Grilled Prawns with Garlic Butter Sauce

Grilled Prawns with a lemon garlic butter sauce on a serving platter

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4.50 from 2 votes

Grilled Prawns with Garlic Butter Sauce

Grilled prawns finished with a delicious garlic butter sauce.

Prep Time10

Cook Time5

Total Time15

Course: Appetizer, Entree

Cuisine: American, seafood

Servings: pounds

Author: Mary Cressler

Cost: $30

Equipment

1 Long Tongs

Ingredients

2 pounds prawns (We prefer them in the shell with heads on for presentation.)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons seafood seasoning

Garlic Butter Sauce

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 tablespoon seafood seasoning
½ teaspoon red chili pepper flakes

Finish

½ grilled lemon, (Use to squeeze over the finished prawns.)
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

Preheat Grill: Prepare the grill for direct grilling using lump charcoal for the best flavor. Target an internal temperature of 500 degrees inside the grill. Place a cast iron sauce pan on the grates to warm up with the grill (or any other grill safe sauce pan).
Season Prawns: In a large bowl toss the prawns with olive oil and seafood seasoning.
Grill Prawns: Place the whole prawns on the hot grill grates. Cook over direct heat for 2 – 3 minutes. The prawns will start to turn a red color. Flip the prawns and grill direct for an additional 2 – 3 minutes. The entire prawn should be red and the flesh should no longer be opaque.
Make Garlic Butter Sauce: While the prawns are grilling place all the butter sauce ingredients into the pre-warmed pan. Stir frequently and remove once butter is melted. We recommend using a good grill glove (as the pan handle will be hot). Remove the pot from the grill once the sauce has melted (this happens quick, just a couple minutes total).
Grill Lemons: Add the grilled lemon to the grill at the same time as the prawns. Grill until you see nice grill marks, and then use for the finish.
Serve: In a large bowl, toss the prawns (still on the shell) with the garlic butter sauce immediately while warm and then drizzle with the grilled lemon juice and sprinkle with parsley.

Notes

Prep: Be sure the prawns have been deveined. Often you can buy them already with the shell and deveined. This means the intestinal track has been removed already.

If they weren’t deveined then you’ll want to do it yourself to avoid the texture and grittiness that can come from leaving the veins in.

Using a sharp knife (we use our filet knife), cut a line along the back of the shrimp from the head to the tail. Make small careful incisions. You’ll see the black (or sometimes clear) vein stretch from the head to the tail. Remove it with your finger. You can use the knife blade to carefully pull it out. Discard it. This lets you leave the shells on but have the vein removed.

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