Shrimp and Wild Rice Skillet is healthy and hearty. A craveable dinner recipe that's filling and satisfying!
The inspiration for Shrimp and Wild Rice Skillet comes from one of my husband’s and my favorite local restaurants.
They’ve been around for over two decades and my most memorable visit was my sophomore year of high school when my girlfriends and I ate there prior to our school’s Valentine’s Day dance. None of us had dates so we gussied ourselves up, put on matching t-shirts from The Limited Too, then had our parents drop us off for dinner where an hour later we were supposed to be picked up by a limo then driven to the dance in all our girl power glory!
Two hours later we started the long walk home with sagging curls and egos because our limo never showed up, then proceeded to eat our feelings by way of banana cream pies and buttered popcorn while watching the Spice Girls Movie on repeat.
Good times (and thank God for even better girlfriends!)
Anyway, I recently I ordered their Shrimp Charleston — aka, sauteed shrimp served over a bed of rice tossed with green onions, bacon, tomatoes, and garlic butter and was so heavenly that I had to immediately recreate at home with a bit of a healthy boost!
A brown-wild rice blend serves as the base of this easy skillet recipe that includes healthy veggies like baby spinach and chopped tomatoes, big flavors from garlic and bacon, and staying power from sauteed shrimp.
This dish is one of the most flavorful I’ve eaten in ages, and the active cooking time is like, less than 15 minutes. Super, super easy. I also love that this skillet dish is a complete meal in one – healthy whole grains and vegetables, filling protein…and of course, a little bit of bacon.
Start by cooking a wild rice blend in chicken broth. You could do this one or even two days ahead of time, or get it going on the stove while you prep the rest of the ingredients, which is what I did.
While the rice is cooking, add jumbo shrimp to brown sugar and salt stirred into cold water then refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. This quick brining step will make the shrimp extra snappy and delicious once sauteed. I don’t always brine my shrimp, but it really makes a big difference in taste and texture when I do.
After the quick brine, drain then rinse the shrimp, and then pat them very dry with paper towels.
Ok – skillet time! Heat extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, then add half the shrimp, season with seasoned salt and pepper, and then saute until the shrimp are cooked through, 1-2 minutes per side. Remove the shrimp to a plate then repeat with another Tablespoon oil and the remaining shrimp.
Turn the heat down to medium then melt butter in the skillet. Add chopped green onions then saute until tender, 1-2 minutes, and then add minced garlic cloves and saute for 30 seconds.
Next add chopped vine-ripened tomato and baby spinach that’s been roughly chopped. Season with more seasoned salt and pepper then saute for about a minute, just until the spinach is slightly wilted.
Finally add the cooked wild rice, chopped bacon (which I cooked in the microwave to keep things easy!) and chicken broth, and then simmer until the broth has been nearly absorbed by the rice. This makes the dish nice and creamy, without having to add cream!
Last step is to drizzle in a little lemon juice which makes every flavor pop (trust me, don’t leave it out!) then scoop onto plates and top with the sauteed shrimp. Just like that, a delicious, restaurant-worthy dinner is served. Enjoy, enjoy!
More Seafood Dinner Recipes
- Smoked Salmon
- Shrimp and Asparagus
- Garlic Herb Butter Pasta with Roasted Shrimp
- Salmon Provencal
- Spicy Shrimp Soup
- Thai Coconut Shrimp Soup
Ingredients
- 1-3/4 cups chicken broth, divided
- 1 cup Wild Blend Rice, Lundberg recommended
- 4 cups cold water
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons salt
- 1 lb 16/20 count jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
- homemade seasoned salt and pepper
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 vine-ripened tomato, seeded then chopped
- 4 cups loosely packed baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 3 slices bacon, chopped
- 1/2 lemon
Directions
- Bring 1-1/2 cups chicken broth and rice to a boil in a saucepan then place a lid on top, turn heat down to low, and then simmer until rice is tender, 45-50 minutes.
- Add cold water, salt, and brown sugar to a large bowl then stir to combine. Add shrimp then let sit in brine while rice cooks. When rice has 10 minutes left, drain then rinse shrimp, and then pat very dry with paper towels.
- Heat 1 Tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the shrimp, season with seasoning salt and pepper, and then saute until cooked through, 1-2 minutes per side. Remove shrimp to a plate then saute remaining shrimp in remaining 1 Tablespoon oil, and then remove to plate.
- Turn heat down to medium then melt butter in skillet. Add green onions then saute until tender, 1-2 minutes. Add garlic then saute for 30 more seconds. Add tomato and spinach, season with seasoned salt and pepper, and then saute until spinach has barely wilted, 1 minute. Add cooked bacon, rice, and remaining 1/4 cup chicken broth to the skillet then simmer until chicken broth has thickened, 2-3 minutes. Drizzle lemon juice over the top, season with more seasoned salt and pepper, and then toss to combine. Serve with cooked shrimp.
Notes
- Not a fan of shrimp? Swap in your favorite protein!
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
Hello! Thank you for this recipe!! I made it this evening and it was indeed a hit…my mom went back for seconds!
Fabulous!! So glad it was a hit!
Super tasty! I’ve made this recipe a few times now and my whole family loves it.
So delish. I did changed a few things bc I didn’t have everything but this was AMAZING.I just used regular onions, added jalapeno when cooking onions n instead of chicken broth at the end I added unsweet coconut milk. This did not disappoint, will def b making this weekly YUMM
Love the creamy spin on this, Mel! So glad you enjoyed it – thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Super tasty! My husband and I both really liked it!
Thrilled to hear it, Melissa! Thanks for your review and recipe rating! :)
We made this tonight. We’ve been on an Iowa Girl Eats kick lately! This was marvelous. So much flavor. Will add this to our regular recipe rotations.
Thrilled to hear it, Erin! So glad you’re enjoying the recipes!
I winged some things because of what I had on hand. Amazing! I used vegetable stock, cilantro, heirloom tomato, an entire lemon plus zest. No scallions or spinach. I’m confident I could audition with this recipe! Thank you so much Kristin!
thats look very delicious i ll gonaa try today. thank you for providing recieps.
Howdy Kristin,
This looks so delicious. Gonna try them for my kids. They are shrimp lovers.
Yummy! Thanks for these tasty recipe.
We LOVED this dish! I didn’t have Spinach but I did have frozen peas and used them instead, which was just as delicious. Thank You!
I made this tonight and it was absolutely delicious. I don’t have access to your favorite wild rice blend, but did have Royal Select rice blend (basmati, brown, wild and Thai red) and it worked wonderfully. The brining of the shrimp added an slightly sweet flavor layer (to already sweet shrimp) and the combo of veggies – tomato and spinach – was really perfect. This doesn’t taste like anything I’ve ever made before, which was great fun. There are just two of us and this was a perfect, one-dish dinner for us. My DH asked where I found the recipe and I said, “Guess.” He laughed and said, “Must have been Iowa Girl.” This one is definitely a keeper!
Love it, Anne!! So glad you both enjoyed. I haven’t made this dish in awhile – need to make that happen again ASAP!
Great recipe, tasty and easy to make. I used only wild rice, not a blend.
So glad to hear it, Marcy! Thank you so much for your feedback and recipe rating!
Looks delicious, & your photos are fantastic!