This grilled pineapple shrimp recipe is ready to go on this Cinco de Mayo! I don’t know about you but I am ready to celebrate getting through a pretty grueling few weeks. I hope you are as excited about this recipe as I am!I fully intended to share the recipe a week and a half ago. But then we moved to a new apartment. And then we discovered Verizon was on strike, which was a really horrible combination of events. While I couldn’t care less if our TV ever comes back on, the lack of wireless nearly sent me over the edge. But as of yesterday, we have this little miracle called a Jetpack, which doesn’t look like it could power a light bulb. But lo and behold, my computer is up and running again. Hallefreakinglujah! Moving on to food…
Shrimp and pineapple is a food pairing that just works. This pineapple marinade is a no brainer – freshly squeezed pineapple juice, red onion, cilantro, jalapeño – easy peasy. Shrimp doesn’t need to marinate long so twenty minutes later, those suckers are ready to throw on the grill (or grill pan if you are a city girl like me :). As if the marinade isn’t good enough on its own (it is) I present to you pineapple round two with some insanely delicious grilled pineapple salsa. The recipe makes a boatload of salsa and it makes a nice little bed for all of those delicious shrimp.
What you do with all of it after that is up to you. Throw it in tacos, on top of a salad, make a healthy version of a burrito bowl. Or just stick a fork right in and send it straight to your belly. Arriba, arriba! Ándale!
- 1 pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into eight long spears
- 1 tsp. avocado oil
- 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
- 1/3 cup chopped red onion
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1/4 cup finely chopped jalapeño
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- salt to taste
- 2 cups pineapple juice, freshly squeezed if available*
- 3/4 cup chopped red onion
- 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 jalapeño, seeds and veins removed
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon salt (plus more for grilling shrimp)
- 2 lbs. shrimp, peeled (leaving the tail section intact) and deveined
- avocado oil to brush on the grill
- Heat a grill or grill pan to medium high heat.
- Brush the pineapple spears lightly with avocado oil.
- Grill the pineapple spears until they have nice grill marks on all sides. This will take two to three minutes per side.
- Remove the pineapple from the grill and allow it to come down to room temperature.
- When the pineapple is cool, dice the pineapple. Transfer it to a glass mixing bowl.
- Add your red bell pepper, red onion, cilantro, jalapeño and apple cider vinegar.
- Mix well and salt to taste.
- Transfer the salsa to a serving platter. This will be the base for your shrimp.
- Combine the pineapple juice, red onion, cilantro, jalapeño, cumin, coriander and salt in a high speed blender. Blend until smooth.
- Put the shrimp in a non-reactive glass container or bowl and pour the marinade over the shrimp.
- Marinate the shrimp at room temperature for twenty minutes.
- Remove the shrimp from the marinade and discard the marinade.
- Heat your grill or grill pan to high heat.
- Brush the grill with a bit of avocado oil to keep the shrimp from sticking.
- Sprinkle the shrimp with salt.
- Grill the shrimp 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side. You want them to be just opaque.
- Remove the shrimp from the grill and transfer them to your serving platter. Serve them on top of the grilled pineapple salsa. Enjoy!
- In terms of timing, I generally throw the pineapple on the grill first. Then I allow it to cool while I prepare my shrimp marinade. While the shrimp are marinating, I finish the salsa. Then I finish the shrimp and serve!
