This 5 ingredient harissa shrimp may look deceptively difficult to make, but it is in fact a super easy 30 minute meal you’re going to fall in love with for this week’s Five Ingredient Friday recipe.
As you may remember from this harissa and citrus baked salmon that I shared a while back, I discovered harissa last year. Harissa is a Moroccan cuisine: it’s a delicious pepper sauce that blends together ingredients and spices and is a super versatile sauce. Since discovering it, I’ve used it on seafood (obviously I used it on salmon, and now on shrimp) and other meats (I’ve used it as a sauce for chicken) and I’ve also used it as a spread on sandwiches.
I love the way harissa smells. You open the jar and can immediately smell roasted peppers and spices, from the smell alone you know your dish is going to be good! The brand that makes the best harissa is Mina. Mina makes a mild harissa, a spicy red harissa and a spicy green harissa, all of which are amazing. I didn’t know what to expect when I first tried the sauce, so I opted for a mild one (which is great), but after having the spicy one, I have to say I really enjoyed it.
It’s not the kind of spicy that burns your mouth; it’s the kind of spicy that comes from the perfect blend of ingredients that highlights the heat. As soon as I had the spicy harissa I thought about how perfect it would be on shrimp, in particular shrimp that is served over grits.
Shrimp and grits go together so well, and with the little bit of heat from the harissa, it balances spicy and smooth perfectly.
To make this dish you start by marinating the shrimp, and while the shrimp marinates you start the grits. Then, about halfway through the grits cooking you start cooking the shrimp and shortly thereafter you have a super delish meal all ready to go, and in 5 ingredients nonetheless!
5 Ingredient Harissa Shrimp and Grits
Ingredients
- For the shrimp:
- 1 lb shrimp (peeled and deveined)
- 1/2 cup harissa, spicy or mild (I use Mina brand)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon butter
- For the grits:
- 4 ½ cups water, divided
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese, shredded
Instructions
Put shrimp in a large bowl and cover with harissa sauce and salt and stir to combine. Set aside and let marinate for 10 minutes. When you're ready to cook the shrimp, melt the butter in a large frying pan and add in the shrimp. Cook the shrimp, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes, or until the shrimp is no longer translucent and it has turned pink.
To make the grits, in a large pot combine 3 ½ cups water and 1 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil.
In a bowl combine remaining cup of water and cornmeal and stir to combine-it will get thick.
When the water comes to a boil, whisk in the cornmeal and water mixture. Bring the mixture to a boil again and then reduce heat to low. The mixture will thicken slowly. 5 minutes after turning the heat to low, whisk in the butter and shredded parmesan cheese. This is the point when I start the shrimp. The grits should remain on low, being whisked occasionally for the next 8 minutes, then the heat can be turned off and they can rest until they are ready to be served.
To serve spoon grits into 4 bowls and top with shrimp.
This deliciousness has been sponsored by Mina Harissa. As always, all opinions are mine alone. Thank you for supporting the brands and products that make the SweetPhi blog possible.
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Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy says
I am literally obsessed with Harissa. I made the best harissa hummus the other day. I need to try making grits myself, as I have only ever eaten them once before.
Sweetphi says
Isn’t harissa the best? I mix it into everything now 🙂
Sune Moolman says
Oh my goodness! Harissa is EVERYTHING! Definitely doing this one this weekend! Thanks. 😀
Sweetphi says
Hope you loved this dish as much as I did – Harissa is soooo good!
Shawnna says
hey girl I love shrimp!! But nothing to spicy for me!
Sweetphi says
I love that there is harissa that is both spicy and not spicy at all – I love both 🙂 Thanks for commenting!
Sues says
I love harissa!! And who doesn’t love shrimp and grits? This is heaven.
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much Sues, shrimp and grits are insanely good, and then add harissa on top of it…omg yes, heaven!
Sarah says
Love love love this Phi 🙂 I have to confess, I’m a bit of a harissa snob and I go to my favorite Moroccan restaurant and they sell me a big tub of it anytime I need more. It’s such a great flavor and I’m sure pairs perfectly with the shrimps. Great idea!
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much girl, harissa is my new obsession, that’s awesome that you have the hookup for some, I do have to say even though I’ve had it at restaurants, I love the Mina brand because it’s premade and so convenient!!
Little Cooking Tips says
Hi Phi, we finally managed to find a little time to read your beautiful posts again:) We were watching your tweets and we hope you had an amazing time in France and Ireland (we will read more in the other posts)!
This is definitely an amazing recipe, but grits does not exist here, can we use coarse cornmeal to make something similar? Does that sound like something that would work? Forgive us for asking this, but as you know, some US ingredients aren’t imported here. We did find Harissa recently though and are very excited to use it with your recipe:)
Sending you all our love,
Panos and Mirella
xoxoxo
Sweetphi says
Thank you so much for all your twitter engagement, and for coming back and commenting – your lovely comments always make my day!
To answer your question, yes, absolutely cornmeal would work (that’s what I use most of the time when I don’t have grits on hand!)
Little Cooking Tips says
Thank you Phi! It’s so great to know that we can also make “grits” here as well:):)
Sending you lots of hugs!
Susan says
This harissa shrimp and grits recipe looks delish! Just got me a jar of harissa and can’t wait to use it it. Harissa sounds like it will be my new favorite hot sauce!
Sweetphi says
I think you’re going to fall in love with harissa – I love it on shrimp, it adds the perfect amount of heat!