Baked succulent shrimp coated with fresh basil pesto on wooden skewers. Delicious and amazingly creamy, these pesto shrimp skewers are great as easy to make appetizers.
You have got to try this recipe. I am seriously obsessed. There is no better word to describe my love for creamy pesto shrimp.
Juicy perfectly cooked shrimp coated with a creamy layer of pesto. On skewers. What’s not to like, right?
If I weren’t the sharing type, I’d have absolutely no problem eating this entire plate by myself. Unfortunately, my guilty conscience would nag at me if I didn’t.
I don’t know about you, but almost anything on wooden skewers just looks fancy to me. They seem like they require a lot of time and effort to put together. Luckily, looks can be deceiving. And you and I both know better. It’ll be our secret. We’ll let our guests think we worked super hard to make elaborate appetizers for them.
But you know what? As fancy as these pesto shrimp skewers look, it’ll take you just 15 minutes to prep, bake, and have these amazing appetizers ready to be served, if you have pesto on hand. And if not, well, it’s just another 5 minutes to whip up a fresh batch.
Sounds simple, doesn’t it? It so totally is. Because well, it really is quick and easy.
And I’ll have to share these at Fiesta Friday!
I don’t have an outdoor grill. Even if I did, I wouldn’t even know how to use it. I do, however, have one of those 4-in-1 electric grills. Except it’s such a pain to clean. I’d have to remove the grill plates, clean off any burnt residues, then reattach them. Not to say that I don’t use it once in awhile, but sticking a baking tray into the oven is just so much easier. Less of a hassle for me anyway. You’re welcome to grill these if you like =)
Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease the surface of a baking pan with nonstick cooking spray or vegetable oil.
Lightly brush pesto on both sides of the large raw shrimp. I like putting the pesto on the shrimp before baking because the cheese (at least, the parmesan in my version of pesto) melts creating a creamy flavor. If you like the pesto a little bit grainier, you can bake the shrimp first and brush on the pesto later. It’s all about preference. You can either you my recipe for Fresh Basil Pesto or use your favorite recipe.
Bake the pesto covered shrimp on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes until the shrimp turns reddish pink and no longer gray.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the shrimp to cool for a few minutes before inserting the skewers. You’ll want about 4 shrimp per skewer. I chose to insert the skewers after the shrimp was already cooked because I wasn’t sure whether the wooden skewers would do well in the oven. If the skewers you use are oven safe, you can insert the shrimp on skewers before baking.
Serve the shrimp warm.
Enjoy!
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- 24 large shrimp, deshelled and deveined
- 2 tablespoons pesto
- 1 ½ tablespoon vegetable oil (for greasing the pan) or nonstick cooking spray
- Preheat the oven at 350F. Lightly grease the baking pan with nonstick cooking spray or vegetable oil.
- Brush pesto on all sides of the shrimp.
- Place the shrimp on the baking pan, and bake for about 10 minutes until the shrimp has turned a reddish orange color and is no longer gray.
- Remove the shrimp from the oven, and allow them to cool for a few minutes.
- Insert about 4 shrimps per skewer for a total of 6 skewers.
- Serve the shrimp warm.
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This shrimp look fabulous!! I made some tandoori shrimp but they didn’t look as delicious as these do!! Yum! Thank you for linking up with #FoodieFriday this week.
Thank you so much!
YUM!! I always forget about pesto and how much a love it! Definitely trying this. I agree with the indoor grill. It’s a love/hate relationship.
I hope you’ll like these shrimp skewers, Sherri!
MMhhh I love shrimps! And this sounds so delicious! Beautiful pictures!
Thank you so much! I hope you’ll like this dish!
Made my Thai pesto version yesterday..I had to use pre-cooked prawns because the supermarket had run out of raw…again… 😀
The combination of prawns and pesto worked just as well as I hoped it would, even if it was served at room temperature! Thanks again for the idea.
You can read about my Thai pesto version here…
http://paleovirtus.wordpress.com/2014/11/17/thai-pesto-prawns-with-grilled-aubergine/
The Thai pesto version sounds really delicious! I’ll have to give it a try especially since I love spicy.
Thanks. I think I might have slightly overdone it with the garlic this time though. My breath could have stripped the paint from the hull of a battleship the morning after… 😀
Yum! We always have pesto on hand. We froze a ton of it this summer. I made a similar recipe on the grill this summer. 🙂 Pesto and shrimp is a fabulous combination!
Oh my gosh, they really are a great combo!
Oh wow Andrea, you have me drooling over my keyboard here 😀
I hope you’ll like these!
What a coincidence – I am making a shrimp stir fry tonight and I will set aside some shrimp to try your recipe – very simple but I am sure delicious. Need to thaw out some homemade pesto 🙂
I hope you’ll like this recipe! I put leftover pesto in the freezer too! =)
We just finished eating about 6 of these delightful shrimp. Perfect combo, pesto and shrimp. I am sure I will post these some time and give you credit of course. Thanks a bunch 🙂
Thank you! I’m so glad that you liked these pesto shrimp!
wow looks amazing!
Thank you so much!
Simple but bursting with flavor
I totally agree! Have a great weekend!