Creamy Garlic Prawns are your favourite garlic prawns… PLUS a creamy garlic sauce! Few simple little tricks to make a sauce that’s a cut above your basic recipes – deglaze the pan with a little white wine, a splash of chicken stock and sprinkle of parmesan. Because plump prawns demand the BEST sauce!
Creamy Garlic Prawns
Plump juicy prawns marinated in garlic then seared in butter, finished with a splash of dry white wine and a squeeze of lemon juice is my go-to way to make prawns. That’s this recipe here – Garlic Prawns. A classic that will never go out of style.
Then there’s this version – Garlic Prawns PLUS a creamy garlicky sauce. It’s the jacked up version, a more indulgent one for those nights when you want/need something to impress, and extra sauce to smother your starchy side of choice so you can lavish every single drop of that sauce!
What you need for Creamy Garlic Prawns
This recipe might call for a few ingredients that others don’t – namely wine, parmesan and chicken stock. But these are the 3 things that gives the sauce extra depth of flavour so it stacks up to great restaurants. So don’t skip them!
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Prawns / shrimp – use good quality frozen, thawed, or peel your own (you’ll need 1kg /2lb whole prawns). I used to be a total prawn snob and never used pre peeled frozen ones, but nowadays you can get really good quality ones from the fish markets and good fish mongers;
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White wine – age old trick used by chefs to add extra complexity into sauces by deglazing pans (ie add wine into hot pan after searing meat/prawns to dissolve the precious gold bits stuck to the base of the pan into the sauce = free flavour!). Use any white wine that’s no too fruity (like some Rieslings can be) or too woody (like some Chardonnays). I use Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Gris, I buy discount bottles for cooking purposes. I keep them for weeks/months in the fridge!
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Chicken or vegetable stock/broth – as with the wine, this adds an extra depth of flavour to the sauce. Use low sodium so you can be sure your sauce won’t end up too salty;
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Parmesan – in addition to wine and stock/broth, this is the 3rd power ingredient that makes this creamy garlic sauce extra good. Parmesan is a well known source of umami which is the technical term for “savoury” flavour, and in this recipe it also serves the double purposes of thickening the creamy sauce (instead of using even more cream);
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Cream – thickened / heavy cream is best because it’s thicker than pure cream which means it needs less reducing to thicken. And full fat is better / thicker than light cream, but this recipe works a treat with low fat too (as well as evaporated milk); and
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Garlic – because we’re making a Creamy GARLIC Sauce for the prawns! Some garlic is used to marinate the prawns, some to add flavour into the sauce.
How to make Creamy Garlic Prawns
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Marinate prawns – just a brief 20 minute marinade for the prawns to infuse them with some garlic flavour. Because prawn flesh is so tender, it doesn’t need anymore than that;
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Sear prawns – cook these on medium heat, then remove. Cook in batches to make it easier to control the process so you don’t accidentally overcook them. Nobody likes rubbery overcooked prawns!
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Sauce garlic & deglaze pan – cook some garlic in a little butter in the same pan (this gets really good garlic flavour into the sauce) then add the wine;
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Reduce wine – simmer rapidly on high heat until the wine is reduced down and you no longer smell the harsh “winey” smell;
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Finish sauce – add the stock and reduce that down too, before adding cream. I do this before the cream because it’s faster to reduce it first by itself before adding the cream. Then once the cream is added, it only takes 2 minutes or so to reduce and thicken;
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Return prawns into sauce to reheat them gently and bring it all together, then it’s ready to be served!
Here’s a close up photo of the sauce so you can see the thickness. Though actually, it’s a bit thicker than ideal – the sauce had cooled a bit by the time I took that photo.
What to serve with Creamy Garlic Prawns
Serving on a starchy bed worthy of soaking in that creamy sauce is essential. The best is mashed potatoes – to fully optimise the eating experience of every drop of sauce.
Also good with:
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rice – try it with this Seasoned Rice, though plain white rice or brown rice will be just fine too;
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creamy Mashed Sweet Potato (someone please remind me to publish the recipe, I have had it waiting to go for months!);
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Creamy Cauliflower Mash (low-carb life essential – and it’s MUCH tastier than you think!);
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soft white rolls for mopping plates clean (use this No Yeast Sandwich Bread if you have no yeast or no time to wait for dough to rise)
If you want this over pasta, best to use this Creamy Garlic Prawn Pasta recipe instead (you need to toss pasta with sauce to get the creamy sauce to stick to the pasta).
Also on the very edge of the above photo, you spy greenery which is essential to round out the meal. On that occasion, it was a handful of mixed leafy greens tossed with my Basic Salad Dressing but you could get a little fancier and use a French Vinaigrette or Italian Dressing, or a simple Balsamic Dressing.
