Awesome Shrimp Tailgate Stir Fry: Sweet, Spicy & Griddle-Ready

There comes a point in every tailgate when you've eaten enough brats.
Okay, that's probably not true.
But there does come a point when you might want to put something on the Pit Boss griddle that isn't another burger, brat, or hot dog.

That's where Awesome Shrimp Tailgate Stir Fry comes in.

This quick griddle recipe starts with Awesome Shrimp & Seafood, adds our Green & Gold Griddled Vegetables, fresh garlic, sweet orange sauce, and a kick of habanero barbecue sauce.
The result is sweet, savory, spicy, colorful, and ridiculously easy to make right on the griddle.
Best of all, we're using vegetables we've already cooked.
That's not leftovers.
That's strategic tailgate planning.

Shrimp Belongs at the Tailgate

Shrimp might not be the first thing people picture when they think about tailgate food, but that's exactly why it's such a great addition.
It cooks incredibly quickly.
It loves high heat.
It pairs with just about any sauce you throw at it.

And on a big flat-top griddle, you can cook enough shrimp for a hungry group without messing around with skewers or worrying about smaller pieces falling through grill grates.
For this recipe, we're using Awesome Shrimp and giving it a sweet-and-spicy treatment that works beautifully with the smoky, citrusy vegetables.
It's a nice little break between brat number two and the inevitable plate of wings.

Start With Green & Gold Griddled Vegetables

This recipe is designed to work with our Green & Gold Griddled Vegetables, made with green bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, zucchini, fresh lemon and lime, and Gramma Hazel's Premium Seasoning.

You can make the vegetables immediately before the shrimp and simply push them over to a cooler section of the griddle.
Or make them ahead and add them back onto the griddle once your shrimp begins cooking.
Either way, we're turning one recipe into two.
Efficiency.
We occasionally stumble into it.

Awesome Shrimp Tailgate Stir Fry

Ingredients

• 1 pound Awesome Shrimp, peeled and deveined
• Cooked Green & Gold Griddled Vegetables
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ cup orange sauce
• 1 tablespoon habanero barbecue sauce

Directions

1. Preheat your Pit Boss griddle to medium-high heat.
2. If necessary, pat the shrimp dry with paper towels before cooking. Removing excess moisture will help the shrimp sear rather than steam.
3. Place the shrimp onto the hot griddle in a single layer.
4. Cook briefly until the shrimp begin to turn pink and opaque around the edges.
5. Add the minced garlic and stir-fry with the shrimp for about 30 seconds, being careful not to let the garlic burn.
6. Add the cooked peppers and zucchini to the griddle and toss everything together.
7. In a small bowl, combine the ¼ cup orange sauce with 1 tablespoon habanero barbecue sauce.
8. Drizzle the sauce mixture over the shrimp and vegetables.
9. Toss everything together on the griddle until evenly coated.
10. Continue cooking just until the shrimp are fully cooked and opaque.
11. Remove from the griddle immediately and serve hot.

The Sweet Heat Sauce

This is where things get interesting.
Orange sauce brings sweetness and bright citrus flavor, while habanero barbecue sauce brings the heat.
Put them together and you've got a quick sweet-heat sauce that works beautifully with shrimp.

The starting ratio is simple:
¼ cup orange sauce + 1 tablespoon habanero barbecue sauce.
If you're cooking for people who think ketchup is spicy, you might want to ease into that habanero.
If your tailgate crew enjoys some heat, add a little more.
You are the captain of this spicy little shrimp ship.
Proceed accordingly.

Don't Overcook the Shrimp

​Shrimp cooks quickly, especially on a hot Pit Boss griddle.
Very quickly.
As soon as the shrimp are cooked through and opaque, get them off the heat.
Overcooked shrimp can go from tender and juicy to rubbery before you've even finished arguing about the last penalty call.
That's also why we're using already-cooked vegetables in this recipe.

The peppers and zucchini only need to be heated through. If you started everything raw at the same time, you'd have to  

​​balance the cooking times of several different ingredients.
Instead, the shrimp gets the attention it deserves, and the vegetables join the party near the end.

Garlic Goes In Later

You may notice that we're not throwing the garlic onto the hot griddle at the beginning.
There's a reason.
Garlic can burn quickly on a medium-high griddle, and burnt garlic brings a bitter flavor that nobody invited to the tailgate.
Let the shrimp start cooking first.

Then add your minced garlic and give it a quick stir-fry before adding the vegetables and sauce.
You'll get that fresh garlic flavor without leaving little charcoal garlic bits scattered across the Pit Boss.

Turn It Into a Complete Meal

You can absolutely serve this stir fry straight off the griddle with a fork and call it dinner.
We support this decision.

But you can also turn it into a bigger meal by serving it over:

• Steamed white rice
• Fried rice
• Brown rice
• Noodles
• Cauliflower rice
• Griddled potatoes

For a tailgate, small bowls of rice topped with shrimp stir fry make an easy handheld-ish meal that people can eat while standing around.

You can also tuck the shrimp and vegetables into warm tortillas for an entirely different game-day situation.
Shrimp stir-fry tacos?
We have absolutely wandered off the original recipe.
And we're completely comfortable with it.

Perfect for Cooking on the Pit Boss Griddle

This recipe shows exactly why a griddle is such a handy tool for tailgating.
Everything happens on one cooking surface.
The shrimp cooks quickly.
The vegetables warm back up.
The sauce gets tossed directly into everything.
And when you're done, you've got a full sweet-and-spicy stir fry without carrying a wok into the parking lot.
Because while we admire commitment to the culinary arts, there are limits.

A Different Kind of Tailgate Food

There's nothing wrong with burgers, brats, and wings.
We love them.
Possibly too much.
But sometimes it's fun to throw something completely different onto the Pit Boss griddle.

​With Awesome Shrimp & Seafood, Green & Gold Griddled Vegetables, fresh garlic, orange sauce, and habanero barbecue sauce, you've got a colorful tailgate dish that brings plenty of sweet heat without requiring a complicated ingredient list.

Cook the shrimp.
Add the garlic.
Toss in those vegetables.
Hit everything with the sauce.

And get it off the griddle while the shrimp are still tender.
That's it.
Your tailgate officially has stir fry.

Look at us getting fancy.