A staple of tapas bars in Spain, this quick-cooking shrimp recipe could serve as a weeknight dinner all on its own serve it with a big green salad and some crusty bread. You could also go the route some choose for its Italian cousin, shrimp scampi, and toss with pasta.

Recipe information

• Total Time15 minutes
• Yield4–6 servings

Ingredients

1½ lb. large shrimp, peeled, deveined, patted dry

16 garlic cloves (from 1–2 heads), 4 finely grated, 12 thinly sliced or coarsely chopped

1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt

½ tsp. smoked paprika

Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

Freshly ground pepper

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp. sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar

Chopped parsley (for serving)

Preparation

1. Place 1½ lb. large shrimp, peeled, deveined, patted dry, in a medium bowl. Add 4 garlic cloves, finely grated, 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp.
2. Morton kosher salt, ½ tsp. smoked paprika, and a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes; season with freshly ground black pepper. Toss to coat.
3. Heat ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil in a large skillet, preferably high-sided, over medium-high. Cook 12 garlic cloves, thinly sliced or coarsely chopped, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add shrimp and cook, tossing occasionally, until almost cooked through, about 2 minutes.
4. Add 2 Tbsp. sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar and cook, tossing constantly, until shrimp are cooked through, about 1 minute. Remove from heat. Scatter chopped parsley over; season with black pepper.

Notes

You can use fresh or thawed, frozen shrimp. Just be sure that they’re peeled and deveined before cooking. If you have trouble finding sherry vinegar, red wine vinegar makes a noble substitution. Don’t use cooking sherry, a very different product that doesn’t offer the same acidity and is often quite salty.