Prawn Recipes – 6 Ways to Cook Prawns and Shrimp

Originally published in 2013, this post was updated in September 2026 with refreshed recipes, photos, videos and cooking information.

Prawns are plentiful on the west coast and can be caught relatively easily with the right gear, bait, and setup. For more information on what I use to bait the traps, see the FishinBC.COM article Best Prawn Bait and Shrimp Bait. Once you have a catch of fresh prawns, there are plenty of ways to prepare and cook them.

Before you start any of the prawn recipes, make sure your catch is fresh and cleaned. Fresh prawns, like all seafood, should smell like the ocean. If they have a strong fishy smell, they may not have been kept properly chilled. Depending on the recipe, you can remove the shell and devein the prawns or cut through the shell and devein them while leaving the shell on. Once cleaned, the prawns are ready for cooking.

There are plenty of simple ways to cook prawns. Two of the easiest are directly on the barbecue or in a hot skillet. Prawns cook quickly, usually in just a few minutes, as you will see in the videos below. On the barbecue, try to turn them only once. Skewers make prawns easy to handle, and using two skewers prevents them from spinning when you turn them. My FishinBC.COM crew also recommends cedar-plank prawns as a delicious variation on the barbecue salmon favourite.

Garlic and butter are a classic combination with prawns. Cutting the butter into small cubes helps it melt evenly as the prawns cook. Spices can add variety or heat, while fresh parsley adds colour and flavour to the finished dish. Hot sauce, such as Frank’s RedHot, also makes a great dipping sauce.

Recommended ingredients to have on-hand:

• butter
• garlic
• fresh parsley
• coarse salt
• spices
• hot sauce

For cooking purposes, prawns and shrimp can generally be used interchangeably in these recipes. The size and cooking time may vary, so watch them closely and avoid overcooking.

Here are six prawn cooking demonstrations from YouTube, covering everything from garlic butter and skillet cooking to barbecue skewers and cedar-plank prawns.

Prawn Recipes

Garlic Prawns Video Recipe

Fast Food - 3 - Garlic Prawns By Gordon Ramsay

Garlic Shrimp Recipe - Quick & Easy Garlic Shrimp

Butter-Baked Prawns With Garlic : Cooking Fresh With Seafood

How to Grill Shrimp

Blazing Jamaican Peppered Shrimp.

Your Turn: How Do You Cook Prawns?

These videos show several different ways to prepare fresh prawns, from simple garlic butter and skillet recipes to barbecue skewers and cedar-plank cooking.

What is your favourite way to cook prawns? If you have a favourite recipe, seasoning, sauce, or barbecue technique, share it in the comments below.