Sweet Chilli Prawns

🤍 Recipe Highlights

I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about the recipe in the points below:

• Simple ingredients: everything you need to make the sweet chilli prawns can be sought from your local grocery store. They are year round available ingredients which are easy to get your hands on. Some are pantry staples that you might already have in the cupboard.
• Fast recipe: we get our hands in the mix in the beginning stages by preparing the prawns and once done this is a super quick to cook fast moving recipe.
• Taste and texture: there is the juicy prawns, the sweet sticky sauce and rice for a convenient pairing. It is a great combination that works so well when mixed together.
• Homemade takeout: save $ and stick to a friendly budget by skipping ordering in and getting into the kitchen instead. These sweet chilli stir fry prawns look and taste like take out. However, you know exactly what went into making them and don't have to wait for someone to deliver them.
• Alternative protein: we all love a little Chicken, Beef, Lamb, Pork or Tofu throughout the week. They are great go to options with a wide variety of recipes available to us. Using prawns provides another great protein which allows us to switch it up, make easy dinners and use a wider variety of proteins across the week 😁👍.

🥗 Ingredients

The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the recipe. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.

As you can see the recipe calls for:

• Salt and pepper: we use salt and a little bit of black pepper for seasoning in the recipe.
• Garlic: you can use 2-3 fresh garlic cloves, chopped garlic or chunky minced garlic.
• Lime juice: this delightful citrus fruit brings a little lift to the taste of the sauce. It is zingy and fresh.
• Honey: this beautiful sweet liquid is wonderful to cook with. For this recipe it creates a balance between the sweet chilli sauce and soy sauce.
• Sweet chilli sauce: this is a lovely chilli sauce that has a great texture to it. It adds flavour but is not too hot or spicy as to overwhelm.
• Soy sauce: this is regular sushi style soy sauce.
• Prawns: also known as shrimp. Fresh prawns that we peel and devein ourselves will deliver the most flavor to the recipe.

Tasty Tip: I like to provide you with a number of substitutions and variations giving you an array of options when making the recipe. If in doubt of any of the above ingredients, or wanting alternatives, read this section (further below) before jumping into the instructions on how to make the recipe which are coming next 😉👌.

🍳 Instructions

Here are the step by step instructions to make the prawn recipe. We start by gathering the ingredients to make the sauce.

• Gather the sauce ingredients (Photo 1)
• Stir to combine (Photo 2)
• Prepare the prawns (Photo 3)
• Add the raw prawns to a bowl (Photo 4)

👩‍🍳 How to Make Sweet Chilli Prawns

To make the prawns with sweet chilli sauce start by gathering the sauce ingredients. Then add the sweet chilli sauce, honey, soy sauce, lime juice, salt and pepper to a small jug and whisk to combine.

Then set the sauce aside whilst you prepare the prawns.

Use a clean cutting board and start by twisting the heads off the prawns, removing the tail and then removing the remaining shell.

Once done, use a small knife and cut down the back of the prawn and remove the digestive tract. Then repeat this process for all of the prawns.

When all of the prawns are ready add them to a small bowl as you see in the photo above.

• Add the sauce to the prawns and stir (Photo 5)

Give the prawns a stir to ensure that they are all covered in the sauce.

Then get ready to cook the prawns. To do so place a large frying pan onto the stove top and turn the heat to high.

Next use kitchen tongs to pick each prawn out of the bowl and place it into the pan as you see in the photo below.

• Add the prawns to the frying pan (Photo 6)

The prawns will take 6-8 minutes to cook and you can use the tongs to flip and rotate them during this time. Also use a basting brush to give them another coating or 2 of the sauce as they cook.

• Re coat the prawns in the sauce (Photo 7)

Once they are cooked, turn the stove off and get ready to serve them (always the best part of the process, right 😁👌).

🍽 Serving Suggestions

To serve the prawns, rice is an effortless and convenient option. For something a little more fancy you can try them with the Basmati Fried Rice or Soy Sauce Noodles. Or for a pasta pairing try them with the Garlic Spaghetti.

You won't like need a side, salad or potato dish on the table, but for an appetizer, you can try the Spring Rolls. They fit well with the theme.

For vegetables, I like to boil some Asian greens like bok choy with a little salt and pop them in the bowls with some crushed peanuts and lime wedges. It is an easy combination that works well together.

For a white wine pairing try a chilled glass of rose or pinot grigio. Or for a red wine, try a smooth red like a pinot noir. Each will go down a treat with the recipe 😉👍.

👍 How to Guide

How to Store

Store leftover prawns in a sealed, airtight container in the fridge. They can be kept for 2-3 days and need to be reheated before being consumed.

How to Freeze

I don't recommend freezing leftovers of this dish as you loose the beauty of the recipe. You can however, as a means to be organised, purchase the raw prawns and freeze them then remove and thaw them when you are ready to make the recipe.

How to Reheat

To reheat the prawns add them to a bowl covered with cling film and microwave them for 2-3 minutes until warmed through.

😉 Substitutions and Variations

Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:

• You can omit the lime juice if you want to simplify the sauce. I don't however, recommend using lemon juice in its place. It isn't the right flavor combination to pair with the other sauce ingredients.
• For a non rice pairing you can try the prawns with zucchini noodles or crispy fried noodles.
• In place of the crushed peanuts you can use sesame seeds or thinly sliced spring onions for garnish.
• If you want to turn it into a stir fry some additional vegetables to consider are zucchini, bell peppers or carrots.

💡 Tasty Tips

Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:

• Yes, it does take a little bit of time and effort to prepare the prawns, but it is very worth it when you taste them!
• If you are using a non stick frying pan you won't need to add any oil to the pan. If you are not peanut oil or sesame oil are the best to use for the recipe.
• I do mention it in the recipe but to bring it to your attention again in case you missed it...we don't want to pour the full bowl of prawns and sauce into the pan. This is because it is a very sweet and sticky sauce and it can burn in the pan. Instead we use tongs to take the sauce covered prawns from the bowl and gently base them in the base of the pan.
• If you love seafood and want even more prawns in your meals try the Prawn Chorizo Risotto, Prawn Chorizo Skewers, Prawn Fettuccine, Prawn Pesto Pasta, Coconut Prawns, Garlic Prawn Spaghetti or the Creamy Garlic Prawns 😉👌.
• Or if it is recipes using sweet chilli sauce that get your mouth watering try the Avocado Sweet Chilli Dip, Sweet Chilli Mayo or the Sweet Chilli Chicken Thighs.

🤓 Frequently Asked Questions

What's the best way to cook prawns?

Pan frying prawns on the stove top is a quick and easy way to cook prawns.

How long should prawns be cooked?

Raw prawns will take 3-4 minutes to cook in a hot pan. If they are covered in sauce, they will take 6-8 minutes to cook.

How do you know when prawns are done?

To know when prawns are cooked, watch for their colour to change to a bright orange with no translucency or opaque flesh.

😍 More Easy Dinner Recipes

To switch it up, keep it interesting and never be bored with what's on the table we need a diverse range of dinner ideas that tick our boxes. Here are recipes offering a non 'same, same' approach to get your dinners on the table:

• Thai Minced Pork
• Spinach and Feta Pizza
• Chicken Pesto Linguine
• Chorizo Pasta Bake
• Air Fryer Chicken Meatballs
• Black Olive Pizza
• Tuna Pesto Pasta
• Air Fryer Tortilla Pizza
• Baked Ziti With Meatballs
• Salmon Linguine

It is time to get our sweet chilli on my friend. You can also find all of my seafood recipes or dinner recipes in the one spot.

Adrianne

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