This Portuguese grilled shrimp with piri-piri calls for the shrimp to be marinated in a hot pepper sauce then grilled. A classic recipe and a quick weeknight dinner.
Hit most any seaside joint in Portugal, and you’ll find these grilled shrimp with piri-piri sauce on the menu. Heck, you’ll even find them in many backyards as well as swank city eateries. But I like them best on the beach, sitting under a huge Sagres umbrella (Sagres is a brand of Portuguese beer), with a hunk of bread and a cool drink to douse the fiery heat.–David Leite
WHAT ARE PIRI-PIRI PEPPERS?
Piri-piri. Just sorta rolls off the tongue, eh? It’s actually Swahili for “pepper pepper” although “piri-piri” is also how it’s pronounced in Portuguese. These hot peppers came to Portugal by way of Africa. Much controversy surrounds the specifics, but suffice it to say, anyone who’s experienced the namesake sauce is grateful the peppers found their way to Portugal, however that happened. We think you will be, too. Although don’t look for the fresh piri-piri peppers stateside as you won’t find them. You can substitute Thai bird, red jalapeño, santaka, arbol, cayenne, or Tabasco peppers instead.
☞ Contents
Portuguese Grilled Shrimp with Piri-Piri Sauce
Equipment
- Skewers
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds jumbo shrimp shelled and deveined
- 3/4 cup Piri-Piri Sauce or store-bought hot sauce plus more for serving
- 2 lemons cut into wedges
- Kosher salt
Directions
- Combine the shrimp and piri-piri sauce in a large resealable plastic bag and toss to coat. Place the bag in a shallow dish and place it in the fridge to marinate, turning it a few times, for several hours.
- Heat a gas or charcoal grill to medium arranging for indirect heat. Thread the shrimp and lemon wedges on skewers and season with salt. Grill the shrimp over indirect heat, turning several times, until just opaque, about 6 minutes. For an extra spike of flavor, brush the skewers with fresh piri-piri sauce just before serving.
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Recipe Testers’ Reviews
I’m always looking for new ways to have shrimp, and this simple grilled shrimp recipe is a winner. Piri-piri sauce can be quite spicy, and my store-bought was quite hot, so once I give the shrimp a squirt of fresh lemon juice just before I grilled them, and the result was the perfect balance of heat with the sweetness of the shrimp. I used 13-15 count shrimp, so they were quite large to stand up to the grill. I served it with a homemade fennel slaw. I can easily see placing these shrimp in a flour tortilla with an avocado crema and some crunchy pickled veg!
This grilled shrimp with piri-piri sauce recipe is really quick to prepare if using already shelled and deveined shrimp like I did so it made the perfect weeknight meal. The addition of the lemon wedges on the skewers was a first for me and a definite addition to future grilling. The only thing I would mention is that if someone is using a store-bought Piri-Piri sauce to make sure it’s a good quality sauce and not high in sodium. I made this recipe twice because the first time I used Nando’s medium sauce and the shrimp were way too salty. So I made it again but this time using Macarico Piri-Piri which was lower in sodium and the shrimp turned out perfectly.
Originally published May 10, 2012
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If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #LeitesCulinaria. We'd love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
My mother is Portuguese and I remember her using mostly piri piri sauce, parsley for garnish, lemon and lots of Portuguese extra virgin olive oil. Minced garlic and a little coarse salt and coarse pepper for seasoning. A dash of good dry white wine as well. She would combine it together and marinade her chicken, or shrimp before bbqin it. I tried this recipe and can honestly say it’s just as good as Mom’s. Thank you for such a nostalgic recipe for me.
Sara, thank you! It’s always a pleasure to hear our recipes taste like home. And you are more than welcome. Enjoy!
We made this last night, using an entire small bottle of Calvé piri-piri sauce obtained from Amazon [where else?]. It was absolutely delicious! We sprinkled the finished dish with shredded Persian basil from our garden, which added a really nice note to the dish.
Linda, I’m deleted you like the recipe. It’s one of my favorites in my book, and one of the easiest and quickest to prepare!
Lovely, Linda!
Yummy. Will definitely try this over the weekend. Can’t wait….
Let us know, Colleen!