Grilled Shrimp Skewers

Grilled Shrimp Skewers are loaded with flavor from Chipotle, lime, garlic, and fish rub, and shrimp is quick and easy to cook on the grill! And these grilled shrimp are amazing served with a tasty low-carb salsa.

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It’s grilling season, and these Grilled Shrimp Skewers are so perfect for a warm-weather meal! And this dinner of shrimp on skewers is so easy to make. First, the shrimp only needs to marinate for about an hour in a mixture of ground Chipotle chili powder, garlic powder, fish rub, lime juice, and olive oil.

Then the marinade is drained off, the shrimp are threaded on to skewers and quickly grilled, and the shrimp is served with the delicious tomato-avocado salsa you see peeking out of the corner of the photo.

I’m also going to give you a few other options for a tasty salsa to serve with the grilled shrimp. And the post also has notes about why I have so many sentimental feelings about this recipe.

Thanks to Nick Rhodes for teaching me how to grill shrimp!

In the earliest days of my blog, the charming father of my friend Mary sent me a recipe for Nick’s Chipotle Grilled Shrimp with Black Bean Salsa. Through the years that recipe has evolved into this one where you can use the salsa you prefer, but this post is still dedicated to the memory of Nicholas Rhodes. I don’t think I’d ever heard of cooking shrimp on the grill until I got this recipe from Nick, and it was delicious just like all the food he made.

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

• large frozen shrimp, thawed
• ground Chipotle chile pepper (affiliate link)
• garlic powder
• Szeged Fish Rub (affiliate link), or other fish rub of your choice
• fresh-squeezed lime juice, I used my fresh-frozen lime juice.
• olive oil
• salt and black pepper to taste

What shrimp did I use for the Grilled Shrimp Skewers?

For this recipe I use frozen raw shrimp from Costco, preferably 21-25 size shrimp. I buy shrimp that has had the shell and vein removed, but still has the tails on so it’s easy to pick up a piece of shrimp by the tail and eat it if you want to!

What type of skewers are best for kabobs?

Any time you’re making kabobs or skewers I highly recommend either thicker blade-type skewers (affiliate link) or double skewers (affiliate link) to prevent the food from spinning around on the skewers. In these photos you can see my well-used double skewers working perfectly for the shrimp. If you don’t have either of those types of skewers, make sure you fold over the shrimp and put the skewer through each piece of shrimp twice to hold it in place.

What salsa is good with Grilled Shrimp Skewers?

Although I first made the recipe with the black bean salsa in Nick’s recipe, through the years I’ve been eating this with a low-carb salsa to make it a delicious low-carb meal. In the photo you see it served with a tasty Tomato Avocado Salsa that I love on tacos. If you want more avocado with the shrimp, it would be delicious with Avocado Salsa. It would also be good with Fresh Tomatillo Salsa and Mango Salsa with Red Bell Pepper (and spicy peperoncini) would also be a delicious choice if you don’t mind a few more carbs.

Can you make the Shrimp Skewers without an outdoor grill?

If you don’t have an outdoor grill (or it’s not grilling weather) the grilled shrimp skewers can be cooked on a stove-top grill pan with ridges or George Foreman Grill as well. (affiliate links) Remember the George Foreman Grill cooks both sides at once, so it will be VERY quick for shrimp.

How to make Grilled Shrimp Skewers:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. Thaw shrimp over night in the fridge. Drain well in a colander placed in the sink.
2. Whisk together ingredients to make the marinade.
3. Put shrimp in a Ziploc bag or a plastic container with a snap-tight lid, add the marinade, and marinate in the fridge for about an hour.
4. Drain shrimp and discard marinade. Preheat grill to high.
5. These are the well-loved double skewers (affiliate link) I used that were perfect for shrimp. Whatever skewers you use, fold each piece of shrimp over so the skewer goes through it twice.
6. Cook shrimp until you’re starting to see grill marks on the first side, about 2 minutes.
7. Turn over skewers and cook about 2 minutes more on the second side, or until shrimp is firm (but not hard) to the touch.
8. Serve hot, with salsa of your choice.

More Tasty Shrimp Recipes to Try:

• Spicy Green Beans and Shrimp Sheet Pan Meal
• Air Fryer Shrimp
• Roasted Asian Shrimp and Brussels Sprouts Sheet Pan Meal
• Stir-Fried Shrimp and Sugar Snap Peas
• Shrimp and Avocado Salad

Continue to Content

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Yield: 4 servings

Grilled Shrimp Skewers

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Additional Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

These Grilled Shrimp Skewers are a delicious low-carb main dish that's quick and easy to make!

Ingredients

• 20 large raw frozen shrimp (see notes)    
• 1/4 tsp. ground Chipotle chile powder 
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder 
• 1/2 tsp. Szeged Fish Rub (or other fish rub of your choice)
• 3 T fresh-squeezed lime juice (see notes)
• 3 T olive oil
• salt/pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Thaw shrimp over night in the fridge. Drain them very well in a colander placed in the sink. (If your shrimp seems wet, I would pat dry with paper towels.)
2. Whisk together ground Chipotle chile pepper, garlic powder, Szeged Fish Rub, fresh-squeezed lime juice, olive oil, and a pinch each of salt and pepper to make the marinade.
3. Put shrimp in a Ziploc bag or a plastic container with a snap-tight lid, add the marinade, and marinate in the fridge for about an hour. (Don't marinate much longer than that or the marinade will start to "cook" the shrimp.
4. Drain shrimp and discard marinade. Preheat grill to high.
5. Whatever skewers you use, fold each piece of shrimp over when you put it on the skewer so the skewer goes through it twice.
6. Cook shrimp just until you're barely starting to see grill marks on the first side, about 2 minutes.
7. Turn over skewers and cook about 2 minutes more on the second side, or until shrimp is firm (but not hard) to the touch. (Shrimp cook VERY quickly on the grill, so be careful not to overcook.
8. Serve hot, with salsa of your choice.

Notes

I use 21-25 size frozen raw shrimp from Costco.

I used my fresh-frozen lime juice.

This recipe was given to me by my friend Mary's father Nicholas Rhodes in the very early days of my blog. Nick died in 2012 and the recipe is dedicated to his memory.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 134Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 58mgSodium: 408mgCarbohydrates: 3gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 7g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

Did you make this recipe?

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating (under the PRINT button in the recipe) or share a photo of your results on Instagram! THANKS!

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
These Grilled Shrimp Skewers are a great dish for any low-carb or Keto diet plan, and also for any phase of the original South Beach Diet. Nutritional information in this post is for the shrimp skewers, so if you’re eating it with one of the salsas, be sure to calculate that separately.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Grilling Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
In 2005 Nick Rhodes gave me a recipe for grilled shrimp with black bean salsa that I posted on my brand-new food blog! I made the recipe and updated the post a few times through the years, but in 2021 this recipe was updated to the current version and options were added for low-carb salsa to serve with the shrimp. The shrimp skewers recipe was last updated with more information in 2023.

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