Fresh citrus grilled shrimp and zoodles create a light, healthy and super tasty lunch or dinner! A cilantro, lime, and orange vinaigrette acts as both a marinade and dressing for the dish, which can be served warm, or cold, as a zucchini noodle salad. Gluten free, paleo, Whole30 friendly.
It’s possible I’m just trying to rationalized my zoodle mania at the moment, but I truly don’t think you can ever have TOO MANY zoodle recipes. Just in the same way no one would complain about too many pasta recipes – it’s just not possible to overdo it, in my opinion. Especially when it’s summer, and summer squash seems to be abundant everywhere you turn.
Whether you grow your own or buy, I find it difficult to ignore the amazingly versatile green summer squash. From chocolate to blueberry muffins to savory zoodles galore, you can always find a delicious way to use it for whatever you’re craving!
Anyway, while I definitely haven’t ignored zucchini, I HAVE been ignoring seafood for the most part. Ugh, I really should stop doing that! Unfortunately seafood doesn’t always get the best response around here, although shrimp is usually a winner. Especially when paired with citrus! Since it’s typically go-big-or-go-home for me, I went a little wild with the citrus in this recipe, and it complemented the shrimp so well.
To start off, I knew I wanted lime and cilantro – they seem to hate being separated, don’t you think? However, I also wanted to sweeten it up just a bit with fresh orange juice PLUS just a touch of honey (if you don’t need to be Whole30 compliant.) Truthfully, the honey is so minimal that you won’t miss it at all, and perhaps a splash more of orange juice would make up for the tiny bit of lost sweetness.
The dressing/marinade also contains both the zest from the lime and orange, which provides lots of tartness for the shrimp. Make sure you grate the zest very finely and ONLY the colored part, not the white pith which can add bitterness. The marinade is also flavored with quite a bit of garlic, so make sure to adjust to your preference, if necessary.
The same goes for the pepper you use – if you prefer your shrimp with some spice, adding chipotle pepper instead of black will make you swoon, I promise. I’m a huge chipotle pepper fan, however, a little bit goes a long way, so add with caution if you decide to go that route. As you can see, I’m giving you lots of options here with this dressing, but you really can’t go wrong no matter what you decide on.
The rest of this dish is easy peasy (lime) squeezy. You marinate the shrimp for at least an hour, then grill and toss with your zoodles and the remaining dressing. You can serve this cold/room temp, as a zoodle “salad” as I did, or lightly sauté the zoodles before tossing to have more of a “pasta dish”.
Either way, make sure you follow the directions in the recipe for “sweating” your zucchini noodles so you don’t wind up with overly watery zoodles. Essentially, you salt them so they release tons of water over the course of an hour, and then drain all the water released. No matter what I’m doing with my zucchini noodles, I always make sure to get as much water out of them as possible and it improves the taste and texture of the final dish. Happy spiralizing, happy eating – now let’s start cooking!
Grilled Citrus Shrimp and Zoodles {Paleo, Whole30}
Citrus Grilled Shrimp and Zoodles {Paleo, Whole30}
Ingredients
For the dressing/marinade:
- 1.5 tsp finely grated lime zest from one med lime
- 1.5 tsp finely grated orange zest
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp fresh minced cilantro
- 2 tsp fresh lime juice
- 1.5 Tbsp fresh orange juice
- 6 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2-3/4 tsp fine grain sea salt plus more to season shrimp before cooking
- 1/4 tsp black pepper OR chipotle chili powder for extra spice (1/4 tsp will add significant spice)
- 1 tsp honey optional - adding honey makes the recipe no longer whole30 compliant
Shrimp and Zoodles:
- 1 lb shrimp peeled and deveined
- salt and pepper to season the shrimp right before cooking
- 3-4 zucchini medium, spiralized, plus 1/4-1/2 tsp salt (to "sweat" the zucchini)
- extra cilantro for garnish
Instructions
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To create the marinade, blend all ingredients on low, or whisk together in a bowl, except for olive oil, then stream the olive oil in with the blender running on low or while whisking.
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Pour the dressing into a container, and reserve 3 Tbsp of the dressing to marinate the shrimp. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least one hour. The rest of the dressing should be covered and refrigerated until ready to use.
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Spiralize your zucchini and "sweat" them by placing in a colander over a bowl, and sprinkling with sea salt. This will release much of the water over the course of an hour, after which you can drain them and squeeze out excess water with paper towels. The zucchini can sweat while the shrimp marinates.
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Once ready to grill, turn the grill on high and brush lightly with olive oil. shake off excess marinade from the shrimp and discard, leaving a light coating of marinade on the shrimp. Season shrimp with a bit of sea salt and pepper, then put them on the hot grill, not allowing them to touch.
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Grill shrimp on each side until pink,opaque and just done - don’t overcook. Remove to a plate and allow them to cool a bit before tossing with zucchini noodles and desired amount of extra dressing.
Nutrition
What I Used To Make My Zucchini Noodles:
Want More Paleo Zucchini Noodle Ideas? Try One of These!
Zucchini Pasta with Chicken and Scallion Avocado Sauce
Spicy Shrimp Marinara with Zucchini Noodles
Zucchini Noodles with Sun Dried Tomato Cream and Chicken
Spicy Sausage and Zucchini Noodle Egg Bake
Tell Me!
Do you prefer your zoodles hot or cold?
Very easy n takes less time to prepare. Looks delicious.
Do you not cook the zucchini noodles?
You can either “sweat” them and leave them raw, serving as a salad or lightly sauté prior to adding the shrimp and dressing 🙂
Just made this tonight, but instead I sautéed the zoodles. My gosh! It was AMAZING! The marinade is to die for! I loved all the flavor and my husband even had seconds. I can’t wait for my father in laws fresh garden zucchinis as this will be a summer favorite. Thanks!
Ooh wow, it sounds like a really fresh delicious pasta(ish) dish. 🙂 And that’s cool that your family does like shrimp. I like shrimp if it’s cooked right; I’m probably too picky.
This looks absolutely delicious. I’m just curious about where you get your shrimp. Frozen or fresh? Honestly one of the main reasons I don’t eat as much seafood as I should is the sourcing! Obviously wild caught is the best but it still makes me nervous for some reason. 🙂
Haha I’m sort of the same way. I always buy wild caught from my local store but I’m curious where some of it’s really coming from. I’ve always purchased frozen in order to save $$ too, so that’s another issue!
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Michele,
Love your website. I eat 100% gluten free and have for 5 years for medical reasons.
Today is my first day your website however I’am use To seeing the nutriltional valuey after each recipe. Also I ‘am a lifetime member of weight watchers and user of the
point system.
Margaret Dame
I’m using a new recipe plugin to show nutrition and will be updating older recipes too. However it won’t be showing points, just nutrition facts.
What is the serving size??
Is the nutrition information for the whole recipe or for one serving? If it’s for one serving, what is the serving size?
This looks amazingly delicious!
So, so, so good.
I didn’t sweat them as long, added butter to the marinade, and didn’t use zest, just juice. Boyfriend loved it.
My family loved it! I didn’t read the instructions before making though and I dumped all of the marinade onto the shrimp 😲. So I ended up just sauteeing the zoodles and marinade until thoroughly cooked, grilled the shrimp. It was delicious!!
Firstly I am bad at slicing my zucchini. Bought a cutter and so am eagerly trying to do something.
Your recipe is a great booster in terms of nutritional value too.
Great job