Otherwise, browse through Vegetable Sides and pick a dish based on whatever veg you’ve got. There will be new veggie side dishes added regularly to increase the selection! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Creamy Garlic Prawns (Shrimp)
Ingredients
Garlic marinated prawns:
- 500g / 1lb peeled prawns/shrimp , large/jumbo best (Note 1)
- 1 garlic cloves , finely minced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
Cooking prawns:
- 15g / 1 tbsp unsalted butter
Creamy garlic sauce:
- 2 garlic clove , finely minced
- 15g / 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup dry white wine (or more chicken stock) (Note 2)
- 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock/broth , low sodium
- 1 cup heavy/thickened cream
- 1/2 cup parmesan , finely grated (grate your own, Note 3)
- 2 tbsp parsley , finely chopped
Instructions
Marinate Prawns:
- Place prawns, garlic, oil and pepper in a bowl. Toss to coat, set aside 20 minutes if time permits (no longer).
- Stir through salt just prior to cooking.
Cook prawns:
- Melt 15g / 1 tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add half the prawns and cook for 1 minute on each side, then remove.
- Repeat with remaining prawns (you shouldn't need more butter), then remove. Scrape out excess remaining garlic from pan and add to cooked prawns.
Creamy Sauce:
- Add butter into skillet and let it melt. Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds or until light golden.
- Add white wine, turn up heat to high. Bring to simmer while stirring base of the pan to dissolve all the golden bits into the sauce. Cook 1 minute or until it most evaporates and the winey smell is gone.
- Add chicken stock and reduce until mostly gone and just a thin layer remains on base of skillet.
- Add cream, then simmer on medium heat for 2 minutes until reduced and slightly thickened.
- Stir through parmesan, then add the prawns back in. Taste sauce and see if more salt and pepper is needed.
- Serve sprinkled with parsley, over mashed potato or something to soak up that fabulous sauce!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Life of Dozer and Life of Nagi, perfectly captured in one still.
Our Daughter in law made this last night for our grandson who requested this for his birthday tea.It was absolutely delicious.They will be cooking it weekly I think from now on,and so will we.
How does it freeze
This one is a keeper! My family really enjoyed it.
Made this recipe. But I used 500g octopus instead of prawns. Soo yummy. Could devour this whole.
Wow! That was spectacular. It is going to go into the rotation for special occasions or celebrations. The prawns were perfect, still crunchy, and all the other ingredients went perfectly.
Simply delicious. So much flavour. Everyone loved it.
This was an excellent recipe and the result was fabulous. The only thing I did different from the recipe was that I used a combination of prawns and scallops, used quite a bit more garlic, and added some thyme and summer savoury. My husband was thrilled with his dinner and I will definitely make this again and again.
Cooked this for dinner tonight and it was delicious.
Oh my goodness, this is tasty and rich. It’s now my go to steak sauce!
OMG! This is hands down the best creamy garlic prawns I’ve ever had! I did up the garlic as, well you know, Garlic! Thank you Nagi, I have just stumbled on to you website 2 weeks ago and I’ve already cooked 5 of your recipes and bought your book! Amazing, my family feels like that are eating at a restaurant every night, Thank you
I cooked this tonight, the best I have done. I buy local green prawns and don’t cook them first. Just make the sauce and stir the raw prawns through for a couple of minutes👍. Only complaint from my wife “not enough”!
Yum, Yum, yum! This sauce is to die for! You never disappoint Nagi. Thank you. I made it into an entree for my stepson’s regular visit.
Great recipe except for the garlic content. 3 cloves of garlic in total for a half kilo of prawns won’t even register on the palate. With garlic in the title this recipe needs at least cloves to even notice flavour.
I don’t know why but many recipers online really underscore the amount of garlic needed. I am yet to understand why. 3 garlic cloves will hardly be noticeable.
I thought the garlic was right on mark; the perfect balance. Enough to taste, but not too much to overpower the shrimp and sauce. I don’t know if it happens with garlic, but it is my understanding that if you always oversalt, your taste buds become accustomed and you no longer taste the saltiness. Same with sugar, people that cut back on sugar will find things too sweet that they didn’t before. Pete, maybe you are habitually using too much garlic that you can’t taste it at the regular recommended amount. And if you want to add more garlic, go for it, season to your own taste; that’s what cooking is for.
Sounds like you may need to buy fresher garlic? I made this to the recipe and the garlic flavours are strong and delicious.
Delicious, so good with pasta or mashed potatoes and the leftover sauce is great the next day on scrambled eggs !
This is an absolutely delish fast dinner. Made it tonight with frozen Costco shrimp. Didn’t make potatoes, but had homemade sourdough bread for the sponge and steamed broccoli. OMG!
Made this for dinner tonight and both hubby and I loved it. Only difference was that I added way more garlic as we love garlic. Delicious and thank you.
Nagi…… The Sauce. Wow.
Speechless!
Thankyou so Much!
Cathy x
Hi Nagi, these garlic prawns were amazing. The wine and the cheese added another dimension to what could have been just a basic flavour. They were so easy to make too. Just delicious!
Yummy!!
Hi Nagi, thoroughly enjoyed this dish for lunch today. I must admit that a few of the ingredients varied slightly based on what I had on hand.
Firstly, I used thawed plump cooked prawns from the freezer which were a success, used garlic powder and chilli flakes and as I only had the Kraft parmesan in the cylinder that was subbed in as well and it truly was a delicious sauce.
Thank you so much for sharing all these lovely recipes.