Gambas al Ajillo: Spanish Garlic Prawns with Butter

Prawns. Garlic. Butter. Olive oil. Four ingredients is all that’s required for my Garlic prawns recipe, the perfect tappa for sharing along with Paella, patatas bravas and some chorizo meatballs.

My gambas al ajillo recipe uses just four main ingredients: prawns, sliced garlic, unsalted butter and extra virgin olive oil. I cook them gently so the garlic has time to flavour the butter and the prawns stay tender.

I love serving this alongside paella as part of a sharing meal. Put the prawns in the middle, pass around some bread and let everyone get stuck in. With these on the table, I’m constantly reminding my eldest to ‘share!’.

My buttery take on gambas al ajillo

Gambas al ajillo is a Spanish garlic prawn dish, also called Spanish garlic shrimp in the US. Olive oil and garlic are the familiar foundation, sometimes with chilli.

My version goes enthusiastically in the butter direction. There’s 100 g of it for 500 g of prawns, plus olive oil. This is a rich tapa with plenty of sauce for bread, rather than a dry pan of prawns.

The butter gives the sauce richness. The garlic flavours the butter, the butter coats the prawns, the prawn juices flavours the fat. Everything just works so well together.

The four ingredients

Prawns

Use 500 g of raw prawns, peeled and deveined, with the tails left on if you like. Medium-large prawns are a good starting point because they’re easy to share and easier to keep track of in the pan.

Frozen raw prawns are fine too. Thaw them fully in the fridge, drain and pat dry. Excess water dilutes the garlic butter, and we don’t want anything diluted the garlic butter!

A whole bulb of garlic

Peel the cloves and slice them fairly evenly. One bulb can vary quite a bit in size, but around 10–12 medium cloves is a useful guide.

And yes, sliced rather than minced. Small minced pieces colour quickly and are easy to burn. Slices are easier to watch as they gently cook in the butter, giving you time to build that garlic flavour without accidentally seasoning dinner with bitterness.

Unsalted butter

I use 100 g of unsalted butter so I can taste the finished dish before deciding whether it needs salt.

Keep the heat gentle. You want the butter melted and the garlic quietly bubbling, without dark brown milk solids or burnt garlic at the bottom of the pan. If it starts colouring quickly, turn the heat down.

Extra virgin olive oil

Add 50 ml when the prawns go into the pan. Use an oil you enjoy the taste of, because it’s part of the sauce you’re going to be dipping your bread into.

The oil doesn’t stop the butter burning, so you still need to watch the heat. Sadly, adding more delicious ingredients doesn’t excuse us from paying attention.

Cook these gently

I want the garlic to flavour the butter before the prawns finish cooking. Starting gently gives it time to soften the garlic, then cook the prawns without scorching the sauce.

The lid helps trap heat around the prawns, but it also means you need to lift it and check. Prawns cook quickly, so you do need to pay attention.

For medium-large peeled prawns, start checking after about 3–4 minutes once they’re in the hot butter. Turn them as needed and continue only until the flesh is opaque through the thickest part.

Your exact timing will depend on the prawn size, starting temperature, pan and heat. Larger prawns over very gentle heat may take longer. Don’t automatically give every batch 10–15 minutes under the lid; smaller prawns can be overcooked well before then.

How to make garlic prawns

1. Melt the butter

Put a wide frying pan over low-medium heat and add the butter. Let it melt gently without browning.

2. Infuse with sliced garlic

Add the sliced garlic and cook gently for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and beginning to soften. Keep it pale or only lightly golden, lowering the heat if it colours too quickly.

The smell at this point will probably bring someone into the kitchen to ask what you’re making. Garlic and butter are remarkably effective at gathering curious noses.

3. Add the prawns and olive oil

Arrange the prawns in the pan in one layer and pour over the extra virgin olive oil. Gently turn the prawns through the garlic butter, then cover with a lid.

Keep the heat low-medium, with gentle bubbling. Start checking after 3–4 minutes, turning the prawns and moving them around if your pan cooks unevenly.

4. Stop when they’re just cooked

Check the thickest part of a prawn: the flesh should be opaque and no longer translucent. Continue cooking if the centre is still translucent, then remove from the heat as soon as the prawns are cooked through.

Taste a little sauce and add salt if needed. Serve immediately, spooning the sliced garlic and sauce over the prawns. Don’t leave them sitting on the heat while you organise the table. Get the plates and bread ready first.

The bread is part of dinner

You can put these garlic butter prawns on a platter, but make sure it’s deep enough to hold the sauce. Leaving half the butter in the cooking pan would be a very disappointing administrative error.

I like crusty bread alongside so everyone can mop up the garlic butter between bites. Tear it into pieces and put it within reach.

How to turn this into a meal

These are lovely alongside my paella. Get the paella close to ready, then cook the prawns towards the end so they arrive tender and hot.

Bring out pan con tomate while everyone waits, with extra plain bread saved for this sauce. Add patatas bravas for something crisp beside the prawns.

For a bigger table, chorizo meatballs bring another rich, savoury dish to pass around. Grilled vegetables with romesco sauce give you a different flavour and something else to scoop onto your plate.

Pick a few dishes that suit your evening. A big pan of paella, garlic prawns and tomato bread already make a generous meal. You should get to sit down and enjoy the people you’re feeding, preferably before they’ve finished all the bread.