Shrimp is one of those products that are not only super delicious, delicacy loved by everyone, but at the same time, it has many health benefits. You can also add its easy cooking experience, and you have a perfect meal. Nevertheless, you always need to remember that there are some peculiarities in boiling different types of shrimps. In this article, we will share some techniques on how you can cook fresh shrimp in a pot on the stove and how you can cook precooked shrimps to make shrimps taste juicy, soft, and yummy.
How long does it take to boil shrimp?
Boiling shrimps is a delicate process. If you overcook shrimps or keep them for too long in boiling water, they will lose all the juiciness and taste, their meat will become rubbery. Let’s have a look at the timing, at how long do you need to boil shrimps to make them perfect:
- How long does it take to boil fresh shrimp? It can take you from 2 to 10 minutes to boil raw shrimp. It depends on whether they are peeled or have their shells on, and of course, their size matters too. Small shrimps will be ready in 2-3 minutes; an average time for boiling medium shrimps is around 5-6 minutes, and it can take you up to 10 minutes to get large shrimps boiled.
- How long do you boil frozen cooked shrimps with shell on? You will need 1-2 minutes to cook precooked shrimps in boiling water; note that you should thaw shrimps beforehand.
- How long to boil frozen cooked peeled shrimps? As a rule, you do not have to boil peeled shrimp. Simply thaw frozen shrimp before making the dish. To add some flavor, boil shrimp in seasoned water with herbs for a minute or two.
How do you know if shrimp is cooked? Well, to determine whether you bought frozen precooked or raw shrimps is an easy thing. You should look at the color of the shrimps: raw shrimps have translucent white flesh and light-grey shells, while cooked shrimps have meat in opaque white, and they are colored pink.
You can find a detailed recipe for boiling different types of shrimps below. I hope that this part with just a quick guide on the boiling time of shrimps was helpful.
How to boil raw shrimp?
You can find raw shrimp, both fresh and frozen, in your supermarkets. You can use the following step-by-step guide for boiling both types of shrimps, whether you have them frozen or you were lucky to get them fresh:
- If you have raw shrimps frozen, you need to thaw them. Take shrimps out of the fridge and put them into a bowl with cold water. It will take around 20 minutes to defrost the ice. This process is easier and quicker than thawing frozen shrimps in a refrigerator. This is a very good trick to use when you do not have the whole night to thaw shrimps in a fridge.
Remember not to thaw frozen shrimps at room temperature!
- Take a large pot or a saucepan, fill it with cold water and boil it on high heat. You will need the amount of water twice as much as the number of shrimps.
- When water boils, add salt, seasoning, and herbs to your taste. As a rule, you need 1-2 teaspoons of salt for 1 liter of water. Let the stock boil for a minute for herbs to reduce their flavor, and then add raw shrimps.
- It will take 2-10 minutes to get shrimps cooked. You already know that boiling time depends on the shrimps’ size. You can check the boiling time for different sizes of shrimp in the first part of the article. Do not forget to stir shrimps occasionally while they are boiling.
- When the boiling time ends, and you see that the meat from translucent became opaque, and shrimps changed their color to pink, take the shrimps out of the pot carefully: you can drain them or take them out with tongs (if you have shrimps really large). Serve them with your favorite sauce!
Do you need to thaw frozen shrimps before cooking? It is always better to thaw frozen shrimp before boiling, whether you have precooked or raw shrimps.
How to cook precooked shrimps in a pot on the stove?
You can find packages with pre-cooked shrimps in stores. Frozen pre-cooked shrimps will be a great snack that will take literally several minutes to cook. Do you want to know how can you use frozen cooked shrimp? What is the most efficient way to cook shrimps from frozen? I have two different recipes with precooked shrimps that you can follow.
How do you cook frozen precooked shrimps with shell on?
Well, the first thing to know is that it is not necessary to cook already pre-cooked shrimps. You only need to thaw them, and they will be ready to be served. Simply add lemon or any other delicious sauce. Also, after defrosting cooked shrimps with shells on, you can use them to make other dishes, such as salads or pasta. You will have to peel the shells off and only then use shrimps in your dish.
However, there are several ways you can cook precooked shrimps to add some more flavor and juice. Pick the one that better suits your demands.
Thawed Precooked Shrimps Recipe
Place a colander with frozen cooked shrimps in a sink and defrost them using cold running water. When all the ice melts, put shrimps into a pot and add hot boiled water. Wait for 30-60 seconds for shrimps to get warm, and then drain out all the water. Use this method to make shrimps warm and juicy. As always, you can serve them with any desired sauce.
Frozen Shrimps for Quick Dinner Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 kg package of frozen shrimps,
- black/white peppercorns and salt to your taste
- 1-2 bay leaves
- fresh parsley
- lemon juice
Instructions
- You need to defrost frozen precooked shrimps, use cold running water for this purpose.
- While you have your shrimps thawing, put a pot with cold water on high heat and let the water boil. You need to use twice as much water as you have shrimp.
- When water boils, add salt and any seasoning or herbs you want (black or white pepper, bay leaves, fresh parsley, etc.) and lemon juice (squeezed out of half of a lemon).
- Add defrosted shrimps and boil them for a minute or two. Now you can serve these flavored, juicy shrimps with a sauce you like.
Always read the instructions when you buy frozen precooked or raw shrimps in packages. You can find information there on whether you need to cook shrimps again or not. You can also find boiling time for the type of shrimps you bought, written in the instruction.
How to boil peeled shrimps?
In 90% of cases, you have no necessity in cooking pre-cooked peeled shrimps again. Shrimps are already peeled off; you can’t bring the juiciness back. Therefore, you are left with the easiest way. To make frozen precooked shrimps usable, you only need to thaw them. If you are planning to make some pasta dish or salad with shrimps the next day, leave them to thaw in the fridge.
If your time is limited, then use cold water. You can take a colander, put shrimps in it, place the colander with shrimps in the sink, and open cold running water. Or take a big bowl, put frozen shrimps in it, and pour cold water (change the water in the bowl every ten minutes). It can take you from 15-20 minutes to get shrimps defrosted. Now, having peeled shrimps without ice, you can use them for any recipe you want.
How do you cook frozen shrimp in the microwave?
In the microwave, you can cook frozen only pre-cooked shrimps. It is the easiest way to get a perfect delicacy as quickly as possible:
- Take a microwave-safe bowl and add the shrimps to the bowl.
- Now add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 teaspoons of salt, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or soy sauce (for 900 g portion of frozen shrimps). Stir thoroughly everything together.
- Set the microwave to the MEDIUM cooking setting and set the timer for 10 minutes. Let the shrimps cool down a little bit before serving.
- Here you have an easy recipe for precooked shrimps!
We hope that this article was helpful and you found the way to cook the shrimps you were looking for. Whether you have frozen or fresh, raw or precooked shrimps, this article has tips on how you can boil all these types of shrimps at home on the stove. If you liked our article, please share it with your friends. All the questions and suggestions you can leave in the comment section below.
1 Comment
Thanks for the recipe! Did not have any instructions on the packaging of frizen shrimps) my boiled shrimps turned out really juicy!