Last Updated on September 16, 2024
Yummy grilled shrimp kabobs with a spicy orange glaze are a perfect way to up your summer grilling game. The skewered shrimp are so easy to grill to perfection!
If you like shrimp like I do, you’ll love this chili garlic sauce reduced orange glaze.
Reduced? Yep…because you start out with a cup of orange juice then add some chili garlic sauce, orange zest, brown sugar, and anchovy paste, then boil that liquid down to concentrate the liquid. Anchovy paste, because this is the stuff that adds plenty of umami which sparks the flavors of all the other ingredients. If you don’t have a tube of anchovy paste in your refrigerator, you need to get some. It ups the flavor of soups and sauces, and you’ll never taste the anchovies.
After the sauce has reduced after 6 or 8 minutes on the stove, mix some cornstarch in a little cold water and stir that in to further thicken the glaze. You’ll end up with 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup of the glaze to brush onto the shrimp kabobs.
Grilled Shrimp Kabobs
When you grill the shrimp, the charcoal doesn’t have to be screaming hot. Let it burn down so that you can put your hand over the grate for about 3 seconds before your hand is screaming hot. If you use a gas grill, just adjust to medium low and you should be good.
The shrimp will take about 2 minutes on each side to turn pink, opaque and firm. If the glaze seems to burn, move the shrimp to a cooler part of the grill.
I grilled some pineapple and red onions to go with the shrimp in a fruit and garden greens salad which I’ll tell you about next time…stay tuned.
Now…get out there and start your grills. Make tasty grilled shrimp kabobs. Summer doesn’t last that long.
Here are some more tasty appetizer recipes to try:
- Smoked Salmon Dill and Capers
- Mini Crab Cakes
- Instant Pot Chicken Wings
- Caribbean Salt Cod Fritters
- Pepper Jelly with Cream Cheese

Grilled Shrimp Kabobs with Orange Glaze
Ingredients
Orange glaze
- 1 cup orange juice
- 2 tsp chili garlic sauce, I use Huy Fong Foods brand
- 2 tsp orange zest
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp anchovy paste
- 2 tsp cornstarch, dissolved in 3 tbsp water
Shrimp
- 1 lbs large shrimp, 20-30 count, peeled tail on
Instructions
Orange glaze
- Place the orange juice, zest, chili garlic sauce, brown sugar and anchovy paste into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir to combine the ingredients and reduce the liquid by about half, 6 to 8 minutes.
- Stir in the dissolved cornstarch and let thicken, 15 to 30 seconds. Pour the glaze into a small bowl and allow to cool.
Shrimp
- Use metal or bamboos skewers which have been soaked in water for at least 30 minutes. String 8 to 10 shrimp onto each skewer. I used 2 bamboo skewers on each kabob to facilitate turning.
- Brush one side of the shrimp with the glaze and place glazed side down on a medium hot grill, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Brush the second side with the glaze and turn. Grill for another 1 1/2 to 2 minutes until the shrimp is pink, opaque, and firm. If the glaze seems to burn, place the kabob on a cooler part of the grill.
- Serve right away.
MaryJo
These are especially good with wild-caught shrimp. Fast, easy, and delicious.