Shrimp Mozambique Recipe

This shrimp Mozambique recipe creates a saucy, flavorful shrimp skillet.

Camarão à Moçambique — A Flavorful Portuguese Classic

Are you looking for a simple and quick shrimp recipe that happens to taste great? If so, you’ve come to the right place! Our peeled and crispy shrimp are enveloped by a gorgeously hued sauce that features the classic combination of garlic and onion sautéed in butter and cooked in spices. Its brilliant color comes from saffron, which also lends a strong floral aroma to the shrimp.

If shrimp smothered in a thick and intense sauce is your thing, don’t forget to check out our Shrimp Marinara Recipe and Teriyaki Shrimp Recipe.

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What It Needs

Our shrimp Mozambique recipe calls for shrimp, rice, saffron, tomato paste, butter, garlic, and a few other spices.

We use peeled shrimp but have seen some recipes that use shrimp caught during their shedding season, when they have a thinner, softer shell. This type of shrimp is hard to find, but if you’re lucky enough to have it, it yields a crunchy texture and adds even more flavor to the dish when cooked.

The beautiful sauce it’s cooked in features a variety of flavors from caramelized onion and garlic, seared shrimp, white wine, Sriracha, lemon juice, and saffron. The end result is super fragrant, full of umami flavor, and slightly tangy with a mild kick of heat. If you want the shrimp to have more heat, feel free to add as much cayenne as you like.

As saffron is a rather luxury ingredient, you can substitute it with about 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder. Its aroma doesn’t quite match, but it sure lends the dish a similar vibrant color.

We thicken the sauce with a little all-purpose flour. If you have corn starch, xanthan gum or something similar on hand, the sauce would be more concentrated and coat the shrimp more beautifully.

The meal would not be complete without some rice to serve the sauce over. We like to cook our rice in a pot, but if you don’t cook rice often, there are many quick and easy alternatives, including microwavable rice.

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Is Shrimp Mozambique Healthy?

Shrimp itself is a healthy protein, and also provides some omega 3s. These are different from other types of saturated fats found in pork, chicken, or beef, as they are healthy essential polyunsaturated fats that help with controlling your cholesterol levels.

White rice, although the soul of Asian cooking, doesn’t yield a lot of nutrients apart from carbs due to the processing it undergoes to make it more shelf stable. Our bodies need carbs, but ideally ones that come with some nutrients and fiber, such as those in brown rice. Brown rice has not only carbs, but also B vitamins and minerals such as magnesium, potassium, and the like, all of which are beneficial to the body.

Saffron is most often known for its high price tag and vibrant color, but it also delivers immense health benefits. It is full of antioxidative compounds that can help your body fight off damage caused by free radicals. As these studies suggest, saffron might also improve mood and aid in weight loss.

A healthy dish requires calories, saturated fat and sodium levels to be regulated, so we made ours by using just enough butter, seasoning, and fitting portion size. Each serving comes with about 486 calories, 3.9 g saturated fat, and 558.5 mg sodium (we calculate our numbers using the USDA’s food database).

Storage and Reheating

If you place any leftover food in an airtight container, it can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days, or the freezer for up to 3 months. When you’re ready for more, it can be reheated with ease over medium heat with some water until heated through.

What to Serve With

This meal really benefits from the addition of some crunchy textures and fresh tastes, so we suggest our watermelon arugula salad and lemonade on the side. The salad is full of juicy watermelon cubes that help balance the spiciness from the arugula, and the lemonade helps to bring everything together.

• Shrimp Mozambique
• Watermelon Arugula Salad
• Lemonade

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You May Also Like

• Shrimp Newburg Recipe
• Pesto Shrimp Recipe
• Shrimp Stew Recipe
• BBQ Shrimp Recipe

Shrimp Mozambique Recipe

5 from 3 votes

Our shrimp Mozambique recipe features the best ingredients and comes together in just a few minutes. Save it for a quick and easy meal you can make ahead of time or enjoy right now.

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• cook TIME 10 mins
• prep TIME 5 mins
• total TIME 15 mins

• COURSE Main Course
• CUISINE Portuguese
• SERVINGS
  4

  servings
• CALORIES 486 kcal

INGREDIENTS

1x2x3x

• 13 oz peeled shrimp (from 26 oz whole shrimp)
• 2 oz onion (finely chopped)
• 6 tbsp white wine
• 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup unsalted chicken broth
• 1 tbsp Hunt’s tomato paste
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 tbsp garlic (minced)
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp Sriracha
• 1/2 tsp saffron
• 1 tsp all-purpose flour
• 4 cups cooked medium-grain rice
• 2 tbsp parsley

INSTRUCTIONS

Image instructions

1

Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and add 2 tbsp butter. Once butter has melted, add in 2 oz chopped onion and 1 1/2 tbsp garlic, and stir for 2 minutes or until slightly caramelized.

2

Turn the heat up to high and add 13 oz peeled shrimp. Sear both sides for about 2 minutes (1 minute for each side) or until lightly browned.

3

Reduce the heat to medium and add 1 tbsp tomato paste along with salt and pepper (1/2 tsp each). Stir until the red paste is all liquefied.

4

Add 6 tbsp white wine and scrape the pan with a wooden spoon or heat-proof spatula to deglaze. Wait until the wine is reduced by half.

5

Add 1/2 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tsp Sriracha, 1/2 tsp saffron, and 1 tsp all-purpose flour. Stir for 30 seconds, then add 1/4 cup chicken broth. Whisk the flour lumps until everything dissolves, and let everything simmer for 2 minutes or until the sauce reaches your desired consistency, then remove from heat.

6

Stir in 2 tbsp parsley (or more, to your preference) and enjoy with 4 cups cooked rice.

NUTRITION

Nutrition Facts

Shrimp Mozambique Recipe

Amount Per Serving (1 serving)

Calories 486Calories from Fat 65

% Daily Value*

Fat 7.2g

11%

Saturated Fat 3.9g

24%

Polyunsaturated Fat 0.6g

Monounsaturated Fat 1.9g

Cholesterol 311.9mg

104%

Sodium 558.5mg

24%

Potassium 595.9mg

17%

Carbohydrate 58.3g

19%

Fiber 0.7g

3%

Sugar 1.7g

2%

Protein 42.3g

85%

Vitamin A 340.2IU

7%

Vitamin C 5.4mg

7%

Calcium 139.2mg

14%

Iron 1.6mg

9%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keywords: how to make shrimp mozambique, shrimp mozambique, shrimp mozambique recipe