Green beans and shrimp is a quick and easy week night dish that is sure to be on steady rotation! When I was a little girl in Guyana, there were weekday meals and weekend meals. On the weekend my mom made dishes like fried rice and baked chicken or cook-up rice, because that’s when you were most likely to have a visiting relative or friend. It is customary in Guyana for the host to offer guests a meal when visiting a family or friend. My mom tried to always have her best meals available for such occasions
The Best Weeknight meals
During the week however, when you were less likely to have guests, my mom kept meals simple. She served most of our meals with a side of rice. The main dishes for these meals was typically a vegetable paired with a simple protein. Guyanese vegetable stews and stir-fries were often reserved for weekday lunches and dinner time meals.
Finding Caribbean Vegetables
When I first moved to Denver, I struggled to find some Caribbean/Guyanese vegetables that I love. Bora or Chinese long bean was one of those vegetables I just couldn’t find. One day while craving bora and shrimp for dinner, I decided to use frozen petite green beans as a substitute for bora and that is how this recipe was created. I’ve since updated the recipe to make it Whole30/Paleo friendly but it still has the same delicious flavor.
Preparing the Petite Green Beans
For this Shrimp and Green Beans dish I love to cut my green beans into 1/2 inch pieces. Since I always use frozen Petite Green Beans these must be completely defrosted before chopping up.
Preparing the Shrimp
I always sauté my shrimp first. I season the shrimp with some basic pantry staples, like granulated garlic, onion powder, paprika, dried thyme, salt and pepper. Then I sauté the shrimp in hot oil for a few minutes. Not enough time to cook the shrimp completely but enough to seal in some of the flavors of the seasoning. Then I remove the shrimp from the pan and cook the green beans.
Bring the Green Beans and Shrimp dish together
After sautéing the green beans with some tomatoes, onions and garlic I add the shrimp back in and continue to sauté for a minute or two, then remove from the heat and enjoy. It is that simple. Most of the work is spent chopping up the green beans! Once you get that out of the way, the rest of the dish comes together really quickly. I like my green beans cooked with a little bit of snap still in them but you can feel free to cook yours a bit longer if you like them softer.
Save it for Later
The Printable Green Beans and Shrimp Recipe
- Green Beans and Shrimp
- 1 packet of Frozen Petite Green Beans (chopped into 1/2 inch pieces)
- 3 tablespoons of avocado oil
- 1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, grated
- 1 tablespoon of dried thyme
- 1/4 cup of coconut aminos (can substitute with 1 tablespoon of cassareep)
- 3/4 teaspoon of of salt
- Pinch of black pepper
- For the Shrimp
- 1/2 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
- Juice of 1/2 a lemon
- 1 teaspoon of dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon of paprika
- 1 teaspoon of granulated garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
- Add the shrimp to a bowl, then drizzle lime juice over the shrimp
- Next, sprinkle the shrimp with salt, cayenne pepper (if using), dried thyme, paprika and garlic powder
- Then mix together well until all of the shrimp is fully coated with the seasoning. Let the Shrimp marinate while you are prepping (cutting into 1/2 inch pieces) the petite green beans
- When ready to cook, add 2 tablespoons of oil to a large skillet or sauté pan on medium heat and bring up to temperature
- Then when the oil is hot, add the marinated shrimp and cook on each side for about a minute, searing to lock in the flavor of the seasoning
- Then remove from the heat and set aside
- Next add a tablespoon of oil to the skillet or sauté pan followed by the onions
- Cook onions until soft and translucent then add the tomatoes and garlic and continue to cook until the tomatoes are soft
- Then add the cut green beans, salt and pepper and continue to sauté, turning often until the green beans are cooked. This should take about 10 minutes. Cook for longer if you like a softer green beans
- Then remove from the heat and enjoy
Try these other vegetable recipes
Bora and Potatoes
Pok Choy and Chicken
Guyanese Cheese Straws
Creamy Farine (Cassava) Grits
Spaghetti Squash Mac and Cheese (Paleo, Whole30, Keto)
Gluten Free and Grain Free Guyanese Roti (Paleo)
Ellen Says
Why not use fresh French green beans? That is what I use and they are wonderful!
Althea Brown Says
Most times I use what I have available. So glad the fresh beans worked.
Nazir Says
Very well explained and lots of detail
Thank you
I am teaching my kids to cook Guyanese food so I will never go hungry
Alia Says
Metemgee, thanks to you my Canadian born son and British husband can enjoy the delicious Guyanese foods I grew up with. My son loves oil roti with anything.
I have bora in the fridge. I’ll make it with shrimp for my husband and son:)
Thank you for your blog. Loving all the vegetarian dishes.
Metemgee Says
Awww. Glad I can pass on some of my recipes and tricks. Thanks got your kind words.
Michelle Says
I am so glad I found your blog. Thanks to you, my bora, chicken, and rice are on the stove as we speak. Teehee…
Liz Says
I love your recipes. They’re super awesome. I live in Texas now and I miss Guyana’s food so much, but I’ve followed all your recipes so far. They’re amazing. Is it possible that you can blog about cheese rolls at some point ^_^?
Metemgee Says
Here’s a funny story. I made a cheese roll video. Everything was looking great. Then I went to take the cheese rolls from the oven, and they had all leaked and the cheese was everywhere except in the rolls. This has happened once before when I didn’t seal the rolls properly. I was so sad. I will try again, this week. I have relatives visiting and it will be a great treat for them.
G.T. Binny Says
girl I live in toronto and you’re taking me back to guyana with your recipes, please keep them coming 🙂 !
Metemgee Says
Glad you like the blog and I’ll definitely keep ’email coming.
Alana Johnson-Williams Says
This looks so yummy! You just inspired me to go cook some bora myself 🙂
Metemgee Says
Thank you. It was delicious!
Saarah Gajraj Says
girl…you were born to blog!!!!…
Metemgee Says
:). You know just what to say Saarah. Hehehe. But honestly, I’m just doing what I love.
nicole Says
You know bora is probably the only veggie I don’t eat ( Imagine I eat corilla) I’ll look out for your next dish 🙂
Metemgee Says
I love bora especially with roti. Gotta start thinking about vegetarian options for you!
nicole Says
Awww nice will look out for those 🙂