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Sharing an easy…let’s make this weeknight feel special…dinner, Saucy Garlic Butter Shrimp with Coconut Milk and Rice Noodles. Spicy, garlicky, and gingery shrimp, pan seared and tossed with a touch of butter and coconut milk. This dish is creamy, saucy, a touch salty, and just a little spicy. It’s served over rice noodles and comes together in no time at all (about 30 minutes). Perfect for busy weeknights when you’re looking for something a little more special, but still quick, healthy-ish, and DELICIOUS.
Recipes like this saucy shrimp are my favorite. This shrimp has a mix of flavors, fusion food as some might say. It’s quick, it’s saucy, relatively healthy (there’s some sneaky greens in all that sauce), and just an all around delicious meal.
Traditionally garlic shrimp is more of an Italian dish, and is served simply with butter and lemons. But I wanted to put a twist on the classic and switch things up a bit.
So I threw in some Thai flavors by adding creamy coconut milk, a squeeze of fresh lime, and rice noodles. Yes, it’s different, and I will probably get criticized for this not being “authentic” over on Instagram (if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all, right?). But hey, my purpose here is to provide you guys with easy and delicious recipes, this shrimp is both, so all is good.
The shrimp is first tossed with a little olive oil, garlic, ginger, and spicy jalapeño. These are the main flavors, so if you don’t love garlic, this recipe might not be for you. And if you want to tame the spice level, just use one jalapeño.
Let the shrimp sit a few minutes and cook the rice noodles. I really love using vermicelli rice noodles, but any noodle works, so use your favorite.
Next, cook up some bacon. It adds a really deep flavor and a hint of saltiness that is delicious. Go with me on this. Now, pan sear the shrimp. The key is to remove the shrimp from the garlic marinade. If you cook the shrimp in the marinade, the shrimp with steam, and the garlic will burn. So first remove the shrimp, cook, add the butter, and then add all of that garlicky marinade. As the butter melts, the garlic caramelizes around the shrimp creating truly the most mouth-watering smell (and delicious sauce).
This is that moment you know the recipe is going to be good…so good.
At this point, I like to remove half of the shrimp and save it for topping. Honestly, you don’t have to do this step. You can instead leave the shrimp in the skillet and combine it with the coconut milk. I just like to remove some of the shrimp so that it stays crisp…and if being truly honest, for photo purposes.
Once the coconut milk has been added, the shrimp looses it’s crispness a bit. It’s also a little more visually appealing to have a few shrimp sitting atop the rice noodles. And we all know that I’m all about a visually good-looking dish…
You guys always ask if I do anything special to the food for photos, and the answer really is no. But I like to add garnishes or pull out tricks like this one…
If you have something extra saucy, or you’re making a soup and want to keep the dish both colorful and full of texture. To create a beautiful looking dish, remove a little bit of one of the main elements of the recipe. In today’s case the shrimp. But think along the lines of keeping out some of the chickpeas in a curry, or the noodles in a soup, things like that. Then reserve them for topping the dish just before serving. Again, this is not necessary for flavor purposes. But if you want to create that “Instagram worthy” food photo, this is one of my go-to tricks to really make food pop off the page, as seen in the cacio e pepe, lemon garlic chicken soup, and herb salad.
Okay, styling talk over. Moving along now.
Once I’ve removed half the shrimp from the skillet, I add the coconut milk. I know the coconut milk might seem like an odd ingredient to add, but as I mentioned, I wanted to put my own twist on a classic, and the coconut milk creates a creamy, flavorful sauce.
It’s beyond good. Especially with the rice noodles. It’s kind of like Italian meets Thai. A weird, but delicious mash-up that’s just a touch cozy, a touch on the healthy side, and all things good. And quick, which is always a very nice bonus!
If you make this saucy garlic shrimp, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Watch the How To Video:
Saucy Garlic Butter Shrimp with Coconut Milk and Rice Noodles
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 970 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces rice noodles
- 3 strips thick cut slices bacon, chopped
- 1 1/2 pounds raw jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1/4 cup extra olive oil
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 4-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
- 1 inch fresh ginger, grated
- 2 jalapeños, seeded and chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro OR basil, roughly chopped (use you personal favorite)
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 can (14 ounce) coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 cups baby spinach or kale, roughly chopped
- juice and zest from 1/2 a lime
- sliced jalapeño pepper and green onions, for serving
Instructions
- 1. In a medium size bowl, toss together the shrimp, olive oil, honey, garlic, ginger, and jalapeños. Toss well to combine. 2. Cook rice noodles according to packaged directions.3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp and the fat has rendered, about 5 minutes. Remove the bacon from the pot and drain on a paper towel lined plate.4. Working with the same skillet, use a slotted spoon to scoop the shrimp out of the marinade, reserving the marinade, and into the hot skillet, season with salt and pepper. Cook the shrimp until pink, about 2-3 minutes per side. Add the reserved marinade, the butter and a large pinch of pepper. Continue to cook the shrimp in the butter until the garlic begins to caramelize and turn light golden brown, about another 1 to 2 minutes. Remove half the shrimp and reserve for topping. 5. To the skillet, add the coconut milk, 1/3-1/2 cup water, spinach, and the fish sauce. Stir to combine, bring the mixture to a boil, cook 3-5 minutes, until warmed through. Remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice and zest, and the cilantro, or basil.6. To serve, divide the noodles among bowls. Spoon the sauce and reserved shrimp and bacon over the noodles. Top with peppers and green onions. Enjoy!
