Beer-Boiled Shrimp with Old Bay®

  4.8 – 4 reviews  • Shrimp

Extremely simple iced coffee that you probably already had.

Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Total Time: 25 mins
Servings: 6
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

  1. 4 (12 ounce) bottles beer
  2. 1 tablespoon seafood seasoning (such as Old Bay®)
  3. 1 teaspoon salt
  4. 1 lemon, halved crosswise
  5. 1 ½ pounds fresh shrimp, with shells and tails on

Instructions

  1. Combine beer, seafood seasoning, and salt in a large saucepan or stockpot over medium-high heat. Squeeze juice from both lemon halves into the beer mixture and add both rinds to the beer. Stir and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and boil for 10 minutes.
  2. Add shrimp to boiling liquid, cover again with the lid, and turn off the heat. Transfer shrimp to serving bowls when they are bright pink on the outside and the meat is opaque, about 3 minutes.
  3. You can use your favorite shellfish boil seasoning instead of Old Bay(R), if desired.
  4. Get head-on shrimp if you can. And if you use frozen, make sure they are completely thawed before cooking.

Reviews

Robert Silva
I’ve tried this a few times. Adding the lemon, Old Bay, and salt to the beer did pretty much nothing for the finished flavor of the shrimp. Also cooked a rather large bag of jumbo sized shrimp in just two beers. One time I even added about 4 tablespoons of Old Bay to the boil, no change. To really get that Bay flavor, once your shrimp are done cooking, you have to peel them, then squirt the lemon on, then sprinkle with the Old Bay. Now that’s some yummy shrimp! Tried this again, peeling the shrimp before boiling this time, with the 4 tbsp of OB in the beer. Again, no discernible OB flavor after cooking, it just doesn’t penetrate the meat. I will say the shrimp were easier to peel before cooking than after though. Just stick with water for your boil, drink the beer, and season the cooked shrimp with the lemon and sprinkle with a much lighter touch of Old Bay.
Lindsey Rhodes
Excellent recipe. I have made boiled shrimp this way for years. I do use only 2 very dark beers, it adds so much.
Michelle Rasmussen
Well I never boiled shrimp before, always grilled, baked, fried, or sautéed. Made this but only had 2 bottles of beer, added 24 ounces of water. Also added three bay leaves and one sliced clove of garlic. It was delicious and will make it again. Great recipe.
Tara Jackson
Excellent and 5 stars all the way. This was very impressive and so easy too. Not that an extra beer hurt anything but 3 beers yielded plenty enough liquid to get the job done. Regardless, I highly recommend this recipe.

 

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