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Cooking adventures in a small, closet sized, kitchen. - I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.

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Thai Lemon Shrimp

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Thai Lemon Shrimp
Shrimp in a lemon-y sweet chili sauce that is just bursting with flavour!

In my never ending search for tasty shrimp recipes I came across this recipe for Goong Maa Now or Thai lemon shrimp. Like many Thai dishes this one is a perfect melding of sweet, sour, hot and salty. This recipe calls for kaffir lime leaves which were a bit difficult to find. Luckily they keep really well in the freezer and the bag that I picked up has lasted a long time. This is another super quick shrimp dish that takes almost no time to make. The lemon and coconut milk added an amazing flavour and aroma and of course this dish would not be complete without my favorite herb, cilantro. These lemon shrimp could easily be served as an appetizer or as a meal along with some rice or pasta.

Thai Lemon Shrimp

Thai Lemon Shrimp

Prep Time:15 minutes Cook Time:5 minutes Total Time:20 minutes Servings: 4

Shrimp in a lemon-y sweet chili sauce that is just bursting with flavour!

ingredients
  • 1 pound shrimp, shelled and deveined
  • 1/3 cup Thai style sweet chili sauce
  • 1 lemon, juice and zest
  • 3 kaffir lime leaves, sliced or 1 lime, zest
  • 1 teaspoon chili sauce or to taste
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon palm sugar or brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup coconut milk
  • 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
directions
  1. Marinate the shrimp in the sweet chili sauce, lemon juice, lemon zest, kaffir lime leaves, chili sauce, fish sauce, garlic and sugar for 10 or more minutes.
  2. Heat a pan over medium heat.
  3. Add the shrimp along with the marinade and the coconut milk and simmer until the shrimp are cooked, about 2-3 minutes.
  4. Remove from heat and mix in the cilantro.
Similar Recipes:
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Tequila Lime Shrimp
Orange Chipotle Shrimp
Shrimp and Pineapple Teriyaki
Shrimp Scampi with Zucchini Noodles
Bang Bang Shrimp
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Astra Libris says

    June 20, 2008 at 12:16 am

    Ooooh, gorgeous! I am definitely sending this recipe to my friend Lisa – you know you have a wonderful foodie friend when kafir lime leaves are their idea of a perfect present! (I really did mail her kafir lime leaves for her birthday, and I know she’ll be so excited about your beautiful recipe! 🙂

    Reply

  9. Manggy says

    June 20, 2008 at 1:23 am

    Shrimp + chili sauce + sugar = always, without fail, bound to be a hit 🙂 You always seem to make a lot of food, Kevin! How many people do you feed?!

    Reply

  11. Pam says

    June 20, 2008 at 1:45 am

    How am I going to enjoy my dinner after seeing that gorgeous picture? Cilantro is my favorite herb too. Another mouth watering recipe Kevin.

    Reply

  15. Kalyn says

    June 20, 2008 at 3:31 am

    A complete winner, and of course cilantro is my favorite herb too (although I’m getting pretty fond of dill these days. I think I like all the herbs!)

    The colors in this photo are just fantastic too, good job!

    Reply

  32. Dee says

    June 20, 2008 at 2:45 pm

    I can’t think of anything that hasn’t already been said. It’s well thought out, obviously delicious, beautifully photographed… see what I mean?

    🙂

    Reply

  34. Anonymous says

    June 20, 2008 at 3:06 pm

    Increibly simple and QUICK. Awesome for those two reasons alone. But, this actually looks delicious. I love all the flavors.

    Reply

  36. Bobby says

    June 20, 2008 at 4:07 pm

    Mmmm, this has to be one of the best sounding shrimp dishes I have seen in awhile. The ingredients sound amazing – adding the coconut milk is a great idea!

    Reply

  41. Sandie says

    June 20, 2008 at 9:38 pm

    Stunning photo… absolutely stunning!

    Shrimp ranks up there in my top 5 list of all-time favorite foods, so I’m definitely going to give this dish a whirl. I can’t wait to soak up the compliments on presentation alone!

    Reply

  52. gilda says

    June 25, 2008 at 7:25 am

    this looks ammmmmaaaaaazing!!!! i’m definitely going to try that. i’m such a quack of a cook but this looks like something even i could do. nice! i’ll be back for more recipes!

    Reply

  57. Kumiko says

    September 8, 2008 at 9:30 pm

    I like this photo – how was it? I find it takes a good few tries to get the flavours of each Thai dish right – simple ingredients, but needs the right mix.

    Reply

  59. Anonymous says

    January 4, 2010 at 7:59 pm

    It was super!!! I think I must have put more coconut milk in than you did because mine looked 'creamier' than your pic. I used the zest of an entire lime and all of its juice(no lemon).
    Another great tasting shrimp/prawn dish. (btw I use medium shrimp.)

