How Long Does It Take to Boil Shrimp

Boiling shrimp is easy and takes very little time. This technique for boiling shrimp works whether you have frozen shrimp, fresh shrimp, large shrimp, or salad shrimp.

Fill a pot with enough water to full submerge the shrimp that you are preparing to cook. With the heat on medium, heat the water to boiling. Add in the shrimp. You do not need to adjust the temperature of the burner. It should remain at medium heat. The shrimp will only take three to seven minutes to full cook. You can tell when the shrimp is ready ad fully cooked by looking at the color of the shrimp. The shrimp will turn pink when it is ready. Empty the contents of the pot into a strainer to remove the shrimp from the water.

There are many ways to add interest to boiled shrimp. You can add spices or shrimp boil, which can be found next to the butcher's counter at your local grocery store, to add more flavor.

Once shrimp is cooked it can be chilled to add to salad or cold pasta dishes. It can also be added warm to just about any source available at your local grocery store. Generally, shrimp can be purchased peeled and deveined. This is ideas for quick cooking. Peeled and deveined shrimp can also be used for shrimp cocktail instead of the traditional peel and eat shrimp.

Keep in mind that no matter what dish you are planning to make with shrimp, it needs to be fully cooked before serving. Even shrimp that is sold as fully cooked needs to be boiled. Check for that healthy pink color even when boiling shrimp that is sold fully cooked. It takes approximately the same amount of time to boil shrimp sold as fully cooked as shrimp that has not yet been cooked.