Well, H-E-L-L-O… Sunshine! Summer is on its way which means, BBQ, grilling stuff, friends over (or over to friend’s) and good times. These Grilled Shrimp and Pineapple Skewers are the perfect appetizers to serve at a party or even for dinner on some rice. A couple weeks ago we had some friends over and we served these as appetizers, followed by Grilled Jerk Pork Chops, Mango Salsa, Coconut Rice for main course and ended the night with Mango Trifle for dessert. Can you guess what the theme was? Yup, Jamaican night. Jamaica is special to us because we got married there. So if my husband is reading this, cheers to many more baby and thanks for putting up with me and for loving all the food I make (at least you said you do. ha!).
I love grilling stuff, especially these Grilled Shrimp and Pineapple Skewers. First of all, there are literally two main ingredients, shrimp and pineapple, and it only takes about 6-8 minutes to grill on medium-high heat. One thing I’d like to mention is do not worry if your pineapple is not sweet, once you grill it, it will get sweeter. I call it “the magic of grilling fruit”, it brings out its natural sugar.
Let’s cook some food!
If you use wooden skewers, soak them in water for 10-15 minutes, it will prevent them from burning.
Clean shrimp (peel and devein). The shortcut is to buy peeled/deveined shrimp. I don’t mind cleaning them so I just buy the easy peeled kind (split shell for easy peeling; vein removed). Sprinkle with some salt, pepper and paprika.
Cut pineapple into 1-inch thick, don’t forget to cut off the tough core. I cut the whole pineapple myself, but if you want a shortcut, you can buy them already cut. I like cutting it myself and here’s how I did it.
Place the pineapple on its side. Use a cutting board or other cutting surface.
Cut the crown and the stem off. Using a sharp chef’s knife, cut them both off about a half inch into the pineapple.
Stand the pineapple up on one end. Slice the skin off the sides, going from top to bottom.
Cut the pineapple into chunks. Stand the pineapple up and cut it into quarters length-wise. Cut the core from each quarter of pineapple, and then cut each quarter in half length-wise again. Lay each of the strips down and slice them into chunks.
Thread on the shrimp alternating with pineapple.
On a hot grill, brush it with some vegetable oil. Place the skewers on the grill rack over medium-high heat. Grill for 6-8 minutes, turning once, until shrimp are opaque and pineapple is heated through and has some grill marks on.
Look at them! Yummmm.
Garnish with some cilantro leaves (optional), serve as appetizer or over some rice. Enjoy!
I hope you give these Grilled Shrimp and Pineapple Skewers a try. The recipe card is below.
- 1 lbs large shrimp (peeled, deveined)
- 1 pineapple (cut into 1-inch thick chunks)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- vegetable oil
- cilantro (optional)
- If you use wooden skewers, soak them in water for 10-15 minutes, it will prevent them from burning.
- Sprinkle the shrimp with some salt, pepper and paprika.
- Thread on the shrimp alternating with pineapple.
- On a hot grill, brush it with some vegetable oil. Place the skewers on the grill rack over medium-high heat. Grill for 6-8 minutes, turning once, until shrimp are opaque and pineapple is heated through and has some grill marks on.
- Garnish with some cilantro leaves (optional), serve as appetizer or over some rice.
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