Shrimp Oreganata is an Italian-American dish consisting of shrimp topped with moistened breadcrumbs, white wine, lemon juice, parsley, and butter. This classic dish is wonderful to serve with pasta or crusty bread to mop up the sauce and while perfect for any night of the week, it’s especially good for Christmas Eve!
Editor’s Note: Originally published on December 17, 2018. Updated with full process shots and expanded info.
Shrimp oreganata is a dish I grew up eating and can be found at almost every Italian-American restaurant in the New York area.
It’s loaded with outrageous flavor from the garlic, breadcrumbs, oregano, and white wine which happens to pair particularly well with seafood in general, like salmon oreganata and clams oreganata.
And the beauty of shrimp oreganata is that the recipe is totally customizable. If you want more garlic, add it; don’t want wine, omit it.
Our goal here is to give you a great recipe that you can use to adjust to your own tastes and needs.
How to make it
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- Preheat your oven to 425f and set one rack in the middle and the other near the top. Mince 2 tablespoons of parsley and 6 cloves of garlic. Grate 2 tablespoons of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
- Heat a large pan to medium-low and saute the minced garlic in 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil until fragrant (about 2 minutes).
- Add 1/3 cup of plain breadcrumbs, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, the parsley, 2 teaspoons of dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, and the grated Parmigiano Reggiano and mix well. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Pat dry 1 1/2 pounds of colossal peeled and deveined shrimp with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper to taste. In an oven-safe baking dish or large pan, arrange the shrimp with the tails pointing up. Top the shrimp with the breadcrumb mixture and pour 3/4 cup of low-sodium chicken stock and 1/4 cup of dry white wine around the shrimp. Note: Use whatever baking dish you like. A cast iron or stainless steel pan works well too. We used two smaller dishes in the pic above.
- Top the shrimp with 6 tablespoons of cubed cold butter and drizzle a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil on top of the breadcrumbs.
- Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until the shrimp are cooked through. After 10 minutes, move the baking dish to the top rack and broil for 1-2 minutes or until brown but watch carefully to prevent burning. Remove the shrimp from the oven and serve on plates with lemon wedges and a spoonful of the garlicky pan sauce. Serve with crusty bread to mop up the sauce and enjoy!
Top tips
- Shrimp. Buying cleaned shrimp that’s already been peeled and deveined is a huge time saver and I recommend it. That being said, it’s always good to look over the shrimp to double-check before you start prepping. For recipes like shrimp oreganata or shrimp cocktail, I suggest using colossal shrimp, sized U12-15 (that means 12-15 shrimp per pound). You can definitely use smaller shrimp but note that your cooking time may be lessened by a few minutes if doing so.
- Wine. I usually use a dry white wine when cooking, such as a sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio. If you cannot have wine, you can omit it here.
- The breadcrumbs. The breadcrumbs in this dish should be well moistened and there’s no need to overdo it with them as the sauce may become too thick or dry out. If that happens, add some water to loosen it up before serving.
- Broiling. Broiling at the end isn’t mandatory, but suggested as it will give a wonderful toasty top to the breadcrumbs. When broiling, watch carefully to prevent burning.
More shrimp recipes
If you came here looking for shrimp recipes, you’re in the right place!
- Lemon garlic shrimp pasta – one of our most popular recipes, this pasta is a must for any shrimp lover!
- Shrimp Francese – colossal shrimp are lightly battered, fried, then simmered in a buttery lemon sauce.
- Shrimp scampi rolls – buttery rolls loaded with shrimp scampi and topped with sauteed cherry tomatoes.
- Shrimp Saganaki – one-pan Greek shrimp dish with feta, olives, and tomatoes.
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Shrimp Oreganata
Ingredients
- 1.5 pound colossal shrimp cleaned, shells removed, and deveined – size U12-15
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3/4 cup low sodium chicken stock
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 1 large lemon cut into wedges
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter cubed
For the seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons Parmigiano Reggiano grated
- 2 tablespoons flat-leaf Italian parsley minced
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
For the seasoned breadcrumbs
- In a large pan saute the garlic in the extra virgin olive oil over medium-low heat for 2 minutes or until fragrant. Add all of the remaining breadcrumb ingredients and mix well. Turn off the heat and set aside.
For the shrimp
- Preheat oven to 425f. Set a rack in the middle and the other rack near the top of the oven.
- Pat the shrimp very dry then season with salt and pepper to taste.
- In an oven safe baking dish or large pan arrange shrimp with tails pointing up. Distribute the breadcrumbs on top of the shrimp.
- Pour the wine and chicken stock around the shrimp. Sprinkle the cubed butter all over the shrimp and into the sauce. Drizzle 1-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil all over the breadcrumbs.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until the shrimp are cooked through.
- After ten minutes, move the baking dish to the top rack and broil for 1-2 more minutes or until nice and brown. Remove shrimp from the oven and plate with lemon wedges. Spoon the sauce onto plates and serve with crusty bread to mop up all of the butter sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
- The recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.
- The sauce in the center can be loosened up before serving with a couple of ounces of water or chicken stock if needed.
- The shrimp used in this recipe are U12-15 which means 12-15 per pound. Cooking time will be up to a few minutes less if using smaller shrimp.
- 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.
This recipe was originally published on December 17, 2018. It was completely updated on December 13, 2022.
Can this be made with Chicken? If so would i bread the chicken ? Im talking like a cutlet or thin boneless breast.
Hi Judy, yes, you can use chicken cutlets here. You can either bread the cutlets, or place the bread topping on top similar to how Jim does it with the shrimp in this recipe.
I must tell you, this was verrry good.restaurant quality. Husband wants leftovers over spaghetti noodles.
Chicken Milanese causes fights if a family member misses out🤣and your meatballs are the best. Thanks for your hard work.
So very delicious. What a great and easy recipe added the extra sauce on pasta. Total hit with my family. Thank you
New Years Day I celebrated seven fishes with 13 people. One dish I made was shrimp oreganata your recipe. It was so delicious everyone raved. Ty
Can I pour sauce over pasta
Hi Rose, yes, you can pour the sauce over pasta. Hope you enjoy!
What would you think of using panko bread crumbs in this recipe?
Hi Paul, yes, you can use panko breadcrumbgs for this recipe.
Hello,
Quick question, can you use frozen uncooked shrimp? Thaw it day if? I want to shop early for Thanksgiving dinner and I’m afraid if I purchase fresh it won’t last 5 days.
Thanks
Diana
Hi Diana, yes, we use frozen uncooked shrimp all the time. You can thaw it the day before in the fridge. If you thaw the day of, you may need to do a quick thaw under cold water since you’ll want the shrimp to be completely thawed. Hope you enjoy!
Jim – remember the movie “The Natural” where Robert Redford hits the baseball; the ball hits the scoreboard lights; the lights all blow out and the movie screen is flooded with sparks?
Well, that’s how I would describe your Shrimp Oreganata. Wonderfully unusual and delicious way to cook shrimp. Thanks for sharing this one, and all your great recipes.
I was testing recipes for Thanksgiving, and this one will definitely be on the table.
Hi Andrea, we’re so happy you enjoyed this one and love the movie analogy! We hope you love it just as much on Thanksgiving when you make it again!
Delicious all the flavorful juice I put it over angel hair pasta
Hi Lisa, we’re so happy you enjoyed this one and thanks for the comment!
Love this one of my favorites and I never wait for Christmas Eve.
Hi Roseanne, thanks for the comment and so happy you enjoyed!
Do you think you could use precooked shrimp?