This post was originally published on February 13, 2019
I needed a noodle recipe for Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner along with fish . I swapped the shrimp for fresh ocean caught cod and it was delicious and a big hit with my dinner guests. Thanks for another great dish that combines many different flavor profiles into a mouthful of pure joy!
Hi Wendy! I am so glad this recipe turned out so well for you! Thank you so much! xTieghan
This is one of the greatest things I’ve ever made/eaten. It’s insanely delicious and as a massive noodle lover, I love getting an easy noodle craving fix via this dish. Side note: I have no will power when it comes to saving some for the next day cuz it’s that good lol. Thanks for your genius invention, girl!
Haha I am so glad you loved this Sam! Thank you so much!! xTieghan
This was delicious, easy, and came together so quickly! Almost all pastry staples, but really unique and just so good! I’ll definitely make this again.
I am so glad you loved this Jamie! Thank you so much! xTieghan
Absolutely delicious!! This is better than the restaurants. So excited to try more of your recipes!
Thank you Jess! I hope you love all of the ones you try! xTieghan
Can I replace the rice noodles with pasta?
Andrea
Hi Andrea! Yes, of course! Pasta will be great! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Not a huge bacon fan (unpopular opinion) so I added some mushrooms sauteed in butter to start and sauteed the shrimp in that. Even though I chopped up the jalapenos, it wasn’t spicy enough to my liking so ended up adding sambal at the end. I ended up having to add a lot more salt/lime than it called for as it was lacking in flavor to me. Prob the omission of bacon? Either way it was tasty and I’d definitely remake with a few tweaks.
I am glad you still liked this recipe Fara! Are there any questions I could help you with? xTieghan
Update: since I reviewed this back in February I have literally made this dish twice a month, usually without the bacon, always with mushrooms, and sometimes with other added veggies. It’s a huge family favorite. If you’re on the fence about this one, you have to try it. Tieghan, thank you for this solid recipe!!!
That is so amazing Kelly! Thank you so much for trying this, so glad you have been loving it! xTieghan
Made this recipe with my husband and my brother-in-law also ate with us. It was DELICIOUS, different, saucy, but light enough for a hot summer day. So nice to make a quick and yummy saucy dish in the summer that is not super heavy and not barbecue which I get sick of quickly. I ate the leftovers cold the next day (also awesome) and keep texting all my friends and family to try it since it was so easy and essentially a one pan meal!
They’re the best! I am so glad you loved this and it was easy to make! Thank you! xTieghan
Soooo yummy! My first time using coconut milk and it made for such a good base. I think next time I would use half the amount of butter recommended to try and make a bit healthier?? Would also maybe double recipe next time to just get more broth, we had leftover noodles but no more broth so it made for 1 big bowl each, would make more just to have leftovers because I could eat this for days!
I am really glad you loved this recipe, Katie!! Thank you so much for trying it! I hope it turns out better for you next time, let me know how it goes!! xTieghan
I can’t recommend this meal enough! I made it a few weeks ago and absolutely died over it! The flavor was incredible, I will absolutely be making this again! I will probably also try making it with chicken or pork if I don’t feel like splurging on shrimp. Awesome recipe! I love the asian/thai fusion recipes you keep putting out!
Thank you Gretchen!! I really love asian/thai and so glad you’re loving it too!
I made this for dinner last night and oh my GOD it is the best thing I’ve cooked in recent memory. I didn’t have any bacon so I just omitted it, and I added both jalapenos and didn’t find it too spicy. My boyfriend is a sad soul who thinks cilantro tastes like soap so he just had basil on his, and I had both herbs. We both loved it! I think this would be delicious with just about any protein, too. I’m a poor grad student who can’t afford shrimp as often as I’d like, so I think next time I’ll try it with chicken or tofu.
Thank you so much Elizabeth!! I am so glad you both loved this recipe! xTieghan
This recipe was absolutely delicious! My daughter told me about your website. I’m hooked. Thank you for your creative and inspiring foods.
Thank you so much Jennifer! xTieghan
I made this test tonight with some minor changes. I only had and maple smoked bacon and I was nervous about using that but it actually gave the shrimp a really nice caramelized taste. I also seasoned and added cubed chicken to the recipe because one of my children prefers chicken over shrimp.
I Used the basil when it was boiling and then cilantro to top it all off. I didn’t have any fish juice in my house so I substituted that with four anchovies.
everyone in my house loved this dish!! It was delicious!!! I can’t wait to make it again!
I am so happy this everyone loved this Raquel! Thank you so much! xTieghan
TRYING THIS FOR DINNER TONITE!!!!
Thank you Theresa! xTieghan
I love your recipes, and recipes like this always look so delicious. Unfortunately I don’t like the taste of coconut, not even if it is hints of it. Any chance there is a substitute for the coconut milk?
HI Kristin! I recommend using whole milk or heavy cream in place of the coconut milk. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan