This Sheet Pan Garlic Shrimp is what happens when you eat Gambas Al Ajillo in Spain and spend the entire flight home thinking about how to recreate it. All the classic elements are here - thinly sliced garlic, smoked paprika, sherry wine, and an olive oil sauce that is deeply savory. My spin is adding asparagus and blistered cherry tomatoes to the pan so it becomes a full meal in one shot. Ten minutes in the oven and you are done. (Yes, really.)
A Quick Look at the Recipe
✅ Recipe Name: Sheet Pan Garlic Shrimp
🕒 Ready In: ~ 15 minutes
👪 Serves: 4 servings
🍽 Calories: ~ per serving (estimated)
🥣 Main Ingredients: Shrimp, garlic, paprika, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, asparagus
👌 Difficulty: Easy
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If Mediterranean seafood is your thing, you are going to want to bookmark this whole corner of the blog. My Grilled Shrimp with Basil Lemon Sauce is another great shrimp recipe when you want something lighter, my One Pan Mediterranean Cod and 15-Minute Baked Tilapia and Cherry Tomatoes are weeknight staples in our house, and if you want to go full dinner party mode, the Branzino al Forno is your move.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Works for everything - Serve it over rice, toss it with pasta, or eat it straight from the pan with crusty bread. All three are correct answers. 💁
One pan, 10 minutes - The oven does everything. You just make the sauce and toss. That's it. (Yes, really.)
That garlic olive oil sauce - It is the kind of sauce that makes you pick up the pan and tilt it directly into your mouth. Not that I have done that.
Inspired by real Spanish cooking - This is not just garlic shrimp with a fancy name. The flavor profile is rooted in a dish I ate in Spain and have been thinking about ever since.
Sheet Pan Garlic Shrimp Video
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This recipe is part of my No Boring Sheet Pan Dinner video series. You can check out the rest of the episodes: Sheet Pan Gnocchi & Meatballs, Sheet Pan Chicken Kebabs, Sheet Pan Panko Crusted Salmon, Sheet Pan Lamb Chops, Sheet Pan Honey Harissa Chicken, Sheet Pan Stuffed Pepper Rings, Sheet Pan Mediterranean "Nachos".
Pro tip
The Secret to Perfect Veggies
For extra blistered tomatoes, pull the shrimp off after 10 minutes and broil the tomatoes and asparagus for 4 minutes. The shrimp rest while the vegetables get charred and jammy and it is absolutely worth the extra step.
Ingredient Notes
Large Shrimp: Size matters here and I will not apologize for saying it haha. Large shrimp are what you need. They take just long enough to cook that the asparagus and tomatoes have time to do their thing in the oven. Smaller shrimp will be overcooked and rubbery before the vegetables are even close to done. Buy them already cleaned and de-veined to save yourself time - tails on or off is entirely your call. (I leave mine on because they look better. Priorities.)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil: This is not the place for the bottle you have been using since 2022. Good quality extra virgin olive oil is the backbone of this sauce. In Spanish cooking, the olive oil is never a background ingredient. It is the dish. Check out my Mediterranean olive oil guide if you want to know what to look for at the store.
Garlic - All 8 to 10 Cloves: Yes, all of them. Thinly sliced garlic is what makes gambas al ajillo what it is - the slices soften and mellow in the oven and infuse the oil with a deep, sweet garlic flavor that minced garlic simply cannot replicate.
Sweet Paprika: Is what gives this dish its depth and its gorgeous red color. It is a staple of Spanish cooking and it is what separates this from a basic garlic shrimp recipe. Sweet paprika is what you want.
Sherry Wine: The secret weapon. Dry sherry adds a nutty, slightly oxidized richness to the sauce that white wine cannot quite replicate - but white wine works beautifully here too if sherry is not in your pantry.
Asparagus: Break the ends off with your hands - they naturally snap at the point where the tough woody part ends and the tender part begins. Cut the spears into thirds so every bite has a piece.
Cherry Tomatoes: Leave them whole. They blister and burst in the oven and create little pockets of sweet jammy juice that mix into the garlic olive oil sauce at the bottom of the pan.
Substitutions & Variations
No sherry wine? Dry white wine works great. A splash of white wine vinegar plus a teaspoon of water is a non-alcoholic substitute that still adds acidity to the sauce.
No asparagus? Broccolini, green beans, or zucchini all roast well at 425F in the same time frame. Cut them to a similar size so everything cooks evenly.
Want more heat? Double the red pepper flakes or add a small pinch of cayenne to the sauce. Gambas al ajillo is traditionally quite spicy so do not be shy.
Want to add more protein? Sliced chorizo added to the sheet pan before roasting is a very Spanish move and adds a smoky depth that works beautifully with the shrimp and the sauce.
FAQ
Yes, just make sure they are fully thawed and patted completely dry before tossing in the sauce. Wet shrimp steam instead of roast.
Either the shrimp were too small or they stayed in the oven too long. Large shrimp at 425F for 10 minutes is the window. Pull them the moment they are pink and opaque.
More Sheet Pan Recipes You'll Love
- Sheet Pan Baked Panko Crusted Salmon29 Minutes
- Sheet Pan Baked Lamb Chops40 Minutes
- Honey Harissa Chicken Tray Bake40 Minutes
- Sheet Pan Baked Gnocchi and Meatballs40 Minutes
⭐️ Recipe
Sheet Pan Garlic Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 lb large shrimp cleaned and deveined (tails on optional)
- 1 lb asparagus ends snapped off and cut into thirds
- 1.5 cups mixed cherry tomatoes whole
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil good quality
- 8 to 10 garlic cloves thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ cup dry sherry or dry white wine
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Fresh parsley for topping
- Crusty sourdough bread for dipping
Instructions
Make the sauce
- In a medium bowl whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, sherry wine, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper until combined. Add the thinly sliced garlic and stir to distribute evenly through the sauce. Taste it - it should be bright, garlicky, and well seasoned. This sauce is doing all the work so make sure it tastes good before anything goes on the pan.
Toss the vegetables
- Add the asparagus and whole cherry tomatoes to a large bowl. Pour half of the sauce over the vegetables and toss well until every piece is evenly coated. Spread them out on a large rimmed sheet pan in a single even layer. Do not pile them on top of each other or they will steam instead of roast and you will lose all that color and caramelization.
- Toss the shrimp
- Add the shrimp to the remaining sauce and toss to coat. Make sure every shrimp is well covered. Add the shrimp to the sheet pan alongside the vegetables, arranging them in a single layer with a little space between each one so they roast rather than steam.
- Bake
- Bake in a preheated oven at 425F for 10 minutes. The shrimp should be pink and opaque and just curled - not tightly coiled which means overcooked. The asparagus should be tender with a little bite and the tomatoes should be starting to burst and blister.
- For extra blistered, jammy tomatoes - and I really recommend this - remove the shrimp from the pan after 10 minutes and set them aside to rest on a plate. Return the pan with just the asparagus and tomatoes to the oven and broil on high for 4 minutes until the tomatoes are charred and bursting and the asparagus has some color on the tips. Add the shrimp back to the pan to serve.
Serve
- Scatter fresh chopped parsley generously over the top. Serve immediately straight from the pan with crusty bread for dipping into the garlic olive oil sauce at the bottom, or spoon everything over steamed rice or toss with pasta. Do not let that sauce go to waste. It is a crime lol.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!