The rich, savory-sweet Miso Butter Shrimp is destined to become a weeknight favorite. The sauce—built from white miso, butter, garlic, and fresh ginger—creates a silky, spoon-licking coating that works beautifully with shrimp and is easily adapted to fish, noodles, or vegetables. Simple to prepare and full of depth, this recipe is a keeper.
What makes this Miso Butter Shrimp so good?
This dish is the perfect balance of flavors: the gentle umami and creaminess of white miso paired with aromatic garlic and warm fresh ginger. Jumbo shrimp add juicy, tender protein, and the sauce is generous enough to spoon over rice and vegetables. It’s creamy, bright, and satisfying—great for weeknights or casual entertaining.
The recipe comes together in about 30 minutes, making it fast enough for a weeknight but impressive enough for guests. The sauce is versatile, so feel free to toss it with noodles or spoon it over roasted vegetables for variations.
How to buy raw shrimp for this recipe
Grocery stores offer many shrimp sizes and formats. For this recipe, choose large to jumbo shrimp for good texture and presence. Shrimp packages often display a count like “13-16 per pound” — the smaller the number, the larger the shrimp. Typical size categories:
- Medium: 41–50 per pound
- Large: 31–40 per pound (bite-sized)
- Jumbo: 16–25 per pound
- Colossal: 15 or fewer per pound
Buy frozen, raw shrimp and thaw them in the refrigerator when you need them; this usually takes around 12 hours depending on size and helps reduce food-safety risks. Deveined shrimp save prep time, and peeled shrimp are even more convenient if you prefer to skip peeling at the stovetop.
Ingredients
- Garlic-infused or neutral oil (garlic-infused oil adds extra flavor)
- Tiny pinch kosher or sea salt, and ground white or black pepper
- Soy sauce (I recommend low-sodium Japanese-style soy sauce)
- Jumbo raw shrimp, thawed, peeled and deveined (about 1 lb; 13–16 per pound works well)
- Fresh ginger, finely minced
- Fresh garlic, finely minced (or 1/4 tsp garlic powder per clove)
- Vegetable or chicken broth (to deglaze and build the sauce)
- White miso paste (use fresh miso for best flavor)
- Unsalted butter (helps emulsify and enrich the sauce)
- Fresh lemon wedges for serving
- Sliced scallions/green onions for garnish
Step-by-step directions
- Preheat a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add oil, a pinch of salt, a bit of white or black pepper, and the soy sauce.
- Add the raw shrimp, garlic, and ginger to the pan.
- Sauté until the shrimp turn pink and are cooked through, about 4–5 minutes for large or jumbo shrimp.
- Transfer the cooked shrimp to a plate and set aside.
- Pour the vegetable or chicken broth into the pan to deglaze, scraping up browned bits for about 2 minutes.
- Whisk in the white miso paste until fully dissolved into the broth.
- Add the butter and whisk until it melts and the sauce becomes silky and emulsified.
- Return the shrimp to the pan and toss to coat them thoroughly in the miso butter sauce.
- Serve the shrimp over steamed rice or noodles with your favorite vegetables.
- Spoon extra sauce over the shrimp, rice, and veggies for maximum flavor.
- Squeeze fresh lemon over each portion just before serving.
- Garnish with sliced scallions or green onions and enjoy.
Serving suggestions
For a quick meal, cook rice and vegetables first—microwaveable rice and frozen broccoli work well for busy nights. If you have time, charred cabbage steaks are an excellent accompaniment. Noodles are a delicious alternative to rice; toss the sauce with udon, soba, or spaghetti for saucy, comforting noodles.
Substitutions and variations for this recipe
You can, but the dish will lack some of the fresh seared flavor you get from cooking raw shrimp.
If you can’t use miso, consider a mild umami booster such as a small amount of tahini with soy sauce or a light miso alternative; these will change the flavor profile but can still produce a savory sauce.
Yes—salmon or cod work nicely with the miso butter sauce; cook to the appropriate doneness for the chosen fish.
Prepackaged Asian vegetable blends, broccoli, cabbage, snap peas, and bok choy are all great choices.
Use 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger to replace 1 tablespoon fresh ginger.
More 30 minute meals
If you enjoy quick, flavorful dinners, explore other 30-minute recipes for pasta, salads, soups, and more. Fast meals that still taste special make weeknights easier and more satisfying.
If you try this recipe, please leave a comment and a rating to help other readers. Your feedback is appreciated!
All content and photographs ©Claudia’s Table and claudiastable.com
Miso Butter Shrimp
Ana Coronado
January 20, 2025
Pin Recipe
Equipment
-
1 skillet large 12 inch
Ingredients
Miso Butter Shrimp
- 1 tablespoon of garlic-infused or neutral oil I love the extra flavor the garlic-infused oil provides.
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce low sodium
- 1 Pinch kosher or sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper, white or black ground pepper
- 1 pound raw shrimp, jumbo Thawed ( peeled and deveined)- I use a 13-16 per pound count size shrimp.
- 3 cloves garlic, fresh finely minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger, fresh finely minced
- 3/4 cup vegetable or chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons Miso paste, white
- 2 tablespoons butter unsalted
- 1 whole lemon cut into four wedges
- 2 scallions sliced thin for garnish
Optional for serving
- 3 cups cooked rice
- 3 cups cooked vegetables
Instructions
How to make Miso Butter Shrimp
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Preheat a large skillet over medium heat.
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Add oil, a pinch of salt, white pepper, and soy sauce.
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Add raw shrimp, garlic and ginger.
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Saute until the shrimp are pink and cooked through, about 4-5 minutes for extra-large shrimp.
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Once the shrimp is cooked, remove the shrimp from the pan and set aside.
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Add vegetable or chicken broth to deglaze the pan; about 2 minutes.
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Whisk in the miso paste. Continue whisking until the miso paste is dissolved in the broth mixture.
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Add the butter and whisk until it is melted and integrated into the sauce.
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Add the shrimp back into the pan with the sauce and toss so the shrimp is fully coated with the Miso butter sauce.
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Serve over steamed rice and your favorite vegetable.
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Make sure to spoon some of the sauce over the shrimp, rice an veggies.
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Squeeze lemon over the Miso Butter Shrimp, rice and veggies.
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Garnish with sliced scallions or green onions, and enjoy!
Notes
4–5 shrimp with sauce, 3/4 cup cooked rice and 3/4 cup vegetables per serving.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is calculated online and should be used as a guide.
All content and photographs ©Claudia’s Table and claudiastable.com
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