Easy Maple Soy Shrimp with Garlicky Spinach

This Easy Maple Soy Shrimp with Garlicky Spinach is our new favorite way to eat shrimp! They’re sticky, sweet, salty, saucy, and will be the only way you’ll want to eat shrimp from now until eternity. Bonus? The ingredients are minimal, and from start to finish, the whole dish takes about 15 minutes to throw together. 

This shrimp recipe is our current favorite, but we also LOVE this 5-Ingredient Shrimp Alfredo, these Shrimp and Grits, and these Chipotle Shrimp Tacos with Mango Salsa. 

Easy Maple Soy Shrimp with Garlicky Spinach

When happy accidents result in sticky, sweet, salty, completely addictive shrimp, it’s a very good day in the kitchen. And the day this Easy Maple Soy Shrimp with Garlicky Spinach magically came together on whim, was a very good day indeed. 

Even better, every ingredient, except for the shrimp, is probably something you have in your fridge or pantry at this very moment. This includes: 

• pure maple syrup 
• butter
• soy sauce 

That’s it. I still can’t really believe only those three ingredients together result in the most delicious umami-esque sauce, and I kind of want to put it on everything including, but not limited to: buttery chilean sea bass, lobster, and veggies of all kinds.

Because we typically always have a veggie and starch to go alongside every entree, I also included an easy garlicky sauté of spinach, and some leftover steamed white rice, but to get the full effect of the shrimp on your tastebuds, the sides aren’t necessary. Although they do compliment the star of the show quite nicely.

Now, how was this Easy Maple Soy Shrimp a happy accident you ask? 

My kids are in that picky won’t-eat-anything food phase. You get it, I’m sure. My biggest hurdle is getting enough meat in their diets, especially my littlest who is slightly iron deficient. So when we went to a Japanese steakhouse a while back, and they both basically inhaled the teriyaki shrimp faster than the chef could throw the little guys to them, I made a mental note to make as much shrimp as possible at home. 

Last week, when I was making a spicy shrimp dish for Kevin and I, and knowing the kids wouldn’t touch something so spice, I finally decided to try and replicate the shrimp from the steakhouse. I knew they used copious amounts of butter to cook the shrimp, and then doused them in some variation of a soy glaze, so that’s what I did. Except the soy flavor was way too strong. To correct the surplus of soy sauce, I threw in some maple syrup, and everything became sticky and sweet, and so insanely delicious, I almost didn’t want to share it with the kids.

Luckily, I replicated the entire thing, again for you, and let’s be honest, for me. 

How to make Easy Maple Soy Shrimp with Garlicky Spinach

• Add a little bit of butter to a cast iron skillet. Once it’s melted, add a few cloves of garlic. Sauté until fragrant and slightly soft,
•  Add more butter to the pan. While the butter melts. Pat shrimp dry with paper towels and season both sides with salt and pepper. Add the shrimp to the pan and cook until pink and mostly cooked.
• Add soy sauce and maple syrup to the pan. Toss the shrimp in the sauce and then use tongs to remove shrimp from the pan. Simmer the sauce until slightly sticky and thickened, about 1-2 minutes. Add the shrimp back to the pan and toss in the sauce.
• Serve shrimp over steamed white rice and spinach on the side.

What shrimp should I use? 

Ok, so really any large 20-30 count shrimp will work. However, I’ve recently discovered the frozen pink Argentinean shrimp  at Trader Joe’s and I’m hooked. They are very large, and have a very similar texture and taste to lobster. They’re SOO good. Just a forewarning, they are pink when raw, so they actually look cooked when you buy them, don’t worry, they aren’t. 

Substitutions and Tips and Tricks for Recipe Success

• Make sure your shrimp are dry! You don’t want too much extra moisture when the shrimp cook. 
• You MUST use pure maple syrup. None of the fake stuff. If you only have honey or agave on hand, those will work as well, but it will change the flavor of the sauce. 
• Sub out kale or any other hearty greens for the spinach. Even mushrooms would be delicious! 
• As always, be sure to watch the shrimp, you don’t want them to overcook! They’re done when they curl up and turn bright pink. 

Tools used in today’s post

• Cast Iron Skillet
• Tongs

Easy Maple Soy Shrimp with Garlicky Spinach

Yield: Serve 2

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Ingredients

• 3 tbsp. + 1 tsp. unsalted butter
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 4 oz. baby spinach
• 1 lb. large 20-30 ct. shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 tsp. soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. pure maple syrup
• Steamed white rice

Instructions

1. Heat a large cast iron skillet to a medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon of butter. Once the butter has melted, add garlic. Saute for 1-2 minutes until fragrant and slightly softened. Add spinach. Toss until wilted. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from pan and set aside.
2. Turn the heat of the pan up to medium-high. Add remaining 3 tablespoons butter. While the butter melts. Pat shrimp dry with paper towels and season both sides with salt and pepper. Add the shrimp to the pan and cook until pink and mostly cooked, about 2-3 minutes.
3. Add soy sauce and maple syrup. Toss the shrimp in the sauce for 30 seconds. Use tongs to remove shrimp from the pan, and leave the sauce. Simmer the sauce until slightly sticky and thickened, about 1-2 minutes. Add the shrimp back to the pan and toss in the sauce.
4. Serve shrimp over steamed white rice and spinach on the side.

Notes

If you want the shrimp super saucy, double the amount of butter, soy, and maple syrup, but add the extra 3 tablespoons butter after you remove the shrimp from the pan.