My current hot honey obsession has come for surf and turf! This hot honey steak and shrimp is so freakin’ delicious and easy to pull off. After using this curing method for hot honey smoked prime rib, I wanted to give it a try with different proteins that would come together more quickly. Tender filet mignon and juicy shrimp turned out to be an irresistible combination that worked out perfectly.
Special thanks once again to MaxtheMeatGuy for inspiring this recipe! I love what he’s doing with live fire cooking these days. He did a seven-day cured honey wagyu that looks absolutely ridiculous in the best way possible. Our steak and shrimp cure for a lot less time but definitely still hit all the marks.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love Hot Honey Steak and Shrimp
Hot honey brings a sweet heat that livens up any dish. I knew from my hot honey garlic shrimp recipe that you get tons of flavor for the amount of effort. Then, when I made the hot honey smoked prime rib (which would be great at any holiday feast), I found out the honey cure gave the beef a dry-aged flavor. Combining these two recipes into one was a no-brainer.
We use a good amount of honey for this recipe, and I’m adding in red chili flakes for extra kick. You can skip those if your taste buds don’t want a spicy dish. The steak cures for 24 hours, so make sure you leave enough time for that process. The shrimp doesn’t need to be in the honey cure for as long — just an hour. Then, everything cooks really quickly on the grill.
Want more surf and turf? Check out my Surf and Turf Sandwich, Surf and Turf Ramen, Surf and Turf Burgers, Surf and Turf Sliders and Surf and Turf Pinwheels.
Hot Honey Steak and Shrimp Ingredients
- Steak and Shrimp: For our surf and turf, we’ll season filet mignons and peeled and deveined shrimp with kosher salt, your favorite steak rub and your go-to seafood rub.
- Cure: Just regular honey and red chili flakes. No need to mess with perfection for this spicy sauce!
A Shorter Cure for Shrimp
You might be wondering, why do the shrimp only need one hour in the honey cure and the steak needs a whole day? Shrimp needs much less time because it’s a delicate protein with a completely different structure than beef. Steak is dense muscle that can handle and benefit from extended curing time. It helps tenderize it and develop deeper flavors.
Shrimp, on the other hand, are already tender and cook very quickly. Too much time in the honey cure could start to “cook” the shrimp (similar to how citrus cures shrimp in ceviche) or make the texture mushy. For a hot honey shrimp recipe, one hour is enough time for the protein to absorb the honey flavor and get that sweet-spicy coating without compromising its texture or making it overly sweet.
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How to Make Hot Honey Steak and Shrimp
Prepping and Curing
First, season your 3-4 filet mignons generously with 2 tablespoons kosher salt. Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to move on to the cure. Gently heat up your 1 gallon honey until it is very viscous. Add your 1/2 cup red pepper flakes at this point if you’re using them. Then, place your steak in a food-safe container. Cover the steak with the honey, cover the container with a lid or plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 24 hours to cure. If the honey does not cover the steak completely, flip the steak every 2 hours.
After the steak has cured, you’ll need to repeat heating up the honey. Do this about an hour before cooking, removing the steak before you heat it up and wiping off the excess honey. Add your 1.5 pounds shrimp to the honey and let it sit in the mixture until you’re ready to cook.
Grilling the Steak
Once the shrimp have cured for the hour, remove from the cure and wipe off any excess honey. Generously season the sides of each steak with 2 tablespoons of your favorite steak rub and the drained shrimp with 2 tablespoons of your favorite seafood rub. Set those to the side while you preheat your smoker to 250 degrees Fahrenheit for indirect cooking.
When the smoker reaches temp, add your steak to the grill grates to cook for about 30 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 120 degrees F. Pull the filet mignon off the grill and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Next, heat up a high heat fire (around 400 degrees F) and place the steak over the fire. Grill for 1 minute per side to get a nice golden brown crust.
Cooking Shrimp and Serving
To cook the shrimp, heat up a large skillet (preferably cast iron) with some oil. Add the shrimp to the skillet and let the shrimp cook for 1-2 minutes until they’re done. You can also put them on skewers like I did here and grill directly on the grates.
Pull everything off, slice up the steak, serve with some butter on top of each steak and enjoy!
What to Serve with Hot Honey Steak and Shrimp
If you want an extra hit of acidity with the finished dish, you could squeeze some lime juice over everything to brighten it up a bit. Try serving with quartered limes to let your dinner guests choose their own adventure. For sides, this surf and turf would be so freakin’ delicious with some crusty bread, roasted or mashed potatoes, creamed spinach or grilled green veggies (like zucchini or asparagus). You could also try it with roasted Brussels sprouts or broccoli, or even as lettuce wraps if you want a low-carb option!
Leftovers and Reheating
If you’ve got leftover steak and shrimp, store separately in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 3 days. For the best results for the filet mignon, reheat on a grill over medium heat for 2–3 minutes per side. Alternatively, warm them in a 350 degree F oven with a splash of beef broth to retain moisture. For the shrimp, you can reheat on the grill or stovetop in a heavy pan over medium heat (or even medium-low heat) until they’re just warmed through. You don’t want to have the shrimp start at the same time as the steak since they’ll need a lot less time to warm up. I’d use a little bit of broth here too so they don’t dry out.
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FAQs
Believe it or not, the “fresh” shrimp you see at your local supermarket were most likely already frozen, then defrosted at the fish counter. When fisherman catch shrimp, they freeze them on the boats within a very short time of being out of the water. That move keeps that shrimp flavor from when they were caught. So, unless you’re sure the so-called fresh shrimp you’re seeing for this hot honey steak and shrimp recipe are right off the boat, go ahead and buy the frozen shrimp.
Yes! Ribeye, New York strip, or sirloin work for this hot honey steak and shrimp recipe. But, filet mignon is the most tender choice, which is why I went with it in the original recipe.
Sure! Just keep in mind that the longer the cure, the more intense the honey flavor will be, and the texture will change and be more dry-aged. For filet mignon, I’d say 24-48 hours is probably the (literal) sweet spot. If you go longer, like Max’s weeklong you’ll get a bigger aged flavor, but it might be too sweet. I’d recommend you start with 24 hours and experiment from there.
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Hot Honey Steak and Shrimp
Ingredients
Steak and Shrimp:
- 3-4 Filet Mignons
- 1.5 lbs Shrimp peeled & de-veined
- 2 tbsp Kosher Salt
- 2 tbsp Favorite Steak Rub
- 2 tbsp Favorite Seafood Rub
Cure:
- 1 Gallon Honey
- ½ cup Red Chili Flakes
Instructions
Cure:
- Season your steaks generously with kosher salt.
- Gently heat up your honey until it is very viscous. Add your steak to a food safe container. Cover in the honey, cover the container and place in the fridge for 24 hours to cure. If the honey does not cover the steak completely, flip the steak every 2 hours.
- About 1 hour before cooking, repeat heating up the honey. Add your shrimp to the honey and let sit in it until ready to cook.
Steak:
- Pull the shrimp and steak out and wipe off any excess honey.
- Generously season with your favorite steak rub and your favorite seafood rub. Set to the side.
- Preheat your smoker to 250F for indirect cooking.
- Add your steak to cook for about 30 minutes until 120F internal. Pull off once done to rest for 10 minutes.
- Heat up a high heat fire (around 400F) and place the steak over the fire for 1 minute per side to get a good crust.
- Heat up a cast iron skillet with some oil. Add the shrimp to the skillet to cook for 1-2 minutes until done.
- Pull everything off, serve with some butter, slice up the steak and enjoy!
