Spicy Honey Butter Shrimp Bowls

There’s a moment, somewhere between hitting “order again” on takeout and realizing you have actual food in the fridge, where a dish like this saves you. It’s weeknight alchemy: butter, honey, and heat swirling around plump shrimp until they shimmer like they just came back from a beach holiday.

The best part? Everything else is pure shortcut magic — microwave rice you can fluff with a fork in under two minutes, bagged coleslaw that’s basically a blank canvas, and a sauce so sticky-sweet-spicy you’ll consider bottling it. The whole thing tastes like you put in effort, but only the kind you can muster while standing barefoot in the kitchen, wine glass in hand.

It’s a little sweet, a little fiery, and wildly adaptable. Tone down the heat for kids, swap shrimp for chicken, or pile it over greens if you’re feeling virtuous. Either way, it’s the kind of low-effort, high-reward cooking that makes you feel clever — and maybe just a bit smug — for skipping delivery.

Fancy-feeling food for fried people.

Spicy Honey Butter Shrimp Bowls

Like a Friday night in sweatpants that somehow booked you a table with mood lighting — juicy shrimp get a quick toss in garlicky honey butter with a kiss of chili heat, then land on a lazy pile of microwave rice and bagged slaw. Sweet, spicy, crunchy, and done before your playlist finishes its first track.

Ingredients

• 8 oz frozen peeled shrimp thawed and patted dry
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 –2 tsp chili sauce like sriracha
• 1 garlic clove minced (or ½ tsp garlic powder)
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 2 cups cooked microwave jasmine rice
• 2 cups bagged coleslaw mix
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tsp rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar

Instructions

• In a small bowl, toss slaw mix with mayonnaise and vinegar; season with salt and set aside.
• Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Melt butter, then stir in honey, chili sauce, garlic, and paprika.
• Add shrimp in a single layer; cook 2–3 minutes per side until opaque and lightly caramelized. Season with salt and pepper.
• Divide rice between bowls, top with slaw, and pile shrimp on top. Spoon extra honey butter from the pan over everything.

Notes

Swap shrimp for cubed chicken breast (just cook a few minutes longer).
• Make it toddler-friendly by reducing or omitting chili sauce and serving shrimp and slaw separately.
• The microwave rice + bagged slaw combo keeps this in the “actual dinner” category without losing steam on prep.
• Fancy-feeling food for fried people.