How to make New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp: Recipe, tips for an easy, delicious dish (2024)

One of the easiest of the Crescent City's classic recipes -- one that wows folks in restaurants and at home -- is New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp.

The dish made famous by Pascal’s Manale on Napoleon Avenue has since been adapted by chefs – and home cooks – who’ve stretched the creative limits of the basic concept: Fresh Gulf shrimp poached in a spicy, buttery sauce.

Among the more than 250 shrimp recipes available at NOLA.com/food, more than a dozen are for variations on barbecue shrimp.

COMMON INGREDIENTS

• A fat, such as butter or margarine
• Citrus
• Worcestershire sauce
• Lots of pepper
• Fresh or dried spices

Newcomers to town need an explanation because these “barbecued” shrimp are not slow-cooked, grilled, dry-rubbed or soaked in marinade. Often, they may look like they are swimming in a brown barbecue sauce, but they don’t taste that way.

It is easy for chefs to make their mark on the dish. A few examples of newer variations around town include the barbecue shrimp at Dook's Place in the Louis Armstrong International Airport, where Edgar Chase IV makes a version with blackening spice and beer. (Find the recipe here.)

At Rosedale restaurant in Lakeview, chef Brett "Shaggy" Duffee, makes Rosedale Rosemary Shrimp Sauce, which is lighter and relies more on seafood stock than butter. It also contains beer. (Find the recipe here.)

When he was at Cavan, chef Ben Thibodeaux, who now works for Perone and Sons, made a Butter Baked Shrimp recipe that called to mind the traditional dish in its spicy richness. (Find the recipe here.)

SWEGS Kitchen chef Pauly Dauterive makes a healthier version of barbecue shrimp, which is served atop cauliflower grits. It's made with a butter spread substitute rather than the real thing. (Find the recipe here.)

Cooks have added jerk seasoning. They've splashed spirits into the sauce. They've spooned the spicy shrimp onto po-boy bread to make messy delicious sandwiches. They've cooked it on the stovetop, in the oven – even in the microwave.

Food writer Judy Walker made a classic barbecue shrimp recipe, pictured here, as part of her "In Judy's Kitchen" cooking series in 2014. (Find Walker's video and recipe here.)

Long-time Times-Picayune dining critic Gene Bourg described the recipe’s origins this way in 2001: “Those who think barbecued shrimp carries a New Orleans copyright may be shocked to learn that it did not spring from a creative Creole kitchen but from the Midwest, long considered a culinary wasteland.

“Just a few decades ago, the recipe for the spicy baked shrimp dish was given by a visiting Chicagoan to the late Pascal Radosta. It was a runaway success at Pascal's Manale, the Uptown restaurant that Radosta operated with his uncle, Frank Manale. And it has since become a staple on seafood-house menus all over town.”

"There's a reason this recipe has not changed since 1954. Pure heaven in a dish," the restaurant's website notes.

Pascal's Manale, which is owned by the fourth generation family and has been serving the dish for 63 years, won't reveal its exact recipe for the dish (pictured here).

In 1995, however, then Times-Picayune food editor Dale Curry reported that Rex brand black pepper "is one of the main ingredients in the famous barbecued shrimp served at Pascal's Manale Restaurant."

Curry watched chef/co-owner Mark DeFelice demonstrate "a very close" version of the recipe at the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience that year. Other essential ingredients were Tabasco pepper sauce and Leidenheimer's French bread, for getting every bit of the sauce.

Try making barbecue shrimp for an indulgent weeknight meal. It can be ready in minutes. Just don’t forget the bib.

This recipe is what I think of when I think of the New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp. It comes from "Mr. B's Bistro Cookbook." The book includes Mr. B's Creole seasoning mix, but it’s easy to substitute your favorite brand. (For more Mr. B's Bistro recipes, visit MrBsBistro.com.)

If you don’t have jumbo shrimp, just increase the number of shrimp added to the pot.

NEW ORLEANS BARBECUE SHRIMP

4 appetizer portions or 2 entrees

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

• 16 jumbo shrimp (12 per pound, about 1 1/2 pounds), with heads and unpeeled
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
• 2 teaspoons Creole seasoning (See Mr. B's recipe below)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1-1/14 to 1-1/2 cups (3 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cubed
• French bread as accompaniment

HOW TO MAKE IT

1. In a large skillet combine shrimp, lemon juice, black peppers, Creole seasoning, garlic and Worcestershire. Cook over moderately high heat, tossing and moving shrimp until they turn pink, about 1 minute on each side.

2. Reduce heat to moderate and stir in butter, few cubes at a time, stirring constantly, but gently, and adding more only when butter is melted.

3. Remove skillet from heat. Place shrimp in a bowl and pour sauce over top.

TIP: Serve with crispy French bread for dipping.

We used Tony Chachere’s no-salt Creole seasoning, but Mr. B's makes its own Creole seasoning in large batches. This is what they use in many recipes that call for such spices.

MR. B'S CREOLE SEASONING

Makes 4 cups

• 1-1/2 cups paprika
• 3/4 cup ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup kosher salt
• 1/3 cup granulated garlic
• 1/3 cup dried thyme
• 1/3 cup dried oregano
• 1/3 cup dried basil
• 1/4 cup granulated onion
• 1/4 cup cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Store in an airtight container.

Leftovers? Peel the cooked shrimp. Toss them back into the sauce and ladle them atop French bread for a barbecue shrimp po-boy.

This recipe, originally published in The Times-Picayune in 1995, is from Pascal Manale's chef/owner Mark DeFelice, pictured here in 2010 serving Kerry Steele in the restaurant dining room.

It is similar to but not exactly the Manale's recipe. He said the restaurant always uses margarine, not butter, and that the main ingredient in Manale's spice is black pepper.

CLOSE TO PASCAL'S MANALE'S BARBECUE SHRIMP

Serves 4

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

• 1 pound headless shrimp, 21 to 25 count
• 5 teaspoons Creole spice (Manale's has its own secret spice mix.)
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon Lea & Perrin's Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco
• 1 cup margarine, melted
• 1/2 cup white wine, such as Chablis

HOW TO MAKE IT

1. Rinse shrimp and pat dry

2. Place shrimp in a medium saucepan

3. Add spice, garlic, Worcestershire and Tabasco and stir to coat shrimp

4. Pour melted margarine over shrimp and then white wine

5. Stir together.

6. Cook over high heat until shrimp are cooked, stirring occasionally

TIPS: Do not overcook shrimp ... Serve with French bread for dipping

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