Roasted Shrimp and Pineapple With Peanut Sauce

By Melissa Clark

Total Time: 30 minutes
Rating: 5(599)
Notes: Read community notes

This tangy version of Thai-style peanut sauce, bright with chile, lime, and ginger, is excellent with chicken and beef — and outstanding with shrimp. Here, the sauce is paired with sweet, juicy pineapple and succulent shrimp, which broil in minutes. It’s a quick, satisfying dinner with the added bonus of leftover peanut sauce, which will keep well in the fridge for at least five days.

Featured in: Thai Peanut Sauce Marries Well With Shrimp and Pineapple

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

½cup smooth peanut butter, preferably natural
3tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk
1½tablespoons lime juice, more as needed
2teaspoons brown sugar
2teaspoons soy sauce
2teaspoons grated ginger
1garlic clove, minced
½teaspoon sriracha or other hot sauce
¼teaspoon plus a pinch kosher salt, more as needed
1½tablespoons peanut oil
⅛teaspoon red-pepper flakes
1pound cleaned large shrimp
2cups pineapple chunks
Whole cilantro leaves and torn basil leaves, for garnish

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
In a food processor or blender, combine peanut butter, coconut milk, 3 tablespoons hot water, lime juice, sugar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sriracha and a pinch of salt. Purée until smooth. Add more lime juice and or salt to taste. Scrape into a bowl.
Step 2
Heat oven to 500 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together peanut oil, remaining ¼ teaspoon salt and red-pepper flakes. Thread shrimp on skewers; brush all over with half the peanut oil mixture. Thread pineapple on separate skewers; brush with remaining oil mixture. Arrange shrimp and pineapple skewers on a large rimmed baking sheet.
Step 3
Roast skewers, turning them halfway through, until shrimp is opaque, about 5 minutes, and pineapple is lightly caramelized, about 10 minutes. (Use an oven mitt to remove shrimp skewers as they finish cooking but leave the pineapple in for longer). Sprinkle skewers with herbs and serve hot, with peanut sauce for dipping.

Ratings

5 out of 5

599 user ratings

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Cooking Notes

AnnP6 years ago

Switch the cooking order - start the pineapple, then add the shrimp so they finish at the same time. This is now a staple in our house. Double or triple the sauce and freeze to make this a quick weekday dinner.

Angie6 years ago

Fresh pineapple, or canned... or does it matter?

LCRI Cook6 years ago

Melissa does it again. I looked over several recipes and settled on this peanut sauce to serve with shrimp egg rolls. I did add 1 tsp+ of fish sauce and some chili oil, both in other recipes. I felt the fish sauce added some depth but it was a winner before I did.

Michelle6 years ago

I have just the recipe, for 1 pound of shrimp, combine: 1/3 cup peanut oil 1/3 cup Sriracha 2 teaspoons Worcestershire (or fish sauce or soy sauce - I like the smokiness of the Worcestershire) 2 cloves garlic 1 teaspoon sugar handful of cilantro Blend all ingredients in blender or food processor. Combine sauce with peeled shrimp. Let marinate in fridge for 1 or 2 hours.

acmadigan7266 years ago

I used this recipe only for the peanut sauce. I reduced the brown sugar and added the zest of a lime with the lime juice. It was delicious; I would make it again in a hearbeat.

Lesley3 years ago

I serve this with NY Times cooking’s recipe for coconut pea rice https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014723-coconut-rice-with-peas. The rice tastes amazing with the peanut sauce and shrimp. Plus I can use up more of the can of coconut milk since it is an ingredient in the rice (sometimes I’ll make a little piña colada with the pineapple juice and extra coconut milk too). I also cook chicken thigh skewers alongside the shrimp and pineapple, prepared the same way. Love this recipe!

Mary6 years ago

I cooked this on the stove top on a grill pan. It would be better still outside on a grill as it gets the house pretty smoky. Peanut sauce takes significant time and it would be good to make it ahead. The rest goes quickly. I put the pineapple skewers on the grill pan about five minutes ahead of the shrimp.

Julie6 years ago

made this for my family (i'm a vegetarian). subbed coconut oil for peanut oil and coconut pulp for coconut milk, since i didnt buy any. the caramelised pineapple with cilantro is not to be underestimated, its one of the best parts of the dish. i received rave reviews. the sauce recipe makes enough for about 6 to 8 people, in our experience, way too much for 4 people.

