These grilled prawns are marinated in garlic and chilli and served with a zesty and bright parsley and lemon sauce. These prawns are so full of flavour they are addicting when served hot or cold. Perfect for your Christmas lunch or any summer BBQ with friends or family.
There is nothing that says Australian summer better than throwing some prawns on the BBQ. These grilled prawn skewers are a fantastic easy to prepare addition to your menu that will be sure to be a hit at your next gathering.
The prawns themselves are marinated in a classic flavour combination of garlic, chilli and lemon and then served with an incredible vibrant herby green sauce. Seriously this sauce is everything, so make sure to serve the prawns with a little extra on the side for dipping!
Grilled prawns are best served with a fresh salad and this mango and avocado salad is perfect and will round out your summer feast. Sip on a limoncello spritz while you cook and chat with friends and family and you have a perfect relaxed and delicious afternoon.
Key Ingredients
You’ll just need just 6 ingredients in total used for both the prawns and and the green sauce making these grilled prawns a fairly simple appetiser, lunch or dinner.
Note all ingredients and their quantities are laid out in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Prawns (Shrimp) – for this recipe you want large raw or green prawns. Do not use already cooked prawns for this recipe as they’ll end up tough and rubbery and the flavour will not soak into the prawn meat. Green King prawns work well or large tiger prawns would also be delicious. If you’re in the US or Canada you might use jumbo shrimp.
- Garlic – adding flavour to the marinade and the green sauce.
- Red chilli – adding a little bit of a kick to the prawns. You can remove the seeds to keep the chilli mild and just add flavour, or you can increase the amount to give them a bit more spice.
- Fresh parsley – adds freshness to the prawns themselves and then is going to be the hero of our green sauce so fresh is essential.
- Lemon – adding a zesty vibrance to the prawn marinade and the green sauce.
- Olive oil – again, like most ingredients the olive oil is doing double duty ensuring the marinade sticks to the prawns and that they don’t stick to the grill as well as being the base of the sauce.
Step-By-Step Instructions
To make these prawns you will need a grill. A BBQ works perfectly but you can also cook these inside using a cast iron grill pan on the stove depending on what you have. The idea is that you want something that will get nice and hot to help cook the prawns quickly and give them that yummy charred taste.
Start by prepping your prawns. For the skewers we want to remove the shell but leave the heads and tails attached. To do this use your thumb to grab under the legs on the underside of the prawn and peel the shell away from you. Ensure the shell is removed completely from head to tail.
You’ll also want to devein the prawns. This means removing the digestive tract that runs along the back. If not removed, your prawns can taste a bit gritty. Holding the prawn in your left hand (if you’re right handed) use a small knife or a skewer in your right to hook the tract at the base of the head and pull it out. You’ll be able to see it as it’s usually a dark colour that can be seen through the translucent prawn.
Once your prawns are prepared, it’s time to quickly marinate them. Mix up the garlic, chilli, lemon zest and juice, parsley and olive oil. Toss the prawns through the marinade and let side aside in the fridge while you prepare the sauce. You don’t need to marinate the prawns for any longer than 15 minutes particularly as we’re using lemon juice which will start to cook the prawns.
To make the sauce, I love to use my bullet blender because it just makes things so incredibly quick and easy and is a very simple clean up, but a small food processor will also work. Add in all of your sauce ingredients and blend until the sauce is thick, smooth and bright green.
Finally, it’s time to cook your prawns. Grab the prawns and thread onto your metal skewers from the tail through the head. Be careful handling them as you push the skewer through the centre as the heads have spikes and you don’t want to end up squeezing them.
Once your grill is hot, cook the prawns for about 2-3 minutes on each side – potentially longer depending on the size of your prawns. Once they have changed colour and appear to be cooked through you can remove them and place onto your serving plate.
Drizzle with the green sauce, sprinkle over some more chopped parsley and serve with some extra lemon wedges if you’d like, but definitely with some extra sauce for dipping!
To eat, twist the head and it will come straight off so you can discard and enjoy!
More recipes with prawns:
15 Minute Garlic Prawn Noodles
BBQ Prawn Tacos
Prawn and Chorizo Pasta
Prawn Wontons with Chilli Oil
Grilled Prawns
Ingredients
- 500 grams large king prawns
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 red chilli
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 1 lemon juice and zest
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
For the green sauce:
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 clove garlic
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 cup fresh parsley
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Start by preparing the prawns. Peel and devein the prawns leaving the heads and tails attached.
- Finally chop the garlic and chilli and add to a large bowl with the parsley, lemon juice and zest and olive oil. Mix well to combine.
- Add the prawns to the bowl and mix to coat in the marinade. Set aside in the fridge to marinate while you prepare the sauce.
- In a food processor or bullet blender, add in all of the sauce ingredients. Blend well until the sauce is vibrant and green. Set aside.
- Heat your BBQ or a grill plate on the stove until hot. Thread your marinated prawns onto metal skewers from the tail to the head.
- Grill the prawns for 2-3 minutes on each side or until pink and opaque. Remove from the grill and place on a serving plate and drizzle with the green sauce. Serve while still warm with extra sauce for dipping.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a guide only and is calculated using automated online tools, therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy. We encourage you to make your own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe.
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