Succulent shrimp, garlic, sherry, and lemon come together to create this remarkably easy and incredibly delicious tapas dish, Gambas al Ajillo, also known as Spanish Garlic Shrimp. Serve with plenty of crusty bread because you don’t want to waste a drop of that sauce!
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I’ve been making gambas al ajillo for years now and it’s always gone within minutes!
The garlic sherry lemon sauce is just perfect with the shrimp, and is also great with other ingredients as well. You’ll often find this same sauce with either pork or mushrooms in Spanish restaurants.
This recipe is up there with some of my favorite shrimp dishes, like shrimp scampi, shrimp oreganata, and shrimp saganaki.
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While Spanish garlic shrimp is typically served as an appetizer, or Spanish tapas (small plate), you can definitely make a meal out of it by serving it with rice pilaf.
Recipe Ingredients
All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.
- Shrimp. I prefer to use colossal shrimp (12-15 ct) for gambas al ajillo but any size shrimp will work. The shrimp should be cleaned and deveined with the shells removed.
- Baking soda. This is added to the shrimp along with smoked paprika, salt, and red pepper flakes to brine the shrimp and help keep them plump during the cooking process.
- Garlic. Gambas al ajillo is Spanish for shrimp with garlic so the garlic truly is a key ingredient here. I’m using 10 cloves but feel free to adjust up or down depending on your love of garlic.
- Sherry. Sherry is a Spanish fortified wine and is a key ingredient in dishes like gambas al ajillo as it imparts great flavor and some acidity to the dish, in addition to the lemon. Sherries can range in price but for cooking, I’ll typically use a more affordable sherry, like cream sherry.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make it
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- Pat the shrimp very dry and add them to a bowl along with the salt, baking soda, smoked paprika, and hot red pepper flakes. Allow the shrimp to sit in the brine for 10 minutes. The brine does not get washed off.
- While the shrimp are brining, heat a frying pan to medium-low to low heat with the extra virgin olive oil and garlic. Cook the garlic for 7-10 minutes or until nutty and golden.
- Increase the heat to medium and add the shrimp cooking for 1 minute per side.
- Add the sherry and cook for another 1-2 minutes or until the shrimp are cooked through then remove the pan from the heat and add the lemon juice and parsley. Taste test and adjust salt and pepper if needed. Serve immediately with crusty bread and enjoy!
Top tips
- Brine the shrimp. If I’m making shrimp, you can bet I’m almost always mixing it with a baking soda brine first. It helps keep the shrimp plump and juicy while they cook. The shrimp need only 10 minutes in the dry brine, so don’t skip this step.
- Cooking the garlic. The garlic in Spanish garlic shrimp is cooked on low until it turns nutty and golden brown. This takes about 7-10 minutes. Be sure to keep an eye on it and lower the heat, if needed, to prevent burning.
- Oil. Gambas al ajillo is an oily dish, so don’t be afraid to use the recommended amount of oil.
More easy shrimp recipes
Shrimp are one of my favorite ingredients because they cook fast and are so easy! Here are just a few more of my favorite easy shrimp recipes.
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Gambas al Ajillo (Easy Spanish Garlic Shrimp)
Ingredients
For the shrimp
- 1 pound (454g) colossal shrimp cleaned, shells removed, and deveined – size 12-15ct
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon crushed hot red pepper flakes
For the Gambas al Ajillo
- 3/4 cup (180ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 10 cloves garlic sliced
- 1/4 cup (60ml) dry sherry
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) lemon juice
- 1/3 cup minced flat-leaf Italian parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
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Instructions
For the shrimp
- Pat the shrimp very dry then add to a bowl and mix with salt, baking soda, smoked paprika, and hot red pepper flakes. Let sit for 10 minutes.
For the Gambas al Ajillo
- Meanwhile, heat a fry pan to medium-low heat with the extra virgin olive and garlic. Cook for 7-10 minutes or until the garlic is a nutty golden.
- Increase the heat to medium-high and add the shrimp. Cook the shrimp for 1 minutes per side.
- Add the sherry and cook for another 1-2 minutes or until the shrimp are cooked through. Remove the pan from the heat and mix in the lemon juice and parsley. Taste test and season with salt and pepper if required. Serve immediately with crusty bread. Enjoy!
Notes
- This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.
- The shrimp used in this recipe are 12-15ct which means 12-15 per pound. Cooking time will be less if using smaller shrimp.
- Make sure to serve with plenty of crusty bread to mop up the delicious sauce.
- Leftovers can be saved in the fridge for up to 3 days and can be reheated in the microwave, though this dish is best eaten right away.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Just finished eating this delicious shrimp! Definitely will make again, maybe for company.
We’re happy you enjoyed, Maria!
Made your gambas al ajillo last night and it was a huge hit with my family. So quick, easy and delicious with layers of flavor. Served it with some semolina bread to sop up the yummy sauce along with green beans with lemon and garlic. 🙂 I’m laughing cause I used a total of 12 cloves of garlic between those two dishes! The house smelled amazing once that sherry hit the pan! Thank you, Jim and Tara, for another stellar recipe that will go into our monthly dinner rotation.
That’s great to hear Ceejay! Thanks for letting us know you enjoyed it!
Always love your recipes have made so many of them.
We’re so happy you’re enjoying the recipes, Annette!
Took me exactly 2 days to make your Shrimp recipe (Gambas al Ajillo) after reading the recipe and viewing the video on YouTube. So good!! The crusty bread dunk in the sauce, maybe better than the shrimp!! 🌿
We’re so happy to hear you enjoyed this one, Lois! Thanks for the comment!
Am Canadian. Have watched your channel for over a year now and it is the best on the internet. So honest and refreshing. Not complicated, but delicious.
We really appreciate that, Kathi!
The easy Spanishgarlic shrimp was amazing! Definitely a keeper
So happy you enjoyed, Lori!
A joy to prepare. And wow, this was soooo gooood! I had two servings 🙂 You were spot-on about having enough bread for that amazing sauce. I’m making this again next week!
So happy you enjoyed, Anthony!
Hello James,
Although I haven’t tried this recipe yet, it sounds wonderful. I really look forward to your emails. I would especially like to thank you for being so generous with your recipes. It’s getting harder and harder to get recipes when other sites want you to jump through so many hoops to get one. Kathy
Thanks for the comment, Kathy, and we’re happy to hear you’re enjoying the recipes and emails!
this was delicious! I also made your chicken and sausage. my husband loved it
We’re so happy you enjoyed!
This recipe is perfect…delicious and easy. What more could you want? Thank you!
We’re so happy you enjoyed, Sue!
Looking forward to making this dish. What sides would you recommend serving along side the shrimp?
Hi Diane, this would be great with rice for a meal, but if you’re looking to serve it with a bunch of other appetizers, tapas style, you could definitely do that. Stuffed mushrooms, clams in red sauce, potato croquettes, crostini, etc. would be great.
Great suggestions!! Great for a Tapas Party!! The Gambas Ajillo Shrimp is special. And different from the other garlicky shrimp recipes Jim has made.