Every Spanish restaurant serves gambas al ajillo, and with good cause. Shrimp are cooked in garlic-infused olive oil, which also has smoky paprika undertones and a tinge of sweetness from sherry. Since dish cooks quickly from beginning to end, make sure you have all your ingredients ready before turning on the stove. Since everything can be prepared in advance, it’s perfect for a tapas party. To eat, simply spread the shrimp and sauce over the toast and top with additional cayenne and parsley.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 20 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
Ingredients
- 1 pound frozen large shrimp (21-25 count) – thawed, peeled, and deveined
- 1 teaspoon hot smoked paprika (Optional)
- kosher salt to taste
- 4 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons dry sherry
- 1 tablespoon chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
- Place shrimp in a large bowl and season with paprika and kosher salt; mix well to coat.
- Slice garlic into thin slices. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat; add garlic and cook until golden, about 2 minutes. Add shrimp and increase heat to high. Toss and turn shrimp with tongs until starting to curl but still undercooked, about 2 minutes. Pour in sherry. Cook, stirring continuously, until sauce comes up to a boil and shrimp is cooked through, about 1 minute more. Remove from heat. Stir in parsley.
- Unless you live in a few choice locations, it’s rare to find true fresh shrimp at the market. All they do is thaw some frozen and put it in the case, where it sits until you buy it, which is why it really makes a lot more sense to purchase frozen. To thaw, run cold water into the bowl of frozen shrimp and let it sit for about 10 minutes before draining. Repeat once more.
- Feel free to substitute sherry with white wine plus a pinch of sugar.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 227 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 3 g |
| Cholesterol | 173 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 19 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 344 mg |
| Sugars | 0 g |
| Fat | 15 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Perfection! Just like I remember dining in Barcelona off Las Ramblas
This recipe really had no flavor regardless of the amount of garlic. I went step by step as instructed as I usually do when I try a new recipe. Friends did not care for it either.
Lovely recipe – and as easy as Chef John describes. Although I had ‘Hot Smoked Paprika’ – I found it not ‘hot’ – so I added a 1/4 teaspoon or so of Cayenne pepper powder – be careful I suppose. I par-cooked the shrimp, and then took everything to a dinner party as a tapas round. finishing and serving from the hostess’ kitchen. Also, the hostess I prepared this for – from Barcelona – surprised me by giving the finished bowl of shrimp and sauce a quick squeeze of a half lemon. Was great with the added tartness but did change it from the original, I suppose. Still very rich and complex. The lemon did ‘brighten’ the flavoring. VERY Scalable – I used three bags – each bag had 2 lbs of Jumbo frozen raw shrimp – 8/12 pieces per pound. Par-cooked and finished in batches.
I have made this several times and loved it. Last time I had run out of sherry and substituted French Vermouth – this was the best one yet. I may also gone heavy on the garlic, but that is nearly always a good idea.
The spices were a good flavor but there was too much of an oily taste.
Delicious and easy! Pro tip: sub apple cider vinegar and water (1T each) for the 2T sherry that the recipe calls for. Crowd pleaser! Great over angel hair pasta. Thanks so much!
Nice, simple recipe. I used medium dry sherry and around 6 cloves garlic. Wonderful !
I used the Goya seasonings for the recipe. My guests loved this dish. It is quick and easy with a very different and zesty taste. It’s going to be my Go-To entertaining starter.
Delicious
I now make this almost weekly. Add some extra oil and Sherry to create a great simple sauce over spaghetti sometimes.
I added more cooking wine (about 1/2 Cup), 1/2 of a fresh squeezed lemon and some cayenne ….it needed more flavor to me and with these additions it was great.
Made this for the first time and it was very good. I added all of the ingredients along with a little cayenne pepper to bring the heat up slightly and used mostly butter with a little avocado oil to make the pan hot for a quick cook so the shrimp don’t over cook. I didn’t have sherry so used marsala instead. I then added the shrimp and in about 2 min everything came together perfectly. It needed a little something more so added a little salt on the cooked shrimp and it made the flavors stand out more. Still need to find something to make it pop but will def make it again… Good recipe.
MAKE THIS! Have the bread on the side it’s a must for it to soak up the delicious in the olive oil. I used white wine and the dish came out great.
This was delicious! I used Hungarian paprika since my grocery store didn’t have smoke paprika. I dried the shrimp before tossing with the salt and paprika – it keeps the paprika on the shrimp while cooking so it retains the rich red color. I brought it to a Spanish- themed dinner and it was gone in minutes. I don’t drink so substituted balsamic vinegar for the sherry. Wish I had taken a picture but I will next time I make it. Loved it.
Easy to make and delicious. I added a little cayenne for that little something extra.
I love Chef John and I lived in Spain for a year – so I was super excited to make this dish. Regrettably, this is my first recipe from him that I thought was a meh – just ok. It just didn’t have that Wow flavor. While I still love Chef John, I’ll probably try a different recipe for gambas al ajillo.
Simple and tasty.
I used about 6 cloves of garlic. This recipe is easy and delicious. Thawing the shrimp was my only challenge. two of us ate it all for dinner. Chef John’s recipes rock!
Excellent
Super good ! Very tasty !
Turned out great! Good for tacos also