Camping Food, Camping Recipes, Fish, Foil Packets

Foil Lime Shrimp

Foil Lime Shrimp

Another wonderful seafood dish to take camping with you. While it is unlikely that you will be in a place where you can catch fresh shrimp there is always that option. I make this foil lime shrimp easy by purchasing the shrimp cleaned right from my grocer. Then at the campsite, all I need to do is whip things together quickly and serve them over rice. Sometimes eating the same foil meals on the campfire with hamburger meat, carrots, and potatoes can get a little monotonous. So this one changes things up a bit and adds some excitement. I think that you are going to love the way everything melds together with the zing of the lime. It will definitely scream summertime when you eat this around the fire with your friends and family!

Note: If you have allergies to seafood or shellfish this is also a great recipe to substitute chicken or pork in. The cooking times will vary from this if you do but be creative!

Pre-cooked, Frozen, or Fresh

Okay. I have been asked this question while out camping by friends. I did a little more research and stumble upon Miss Vickie’s Pressure Cooker Times which does provide more detail on fresh vs frozen. There is some great information there that I hadn’t previously considered. So, I think that it is important to address this issue here as well. There are many options for shrimp at your local grocery store. As the heading says you can get pre-cooked, frozen, fresh, jumbo shrimp, mini shrimp, etc. Because I was asked, I did try this recipe out with a few of these options to see how it would turn out. Here is what happened.

Pre-cooked

The shrimp became overcooked and the veggies hardly cooked at all. I don’t know about you but partially raw and super crunchy zuchinni paired with dried-out rubbery shrimp was a major turn-off to me. Additionally, the shrimp didn’t take on any of the flavors from the sauce.

Verdict – Avoid pre-cooked shrimp for this recipe!

Frozen

You may think that for camping taking frozen shrimp would be beneficial. You would be right in that regard as the frozen shrimp will last a bit longer in the cooler. However, unless you dethaw the shrimp completely first I ended up with a watery mess inside of my foil packets. So while it is possible to successfully use frozen shrimp it means that you are going to have to add additional time for the dethaw process.

Verdict – With a lot of preparation frozen may work for you but make sure to add dethaw time into the recipe.

Fresh

This recipe is based on using fresh cleaned shrimp right from the grocer. The shrimp comes out the right texture and is able to absorb the seasonings from the sauce. The timing with the cook on the vegetables is right so you don’t end up with rubber meets crunch!

Verdict – Stick with fresh whenever possible!

Go fresh whenever possible. Your taste buds will thank you.

Changing Shrimp Sizes

I tried the recipe with both fresh jumbo shrimp and regular shrimp. I did not try the mini shrimp because I felt they would be too small to make a filling meal on this one. Not to mention that they would create a cooking issue with the veggies. While I did need to cook the jumbo shrimp a little longer to account for the size I found that they were successful.

Verdict – I recommend cooking this recipe with either the jumbo or regular-sized shrimp.

The Tools

Luckily since this is a foil pack recipe there are not many tools that are necessary. In fact aside from a few mixing utensils you really only need a campfire. You will want to make sure that you prepare your campfire appropriately following our expert campfire cooking guide. This will give you a leg up on making sure that you have the right level of heat and intensity available for cooking your shrimp. Additionally, make sure that you have proper precautions in place to ensure you are safe around the fire. Things like fire gloves and tongs will save you from singing your hair or worse.

We like recipes like this that use minimal tools. They are quick to put together and the amount of cleanup when you are done is welcomed. Especially after a long day of hiking, biking, or kayaking.

Foil Lime Shrimp

Foil Lime Shrimp

Are you looking for a go to summer camping recipe? Look no further because this Foil Lime Shrimp is going to make your campfire your favorite place to gather and share food with friends. Such a quick and easy recipe for the campsite!
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 4

Equipment

  • Campfire
  • Foil
  • Tongs
  • Bowl
  • Spoon

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb. medium shrimp peeled and deveined
  • 1 zucchini cut into half circles
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
  • 2 tbsp. freshly chopped cilantro
  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 limes thinly sliced into rounds
  • 2 tbsp. butter
  • rice for serving

Instructions
 

  • Start a campfire and develop coals for high direct heat.
  • In a small bowl mix together the garlic, cumin, red pepper flakes, and cilantro.
    2 cloves garlic, 2 tsp. ground cumin, 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, 2 tbsp. freshly chopped cilantro, Extra-virgin olive oil
  • Add your shrimp and zucchini to your foil packs and place lime slices and a pat of butter on top of each.
    1 lb. medium shrimp, 1 zucchini, 2 tbsp. butter, 2 limes
  • Drizzle the olive oil and spice mixture over the top of your shrimp and zucchini. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
    kosher salt, Freshly ground black pepper
  • Seal the foil packs leaving a little bit of room around the shrimp mixture. Once sealed give them a little shake to coat everything with that delicious oil mixture.
  • Add shrimp packs to prepared coals and cook until shrimp is pink. This should take about 10 minutes.
  • Serve over rice.
    rice
Keyword Campfire Meals, Foil Meals, Lime, Shrimp