How to make succulent shrimp even tastier and juicier? Brine it! You read that right—you can brine shrimp! Here’s how.
When I tell people you can brine shrimp, they’re always a little surprised. I think it’s because we typically think of turkey for brining, and perhaps chicken breasts, and maybe pork. Plus, shrimp is so tiny and quick-cooking—it might seem illogical to add an hour-long brine to the equation.
But the truth is that brining is absolutely appropriate for shrimp, making it even juicier and tastier. All in all, well worth the small amount of time and effort.
What Is Brining?
Brining is simply soaking food in a saltwater solution. The solution might also contain sugar, herbs, or spices. As it soaks, the food absorbs some of the brine, making meats juicier because of the added liquid and tastier because of the added salt. (For more about how brining works, see this post.)
Another option is marinating shrimp, which also involves putting them in liquid, but not saltwater. It’s more about adding flavor which my recipe does with beer and herbs.
What Should You Brine?
Because the benefits of brining are juiciness and flavor, the best meats for brining are lean proteins, because with less fat they tend to dry out and to have less flavor. This is probably why turkey and pork loin are so associated with brining.
But they’re certainly not the only lean proteins, right? Chicken breasts are lean. Fish is lean. And shrimp is definitely lean. So they’re all good candidates for brining.
Note that I’ve done some extensive testing on brining chicken breasts and have found the optimum amount of time and the best brine solution to make them perfect, which you should definitely check out here.
This turkey brine recipe is really amazing, and the technique of blending aromatics into your brine is a great one to know for flavoring all kinds of things, including shrimp. And, if you’re curious about dry-brining, which is a different kind of technique, you can learn how to do it for all proteins here, and specifically for turkey here.
How To Brine Shrimp
My basic brining recipe is below. It makes just a few cups because that’s plenty for about 1 and 1/2 pounds of shrimp, enough to serve 4. But you can use the same proportions to make more or less depending on how much and what else you want to brine.
I usually mix up my brine in a spouted container, then put my shrimp in a resealable bag and pour in the brine. (If your shrimp is still frozen, see this post for how to thaw frozen shrimp.) Then I set it aside in the refrigerator.
Because shrimp are small and have a lot of surface area, the brine soaks in relatively quickly. So unlike a turkey which you might brine for up to a day, shrimp only needs about an hour.
After brining, pat your shrimp dry—especially if you’ll be pan-searing or grilling and want to get some browning—and proceed with your recipe. If you need one, check out my best ways to cook shrimp.
One more tip—don’t rinse the shrimp before cooking. You don’t want to water down all the flavor you just added. Enjoy! -Christine xo
Podcast Episode About Brining Shrimp
Listen to me explain briefly about how to brine shrimp, along with some other great tips, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
PrintHow to Brine Shrimp Recipe
- Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Method: Brine
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
How to make succulent shrimp even tastier and juicier? Brine it! You read that right—you can brine shrimp! Here’s how.
Ingredients
- 3 cups cold water
- 4 and 1/2 Tbsp. Diamond Crystal kosher salt, 3 Tbsp. Morton’s kosher salt, or 2 Tbsp. fine or table salt
- 1 and 1/2 Tbsp. sugar (optional)
- 1 and 1/2 pounds large raw shrimp (20–40 per pound, peeled, deveined, tail on or off)
Instructions
- In a large nonreactive container, combine the water, salt, and sugar (if using), stirring to dissolve the salt and sugar.
- Transfer to a resealable bag, add the shrimp, and seal the bag, squeezing out as much air as possible.
- Set aside in the refrigerator 1 to 1 and ½ hours.
- Remove the shrimp from the brine, pat it dry, and proceed with your recipe.
Love this recipe? I’d appreciate it if you could scroll down and add a *5 star rating* to help others know they’ll love it as well!