Simple Shrimp Stock

Shrimp stock is an unnecessary ingredient in our kitchen. Since shrimp can be a bit pricey compared to chicken or vegetables, we usually save shrimp for special occasions. Now, if we are eating shrimp, I always try to get used out of every part of the little ocean bugs. That’s how this experiment came about and yielded a wonderful flavor additive for my recent Gumbo!

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Why I Love This Recipe?

A lot of recipes for making this simple liquid include adding celery, carrots, onion, and even a bay leaf. I like this method because it is simple without a lot of extra ingredients or hand waving. is just a simple flavor extraction in hot water, keeping it simple so you can focus on other things.

Ingredients & Equipment

Ingredients

• Shrimp shells: At most grocers in our city, it’s either cooked shrimp or raw, shells on, tails on shrimp. So, I buy the shells on shrimp and remove the shells myself, yielding our only ingredient for this recipe.
• Water: Nothing fancy, just using water to extract the shrimp essence from the shells.
• Sea Salt: Shrimp is from the ocean, and should be a bit salty. Add a pinch of salt to this stock to really bring out the flavor.

Equipment

• Sauce Pan: I use a saucepan for almost any heated liquid, especially since I didn’t have a lot of shells. Scale up the pot if you scale up the recipe.
• Strainer: Something to remove the shells from the liquid.

Preparation

Preparing the food

Remove the shells from the shrimp if you haven’t done so already. I used the shells, legs, and tails for the extraction. DO NOT RINSE them as you will remove any shrimp water that is already on there.

Cooking the Food

1. Pile the shells into the pot and add the 2 cups of water. It won’t cover them all, but they will soften a bit as you heat it and consolidate into the liquid.
2. Cover and simmer for 15-30 minutes. This will extract the flavor from the shrimp shells and into the water.
3. Pour everything into a fine-mesh strainer and collect the liquid underneath. I just strain it into a cereal bowl. DON’T FORGET THE BOWL! Return the liquid to heat and simmer to concentrate the flavor into a smaller amount of liquid.
4. You can continue to simmer the liquid until the flavor is to your liking. I added mine to gumbo to add shrimp flavor to everything. Keep it further down and you could add it to a white sauce for a seafood pasta dish.

Frequently Asked Questions

I Made Shrimp Stock, Now What Do I do With It?

Add this shrimp stock to anything you want to add shrimp flavor. I have added it to alfredo sauce to make a lovely shrimp flavored alfredo. I also added it to gumbo and other soups to enhance the seafood taste.

Are Shrimp Shells Compostable?

Shrimp shells have a high amount of minerals bound up within the chitin, which can be utilized by composting. Add your boiled shrimp shells to your compost to give it a mineral boost, or work them into garden soil to get a slow release. The boiling used to extract the shrimp stock will kill most of the bacteria on the shells, which should reduce the chance of getting something funky in the compost pile.

What’s the Difference Between Stock and Broth?

While they are very similar, stock is made from animal bones while broth is made from meat and vegetables. Since this method has no vegetables or meat added, it is a stock. Shrimp broth would have all the vegetables and herbs added to make it something different entirely.

FAQ Header 4

FAQ Header 5

Support DFTF!

If you like this recipe and what we’re doing here, these are a few ways to support our food adventures:

• Make the recipe and rate it in the comments section. Tell us what you thought about it and show us that someone out there is reading these!
• Purchases made through our affiliate links pay us a small commission at no charge to you. Show your support by shopping through our links.
• Share it on Facebook, IG, or Pinterest and tag #dadfeedsthefam to tell us how it went. Every mention is a tiny billboard for what we’re doing here!