RECIPES / LOUISIANA CLASSICS
Shrimp Over White Rice
New Orleans barbecue shrimp contains no barbecue sauce whatsoever. It is butter, Worcestershire, lemon, and far more black pepper than you think, spooned over rice.
BY PATCHEZ KENNEDY
CO-FOUNDER AT 4SISTERS / AUGUST 17, 2026
ON THIS PAGE
Overview
Ingredients
Prep
Cooking
SERVES 4
PREP
10 min
COOK
15 min
SERVES
4
RICE
Long grain
The Sauce Is the Point
Serving
FAQ
RICE WE USED
Organic White Rice
32 oz (2 lb) bag
Jasmine White Rice
32 oz (2 lb) bag
New Orleans barbecue shrimp is not barbecue. The name refers to the deep brown color of the sauce, which is butter emulsified with Worcestershire, lemon, garlic, and an amount of coarse black pepper that looks like a mistake until you taste it.
The dish traces back to Pascal's Manale on Napoleon Avenue in the 1950s, and traditionally it is served head-on with a bib and a pile of French bread. We serve it over rice, which is what most Louisiana households actually do, and which makes it dinner rather than an event.
Everything here happens in about twelve minutes, so the rice has to be finished and resting before the shrimp go anywhere near heat. Shrimp overcook in the time it takes to answer the door.
The technical part is the butter. You are building an emulsion, which means cold butter added in pieces off high heat so it thickens the sauce rather than splitting into oil and liquid. Rush it and you get a greasy pan instead of something that coats the rice.
SEE OUR RICE
Cook the rice first and let it rest. The shrimp will not wait for it.
Use far more coarse black pepper than feels right. Two full teaspoons, cracked.
Add the butter cold, in pieces, with the pan off the heat. That is what makes the sauce cling.
Pull the shrimp the moment they curl into a C. A tight O means overcooked.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups 4Sisters Organic White Rice
3 cups water
1 1/2 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut in pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 lemon, juiced, plus wedges to serve
2 tsp coarsely cracked black pepper
1 tsp Cajun seasoning
1/2 tsp cayenne, optional
1 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
4 green onions, sliced thin
Kosher salt, to taste
Prep
1
Cook the rice and let it sit
Bring the rice and water to a boil, cover, simmer on the lowest heat 18 minutes, then take it off and leave the lid on. It holds fine for 20 minutes. Our long grain white rice guide covers the method properly.
2
Dry the shrimp, cut the butter
Pat the shrimp thoroughly dry and season them with a little salt. Cut the butter into six or seven pieces and put it back in the refrigerator until the moment you need it. Cold butter is not optional here.
Crack the pepper coarsely rather than using pre-ground. The texture is part of the dish.
The name refers to the color of the sauce, not the method. There is no barbecue sauce anywhere near it.
Cooking
3
Sear the shrimp
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the shrimp in a single layer and cook 90 seconds per side, until just pink and curled into a loose C shape. Move them to a plate. They will be slightly underdone, which is correct, because they finish in the sauce.
4
Build the sauce base
Lower the heat to medium. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds, then the Worcestershire, lemon juice, black pepper, Cajun seasoning, cayenne, and rosemary. Let it bubble and reduce by about a third, roughly 2 minutes.
5
Emulsify the butter
Take the pan completely off the heat. Add the cold butter two pieces at a time, swirling the pan constantly, waiting until each addition has almost disappeared before adding more. The sauce will thicken and turn glossy and opaque.
Return the shrimp with any juices from the plate, put the pan back on low for 60 seconds to warm through, and finish with the green onions.
If the sauce breaks and you can see separated butter, pull it off the heat and whisk in a tablespoon of cold water. That usually brings it back. Keeping the pan off direct heat while the butter goes in prevents it in the first place.
Fluff the rice, mound it in shallow bowls, and spoon the shrimp and every bit of the sauce over the top. Lemon wedges on the side, and French bread if you have it, because there will be sauce left in the bowl and it would be a shame to leave it.
The sauce should coat the grains rather than run to the bottom of the bowl.
TIP FROM THE FARM
Buy shrimp with the shells on and peel them yourself if you have ten spare minutes. Simmer the shells in a cup of water for 15 minutes while the rice cooks, then use a few tablespoons of that stock in place of the lemon juice volume in the sauce. It costs nothing and it is the single biggest upgrade available to this dish.
How We Serve It
This is a Friday dish for us. It comes together faster than takeout, and Gulf shrimp are a genuinely local ingredient here in Louisiana, the same way the rice is.
Our part of the state grows a large share of the country's rice, which is why so much Louisiana cooking is built around something spooned over a bowl of it. The LSU AgCenter rice program is the place to read about how that came to be.
If you want the longer, slower Louisiana pot instead, our recipe collection has the ones that take an afternoon. Leftovers here keep two days, though shrimp reheat poorly, so warm them gently and expect a firmer bite.
Questions We Get
â–¾ Is New Orleans barbecue shrimp actually barbecued?
No. There is no grill, no smoke, and no barbecue sauce. The dish is pan-cooked shrimp in a butter sauce built on Worcestershire, lemon, garlic, and heavy black pepper, and the name comes from the dark brown color the sauce takes on. It originated at Pascal's Manale in New Orleans in the 1950s and is traditionally served head-on with French bread.
â–¾ How do I know when shrimp are done?
Watch the shape. Raw shrimp are straight, properly cooked shrimp curl into a loose C, and overcooked shrimp pull tight into an O and turn rubbery. For large shrimp that is roughly 90 seconds per side over medium-high heat. Pull them a touch early if they are going back into a hot sauce, because they keep cooking.
â–¾ What rice should I serve with shrimp?
Long grain white rice, cooked plain. This sauce is rich and assertive, so the rice should stay neutral and fluffy and give it somewhere to go. Our Organic White is the standard choice. Jasmine White works if you want a little aroma alongside the butter and pepper.
FEATURED POSTS
LOUISIANA CLASSICS
Authentic Dirty Rice
LOUISIANA CLASSICS
Brown Rice Jambalaya
LOUISIANA CLASSICS
Red Beans and Rice