    Reply

  60. Anonymous says

    January 5, 2010 at 3:13 am

    Kevin – this looks yummy but do you have any rec's on which brand of chili sauce and sweet chili sauce to buy?

    Reply

  62. Anonymous says

    March 30, 2010 at 6:59 pm

    I make this…and loved it!

    Stumbled across your blog recently- keep posting! I've tried quite a few things and have enjoyed them all.

    Reply

  63. Anonymous says

    April 30, 2010 at 11:04 pm

    WOW !!!! What a wonderful blog! I was searching for a Shrimp recipe and came across yours through "GOOGLE Images" (!). I was VERY impressed by your "Thai lemon shrimp" picture (and of course your travel experiences). After two hours reading through your blog, I had to test your recipe !

    ABSOLUTELY divine !

    I will definitely keep you in my "favorites" and revisite regularly.

    N. from Ottawa….

    Reply

  67. Kevin says

    February 8, 2011 at 11:48 pm

    Terri-Lynn: I would try to go with the fresh kaffir lime leaves or replace them with some lime zest. If you do get the fresh kaffir lime leaves, they store well in the freezer.

    Reply

  72. Anonymous says

    June 11, 2011 at 12:17 am

    I've had this recipe saved for sooo long and finally made it last night…amazing..as usual!
    Thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply

  81. Michelle says

    December 4, 2012 at 11:43 pm

    I made this using only lime juice and it was delish but I cooked the shrimp probably 2-3 minutes longer than necessary. I served with rice noodles and had stir fried some zucchini, peppers and mushrooms as a side which ended up being really tasty mixed in with that yummy sauce. Kids didn't really go for it, but they rarely do. Will definitely make again, down the 401 in Ottawa 🙂

    Reply

  82. cass says

    January 30, 2013 at 12:14 am

    i'm constantly trying new recipes out on my family (which includes 4 men who think they are professional food critics). this was definitely one of the best new recipes i've tried in a while and it was relatively quick!

    i followed the recipe to a T, using lime zest in place of kaffir leaves.

    i served with stir fried bok choy, red pepper, mushrooms, and zucchini over noodles.

    definitely making this again and again!!!

    Reply

  83. Anonymous says

    February 3, 2013 at 6:05 pm

    What exactly is the chili sauce used in this recipe? There is hot/spicy sauce (with the rooster on the bottle) but also another bottled version by Heinz that I've used in making cocktail sauce. Thanks.

    Reply

  85. Kevin says

    February 3, 2013 at 7:06 pm

    Anonymous: I use srirachi (the rooster) but other forms of chili sauces like sambal oelek would also work. The Heinz chili sauce would just not be the same.

    Anonymous: Yes, double the sauce if serving over something. You could never have too much! 🙂

    Enjoy!

    Reply

  88. Nadia says

    May 15, 2013 at 7:26 pm

    A lot of people say they will make this, but I actually did. I am not new to closet cooking and over the years I tried several of your shrimp recipes (oh how i love shrimps) and this recipe is so far the BEST.

    Did not have the kafir leaves and I dount it is possible to buy where I live, but the dish was very decent with just the lime juice and a bit of zest for the extra kick.

    I cooked it with chinese noodles by the way and did not regret it. Damn this was GOOD!!!! Thanks so much for all this awesome recipe.

    Reply

  89. Nadia says

    June 11, 2013 at 6:57 pm

    I did it again 😀

    I wonder though, would it it go well with some finely chopped red bell peppers and spring onion as well? What do you think Kevin?

    Reply

  93. Anonymous says

    October 5, 2013 at 12:41 am

    This is amazingly good. We had it last night and guess what was requested tonight by my family?? The SAME dinner as last night… 🙂 It's marinating right now, but wanted to thank you for a wonderful new shrimp recipe. Love it and it's in my 'favorite recipe" folder on Pinterest!

    Reply

  97. Anonymous says

    April 5, 2015 at 6:35 pm

    OMG , just cooked this recipe, my university aged boy , just took a picture of this , he said this looks and tastes amazing! Certain making this one again

    Reply

  98. Kilyena says

    January 22, 2016 at 1:32 am

    We've made this recipe several times and it never gets old. We started increasing the liquid x 2 (everything except for the shrimp) to have extra to go over hot Jasmine rice. This sauce is fabulous! Bamboo makes a nice addition as well. We LOVE this recipe. The whole family loves it!

    Reply

  100. catzeye14120 says

    May 9, 2018 at 9:51 pm

    hi kevin, i'm allergic to coconut milk and i usually stay away from recipes that include it, but your shrimp look so good, i'm wondering..would cashew milk work as a substitute? or maybe just heavy cream?

    Reply

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