5-Ingredient Baked Shrimp Recipe (That Tastes Like You Tried)

May 15 2026 – Holly Ong

Sambal shrimp baked on banana leaves, sticky and caramelised, fresh from the oven with asparagus

Sambal shrimp baked on banana leaves, sticky and caramelised, fresh from the oven with asparagus

Recipe · Seafood · Spring/Summer

Sambal
Shrimp

3-ingredient marinade · OMG Sambal heat · oven-baked in 25 minutes.

Sambal shrimp baked on banana leaves, sticky and caramelised

Sticky, spicy, caramelised — straight from the oven.

The best dinner party move? A dish that cooks itself while you're busy being a good host.

This is the dish we make when we want to feed people well without spending the evening in the kitchen. Three pantry ingredients — jam, OMG Sambal, olive oil — become a marinade that clings, caramelises, and delivers every time. The oven does the work. You pour the wine.

We first made this on a warm May evening — shrimp on banana leaves, spring asparagus alongside, pearl couscous on the side. It disappeared in minutes. It's been on the rotation ever since.

This recipe travels through

Singapore Portland, Oregon Your dinner table
Sambal shrimp marinade — jam, sambal, olive oil
Shrimp on banana leaves ready to go in the oven

The marinade — and why banana leaves are worth it.

What you need

A rimmed oven-safe pan or baking dish — large enough to hold 2 lbs of shrimp in a single layer. We used a wide ceramic dish, but any oven-safe pan works.

Banana leaves to line the pan — find them frozen at most Asian grocery stores. They add a subtle floral fragrance that elevates the whole dish. Foil is a perfectly good substitute.

Sambal Shrimp
Serves 4  ·  5 min prep  ·  25–30 min oven  ·  one pan
Ingredients
2 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tbsp OMG Sambal
1 tbsp good jam (apricot or fig work beautifully)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Optional: 1-inch knob fresh ginger + fresh herbs (cilantro, Thai basil, or green onion)
Method
01Preheat oven to 400°F / 205°C. Give it at least 10 minutes to fully come to temperature.
02Whisk together the OMG Sambal, jam, and olive oil until you have a smooth, glossy marinade.
03Add the shrimp and toss until every piece is evenly coated.
04Line your pan with banana leaves or foil. Spread the shrimp in a single layer. Scatter ginger and herbs over the top if using.
05Bake 25–30 minutes, until the shrimp is cooked through and the marinade has thickened and caramelised at the edges.

Serve straight from the pan over pearl couscous, steamed rice, or alongside roasted asparagus.

Cook's tip
Getting the most out of your marinade
01On the jam: Apricot is our default — the mild sweetness rounds out the sambal without competing with it. Fig adds a more complex, wine-like depth. Avoid anything too chunky; smooth or small-cut works best.
02On shrimp size: Large or jumbo (16/20 or 21/25 count) are ideal. Smaller shrimp cook faster — check at the 20-minute mark to avoid overcooking.
03Make ahead: Mix the marinade and coat the shrimp up to 2 hours before baking. Keep covered in the fridge — the flavour only gets better.
Prep the shrimp before guests arrive, slide it in the oven when they do. Dinner is ready before anyone notices you cooked.
Sambal shrimp dinner party spread with asparagus and couscous

Low effort, high flavor — the only kind of dinner party we throw.

The magic ingredient
Our family sambal does the heavy lifting.

Spicy, savory, and deeply aromatic — OMG Sambal is built for exactly this kind of cooking. One tablespoon transforms a simple marinade into something that tastes like you spent all day on it.

Tags

shrimp sambal easy entertaining dinner party spring recipes oven bake seafood low effort high flavor

Tagged: 30 minute meals, Asian flavors, beginner friendly, crowd pleaser, dinner party, easy entertaining, easy recipes, low effort high flavor, OMG Sambal, one pan, oven bake, Portland, seafood, shrimp, Sibeiho, spicy recipes, spring recipes, weeknight dinner