Easy High Protein Spicy Buttered Shrimp - Keto, Low Carb

This easy high protein spicy buttered shrimp is the perfect quick low carb and keto friendly weeknight dinner. Simple, delicious and packed full of protein, this nice and saucy garlic shrimp is great eaten alone, added to a salad or served over cauliflower rice.

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High Protein Recipes

Recently, I have been leaning more towards a high protein diet over a keto diet. After 10 years of being on a keto diet, I felt that my keto lifestyle was no longer working for me. I honestly believe that, just like our bodies crave a variety of workouts and our microbiome responds best to a variety of foods, our diet also needs to vary every so often.

Some day, I hope to be able to eat like my ancestors did - primarily vegetarian in the summer and more meat-based in the winter. Unfortunately, my discipline is not there yet to adopt this way of eating!

Why you may want to think about adding more protein to your diet

You may be wondering why someone who has been a big advocate of the keto diet would decided to increase their protein intake and decrease their fat intake?

I modified my eating habits after reading several research articles discussing the importance of keeping a high protein diet as one ages. Not only does it help with maintaining bone and muscle mass, but it also helps with the slowing of our metabolism as we age.

As it turns out, when you take in 100 calories of pure protein, your body will use anywhere between 20-30 of those calories just to break the protein down into amino acids! That's right - 100 calories results in actually only 70-80 calories actually being absorbed by the body.

So, just like we count "net carbs" by subtracting sugar alcohols and fiber from the total carb count, we could also calculate "net protein calories"!

Shrimp and a High Protein Diet

I feel like shrimp and other crustaceans often get overlooked when it comes to high protein foods. We all think chicken, ground turkey and egg whites when we think of protein but shrimp are also an excellent source.

With only 80 calories for 3 oz of shrimp, and over 20 grams of protein and no fat, shrimp is the perfect ingredient to add to your diet when you are trying to increase your protein. Plus, shrimp contains zinc, magnesium, iron and several other nutrients making it a well round source of protein as well.

What about the carbs? Shrimp only contain 1 gram of carb per serving. I searched high and low on the internet desperately trying to figure out where the heck the carbs come from since it is a living thing, and could not find it anywhere! If you have the answer, send me an email as this will be one of the questions going off in my brain at that 2 am random wake up!

Spicy Buttered Shrimp

So, keeping with my new trend towards a higher protein diet, I have been buying more shrimp and creating quick recipes that fit into my diet.

This quick weeknight recipe combines everyday items including, Frank's Hot Sauce, olive oil, garlic, parsley, paprika, onion, a healthy dose of garlic and a little white wine for some acidity. After the shrimp just begins to turn opaque, the butter is added to create the perfect amount of creaminess - think spicy shrimp scampi as a flavour comparison!

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