Healthy meals with shrimp are easy to make with very little money spent. Normally I’m not a big fan of shrimp in stir fry but I was pleasantly surprised when I tasted this dish that my lovely husband prepared for me. Not only was it healthy but it had the perfect amount of spice on the shrimp and the quinoa was flavorful.
The stir fry itself was also artfully spiced. I did add a little yum yum sauce to enhance the overall flavor. The shrimp was succulent and did not have a fishy after taste. I personally like it with quinoa but you could also use brown rice or noodles. I appreciated it only taking 20 minutes to prepare, and yet, the quality was comparable to what’s served in a restaurant and this healthy shrimp recipe didn’t cost a fortune.
Stir fry quinoa vs rice
I prefer quinoa in my stir fry over rice because of the number of carbohydrates. Rice contains about 45 g while quinoa is around 20 g. The taste is negligible to me so the trade off is easy. Like rice, quinoa takes awhile to cook.
Preparing healthy meals with shrimp
I like to use large peeled and de-veined shrimp with no tails. 3 oz is about 90 calories and 0 carbs. If the shrimp is frozen, you’ll need to defrost by placing them under warm water for a few minutes. Drain all excess water when defrosted and place shrimp in a bowl. Add 2 tsp of cayenne pepper, 1 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp of sea salt and a 1/2 cup of lime juice. Stir until all pieces are coated.
Boiling the quinoa
By far the longest item in this recipe to cook is the quinoa. It takes about 15 minutes to cook thoroughly. In a strainer, rinse quinoa under water for about a minute. In a large pot, add a 1/2 cup of quinoa, 1 chicken bouillon cube, salt, pepper, 2 tsp cayenne pepper and 1 and 1/2 cups of water and boil. Continuously stir the mixture to keep the quinoa from sticking to the bottom. About 5 minutes into the boil, start cooking the stir fry ingredients in a large skillet (see below). Quinoa will be almost translucent when it is fully cooked. Empty the contents into a strainer.
Healthy shrimp recipes made simple
I use a store bought stir fry but you could make your own for your healthy meal with shrimp. If you are inclined to do so, 5 oz comes to about 105 calories and 8 g of carbs. In a large skillet, spray pan with olive oil cooking spray. Place burner on medium and add 2 cloves of minced garlic. Let cook for a minute. Add stir fry to pan and add 1 tbsp lite soy sauce. Stir for about 5 minutes and add shrimp and cook for an additional 5 minutes or until shrimp is done. The shrimp will turn from pink to almost pale white. Salt and pepper to taste.
Finishing it off
Once the shrimp is done, add the desired amount of quinoa to the bottom of a bowl. Top with stir fry vegetables and desired amount of shrimp. At the very end I like to use about 2 tbsp of Japanese Yum Yum sauce. It’s only about 170 calories and 5 g of carbohydrates but go light if you are counting calories or carbs. And there you have it!
If you enjoyed this healthy meals with shrimp article, be sure to checkout the 12 healthy shrimp recipes you can make easily recipe roundup.
