Smoked Spiced Shrimp with Homemade Saskatchewan Dry Rub

Name: Smoked Spiced Shrimp with Homemade Saskatchewan Dry Rub
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 2 Pounds shrimp (raw, peeled, deveined); ½ Cup olive oil; 1 lemon (juiced); 2 Tablespoon parsley (fresh, chopped); 5 lemon ( wedges, for garnish); 2 Teaspoon paprika; 1 Teaspoon salt; 1 Teaspoon peppercorn (cracked); ½ Teaspoon black pepper; 2 Teaspoon brown sugar; ½ Teaspoon chili powder; 1 Teaspoon mustard powder (ground); 1 Teaspoon garlic powder; 1 Teaspoon dried rosemary; 1 Teaspoon dried thyme; 1 cup ketchup; 1 Tablespoon horseradish; ½ Tablespoon prepared saskatchewan rub; 1 lemon (juiced); 1 Teaspoon Worcestershire

By Bella Bucchiotti

5 from 7 votes

on Mar 26, 2022, Updated Aug 11, 2024

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These smoked spiced shrimp are flavoured with a homemade Saskatchewan dry rub for an amazing taste. The copycat Traeger blackened Saskatchewan rub is simple to prepare and you can cook these smoked shrimp to perfection on any pellet smoker or Traeger grill. Everything from the juicy shrimp themselves to the homemade blackening seasoning and cocktail sauce is just perfect. This will become one of your favourite easy appetizer or main dish.

Food blogger, Bella Bucchiotti of xoxoBella, shares a recipe for smoked spiced shrimp with homemade Saskatchewan dry rub. You will love this smoked shrimp with homemade blackening seasoning.

Say hello to the summer, or at least the spring, with these succulent, smoked spiced shrimp. Smoked shrimp are delicious paired with crusty bread for mopping up all of those wonderful juices. You will love this quick dinner recipe with a delicious BBQ rub shrimp seasoning.

Smoked Spiced Shrimp Ingredients

As you would expect the main ingredient is the fresh shrimp. So, for this reason, choose some good quality ones such as Patagonian shrimp for example. Fresh, raw shrimp is what you will need. Thawed, frozen shrimp would also work, but not pre-cooked shrimp. Also make sure they are deveined shrimp.

Medium, large or jumbo shrimp are best for smoking because small ones would be cooked before the pellet grill has had time to give them much of a smoky flavour.

For this smoked shrimp recipe, you also need oil, lemon juice, and parsley to flavour the shrimp. The homemade Saskatchewan dry rub is a combination of paprika, salt, pepper, brown sugar, chilli powder, mustard powder, garlic powder, rosemary, and thyme. I’m sure you can imagine how much wonderful flavour these spices are going to give to the shrimp. It is a nice change from cajun seasoning.

For the cocktail sauce, you will need ketchup, horseradish, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and some of the copycat Traeger blackened Saskatchewan rub.

How to Make Smoked Shrimp with Homemade Blackened Seasoning

Inspired by rubs from Canadian cattle country, Saskatchewan is a versatile and tasty rub. The first step is to preheat your Traeger pellet smoker with the lid down. First toss shrimp with oil and lemon juice.

Whisk the copycat Traeger blackened Saskatchewan rub ingredients together and set half a tablespoon aside which will go into the cocktail sauce. Toss the shrimp in the rest of the dry rub.

Food blogger, Bella Bucchiotti of xoxoBella, shares a recipe for smoked spiced shrimp with homemade Saskatchewan dry rub. You will love this copycat Traeger blackened Saskatchewan rub.

Now arrange the shrimp in one layer on a baking sheet and put it on the smoker rack. The shrimp will take about 10 minutes to cook through.

Whisk the cocktail sauce ingredients together, then serve the smoked spiced shrimp with parsley and lemon wedges as well as the sauce.

How to Tell When the Shrimp are Done

Although 10 minutes is a good guideline for the cooking time when smoking shrimp, this might vary based on the size of the raw shrimp. The exact temperature of your pellet smoker or Traeger grill will affect it, too. The great thing about shrimp recipes is how quick they cook. You will be adding this to your list of the best easy recipes.

When you smoke the shrimp, you will be able to see them change colour so when they’re orange-pink they should be ready. Also bear in mind shrimp are C-shaped when cooked and O-shaped when overcooked! Cooking them for too long makes them rubbery so avoid this at all costs else you won’t enjoy the finished smoked spiced shrimp. You never want to over cook any shrimp recipe!

Smoked Spiced Shrimp FAQs

Can you smoke shrimp in advance?

Smoked shrimp with homemade blackening seasoning is always wonderful hot off the grill (as are most smoked recipes). The spices as well as the temperature contrast nicely with the creamy cocktail sauce. But what about making them ahead? Well, as long as they don’t sit out at room temperature for more than 2 hours, they should be fine in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days. You could also freeze some.

How exactly does smoking work?

Smoking as a cooking method has been around for centuries. Meat, shrimp and other food are cooked over a fire and wood chips go on to the fire to give a smoky aroma and taste to your food. Smoking also increases the lifespan of the food, which is why hams, briskets, whole chickens, and fish are often smoked.
With hot smoking, the food is slowly cooked while it smokes. With cold smoking, the smoke simply adds a smoky flavour. If you don’t have a smoker or Traeger grill you can always add a few drops of liquid smoke to a recipe instead and cook it using another method. The taste won’t be exactly the same but it’s an easy way to get a smoky taste if you don’t have a smoker or if the weather isn’t on your side!