Sheila6 years ago

What do you serve with this?

Annie Nord6 years ago

I used pork tenderloin. It worked perfectly.

K6 years ago

"Start pineapple first, so ends at same time as shrimp.
"Can add 1 tsp fish sauce and chili oil to peanut sauce.
"Triple sauce and freeze extra.

Max6 years ago

or chicken or beef

Vicki6 years ago

Peanut sauce is delicious. Skipped the sugar and added more lime juice, soy sauce and sriracha. The recipe makes a lot of sauce so we refrigerated half of it. Cooked the pineapple and shrimp on the grill...pineapple went on the grill first. Great dish!

lblalock6 years ago

Delicious recipe! We ended up turning this recipe into Thai lettuce wraps. Wonderful flavor!

Alex5 years ago

Great recipe. Skip the blender/Cuisenart and get out your whisk for the sauce.

John Anderson1 year ago

he sauce was very good as were the pineapple chunks. The shrimp were kinda bland. I should have either served this over rice (excuse for more sauce) or included broccoli on the shrimp skewers. definitely worth developing...

Sam1 year ago

This peanut sauce is divine!

Sue Fisher2 years ago

This was delicious. Our local Natural Grocers sells powdered peanut butter without sugar or salt or anything and I used that with a little extra water and the sauce turned out great. I also doubled the coconut milk. I served it with the coconut rice as suggested by a reviewer. Next time I make this, I will try skipping the skewers.

Brandon2 years ago

The sauce is very good! I will make this for other dishes. Used almond milk as I forgot the coconut milk at the store and was still addicting. I agree with what others said, start pineapple first and then add shrimp, less risk of burning ones self. EASY RECIPE and tasty.

Danielle H2 years ago

I made this dish as part of my husbands birthday dinner and all guests raved about the sauce. My complaint is that the sauce is quite thick, definitely not a sauce consistency. It could be the peanut butter I used which was Teddy’s natural peanut butter. I will play around with the liquid ratios next time.

emily2 years ago

Delicious! Made with a side of Armenian rice pilaf from NYT and sautéd spinach, which all worked together well.

Vic2 years ago

No need to grate the ginger or minced the garlic if using a food processor! This is the best peanut sauce recipe I have tried. The coconut milk really makes it. I grilled my shrimp and pineapple, as well as thin chicken breast slices. Great combo! Fresh herbs sprinkled on top add a nice presentation as well as a good flavor kick. Also fantastic with pork satay.

Figaro3 years ago

I got lazy (been cooking almost 60 years!) and used House of Tsang peanut sauce and it was delicious. Also followed a comment and marinated the shrimp in some of the sauce, lots more interesting than just salt and oil; I brushed the pineapple with sesame oil. Also, if you don't want your kitchen heated up so much, use the broiler or your grill. 500° oven in south Florida in June? Don't think so!

c3 years ago

To save time, skip the skewers and place the shrimp and pineapple on opposite ends of a sheet pan before broiling.

Hannah3 years ago

The peanut sauce is to die for... I'd like to slather it on just about everything.I started with the pineapple roasting alone, rather than pulling the shrimp out. I still felt like 5 minutes was a little too long for the shrimp, they were a bit chewy. Will try 4 next time! The pineapple was delicious.

BabsD3 years ago

Was great and got rave reviews but I think grilling would have yielded even better result. Forgot the herbs at the end in haste to serve and I can see how this would be crowning touch. Served with white jasmine rice. Extra sauce will go on cold rice noodles - the sauce was fab

julia3 years ago

I found the sauce to be a little too heavy with the peanut butter and I wasn’t sure how to balance this out. Other than that great dish!

Sheila McQuillen3 years ago

I am not a fan of skewers, so instead cooked pineapple and shrimp in a saute pan, carmalizing the pineapple first, then adding the shrimp for the last few minutes. delicious. and the peanut sauce is to die for. Served it with rice and sugar snap peas - an easy and healthy dinner. this one is in my recipe box for sure.

M. Lukens3 years ago

Dotted the shrimp with coconut oil rather than peanut oil. Served over jasmine rice with sauteed bok choy dressed with neutral oil, lime and cilantro. Very good, but the cooking time of 30 minutes? I don't know how she does it!

Lesley3 years ago

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