Shrimp Bell Pepper Stir Fry

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Shrimp, bell peppers, and pineapple simmered with your favorite barbecue sauce add up to a sweet and spicy shrimp bell pepper stir fry.

Shrimp Bell Pepper Stir Fry in Saute Pan

Shrimp and Bell Pepper Stir Fry

Stir fries have always been my go-to for simple and delicious dinners. You can use quite literally any vegetable and add in a protein if you like. Serve over rice or noodles, whatever you like, and dinner will be done in minutes.

While I typically make most of my own sauces, dressings, and dips from scratch, there are times when something off the shelf works just fine. For this shrimp bell pepper stir fry with pineapple, you just need a bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce.

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Don’t be afraid to turn up the heat or spice with the sauce you choose for this stir fry. I typically make this with Sweet Baby Ray’s sweet and spicy barbecue sauce, or this homemade copycat barbecue sauce recipe, if I have it on hand.

Shrimp Bell Pepper Stir Fry over rice

Both of those are sweet and spicy sauces with just enough heat to linger in your mouth. Even if you aren’t partial to a spicy barbecue sauce most of the time, you’ll want a spicy sauce to balance the sweet pineapple in this dish.

I promise that the end result will not be too spicy. I’ve also used our spiciest barbecue sauce and there was barely a hint of heat to the dish when it was ready to eat.

Red bell peppers and sweet fresh pineapple are the perfect match for a barbecue sauce with a touch of heat. I find red bell peppers to be the sweetest of all bell peppers. So much, in fact, if I buy them specifically to cook with, I have to hide them because inevitably someone will grab them to eat as a snack.

Are you notorious for forgetting to defrost your meat? I have definitely been guilty of that which is why I love shrimp. You can take a frozen bag out and place the shrimp in a bowl of cold water and they will be thawed in about 20-30 minutes.

Shrimp Bell Pepper Stir Fry vegetables in saute pan

Spicy Shrimp Stir Fry

Melt butter in a saute pan and add the shrimp. (My favorite saute pan is this 12-inch Misen that I use almost daily.) The shrimp will start turning pink after just a minute or so, don’t step away.

At that point, flip to cook the other side for another 1-2 minutes. Remove the shrimp to a plate while you cook the peppers and pineapple.

Add some olive oil to the butter left in the skillet and saute the red bell peppers until they are starting to soften. Add the fresh pineapple pieces and continue to sautee stirring occasionally for another 2 minutes.

Bell Pepper Stir Fry in Saute Pan

Pour in the barbecue sauce and increase the heat to medium-high. It will start to simmer. Be sure to stir regularly at this point so that the sugars in the pineapple and sauce don’t burn in the pan. If they do it can create a bitter off taste.

Once it is simmering add the cooked shrimp from the plate you had set aside and stir everything to coat evenly in the sauce. The shrimp will heat back up quickly so this should only take 1-2 minutes tops.

Serve over white rice and sprinkle with the green onion for a sweet and spicy shrimp bell pepper stir fry.

Shrimp Bell Pepper Stir Fry with shrimp on plate

Shrimp Stir Fry with Rice

To make this recipe, you’ll need these ingredients:

  • butter
  • shrimp peeled and deveined
  • olive oil
  • red bell pepper 
  • fresh pineapple
  • spicy barbecue sauce or your favorite spicy store-bought sauce
  • green onions 
  • rice, for serving
Shrimp Bell Pepper Stir Fry in Saute Pan

Bell peppers add so much to any dish, they are one of my favorite ingredients to use and I use them so often. From stuffed to soups, stir fry, and gravy I use them in quite literally everything I can.

Yes, I said gravy. Creamy bacon gravy with bell peppers and plenty of black pepper makes a terrific addition to any weekend brunch menu.

Taco Stuffed Bell Peppers are a new favorite dinner over here, because some food combinations just make perfect sense and these stuffed and tasty colorful bell peppers are exactly right.

Thinly sliced flank steak in a garlicky ginger sauce makes for a delicious weeknight steak and pepper stir fry.

Sweet bell peppers and juicy tomatoes are tossed with angel hair pasta and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese in this flavorful Bell Pepper Pasta.

Sweet and just a little bit spicy, this honey sriracha chicken stir fry is filled with bite-size sticky sweet chunks of chicken and tender-crisp peppers. The whole recipe comes together in under 20 minutes.

Shrimp Bell Pepper Stir Fry over rice

Shrimp Bell Pepper Stir Fry

5 from 1 vote
Shrimp, peppers, and pineapple in your favorite barbecue sauce over rice is a sweet, spicy delicious shrimp bell pepper stir fry.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Total Time: 23 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients 

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 pound medium shrimp peeled and deveined
  • 1-2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 large red bell pepper chopped into bite-size pieces
  • 2 cups fresh pineapple sliced and cut bite-size or 14 ounce can pineapple chunks, drained
  • ½ cup spicy barbecue sauce or your favorite spicy store-bought sauce
  • 3 green onions sliced thin

Instructions

  • Rinse the shrimp and pat dry with a paper towel. In a large skillet, over high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the shrimp and spread across the pan in a single layer. Let it cook without touching it for about 1 minute. Flip the shrimp over and cook an additional minute. When the shrimp is light pink and cooked through, remove to a plate.
  • Reduce the heat to medium high and add a drizzle of oil to the hot pan. Toss the peppers in the oil and let them cook until they are slightly browned and barely softened, about 2 minutes. Add the pineapple, toss with the peppers, and let it soften slightly, about 1-2 minutes.
  • Add the barbecue sauce, stir, and increase the heat to high. When it starts to simmer, return the shrimp to the pan, toss everything together to coat well, and cook for about a minute as the sauce thickens slightly. Remove from the heat and add the green onions. Serve by itself or over rice.

Notes

To make this a truly fast dinner recipe, I like to buy the shrimp peeled and deveined. If you’re working with shrimp in the shell, it will take a few extra minutes to prep it prior to starting the recipe.

Nutrition

Calories: 269kcal · Carbohydrates: 28g · Protein: 24g · Fat: 8g · Saturated Fat: 4g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g · Monounsaturated Fat: 2g · Trans Fat: 0.2g · Cholesterol: 198mg · Sodium: 552mg · Potassium: 562mg · Fiber: 2g · Sugar: 21g · Vitamin A: 1324IU · Vitamin C: 79mg · Calcium: 105mg · Iron: 1mg
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stir fry with bell peppers, shrimp, and pineapple

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  1. Lorne says

    5 stars
    I made this twice in the past 2 weeks it is so very good. Tonight I’m changing it up just a bit. Same list of ingredients except for the shrimp I’m using beef strips tonight.