Boiling shrimp is one of the speediest and easiest methods of cooking shrimp. They’re perfect for classic salads, shrimp cocktails, salsa, pasta, sushi, and more! Shrimp cooks quickly; the secret is to take them out before they turn elastic and then cool them down to stop the cooking process. 

Why boil them instead of cooking them on a stove? It keeps well at room temperature, making it perfect for sitting out on a platter of shrimp cocktails while entertaining. Here’s our simple method. 

You ask yourself how to boil shrimp. The cook time is just 2 minutes until they are pink and cooked through! You’ll have to factor in the time to boil a large pot of water. And if you’re using shrimp with the shell on (which we recommend), you’ll need to remove the shells after cooking them. The overall time it takes for the entire process is about 15 to 20 minutes. 

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of large shrimp, I buy the wild-caught sold in my closest farmers market
• Kosher salt
• Lemon

Preparation:

You’ll bring a large pot of salted water to a boil with some fresh lemon juice. Once boiling, add the shrimp until pink and cooked; remember about 2 minutes. Remove the shrimp to an ice bath, water bowl, and ice. This process will stop the cooking immediately, leaving the shrimp perfectly tender. If you cooked the shrimp with the shell on, remove it — but if you’re serving for a shrimp cocktail, leave the tails on.