Shrimp Pasta in Spicy New Orleans Tomato Sauce.
I updated this post from an earlier version dated April 24, 2013. I made new photos and simplified the recipe instructions.
