Crispy Air Fryer Fried Shrimp

This air fryer fried shrimp recipe is amazing! With a light breading, no egg & tons of flavor they’re crispy to perfection in just a few minutes. NO frying required with fresh or defrosted pieces, but you can cook air fryer frozen shrimp too this way.

Air Frying Shrimp

I know you are going to love these as much as we have! You can make them as an easy Ninja Foodi recipe, Cosori recipe or any brand you have. With a “secret ingredient” that takes this breading over the top from great to absolutely delicious, get ready for YUM.

If you have never cooked breaded shrimp in air fryer you will be obsessed. One thing that is most important for the breading to stick is to dry your seafood off so it will stick well. You can make them spicy too if you like with some red pepper flakes or dry sriracha. Sweeter like Fried Coconut Shrimp.

Ninja Foodi Fried Shrimp

Like I said, we LOVE anything that comes out of the sea. If I had a fish market right next door we would all be in love. I guess it is because I was born in Hawaii and grew up in Southern California that gave me a love for all of it. Kids are the same way now so I buy it as often as possible.

Fried shrimp is amazing but I don’t really love the aftertaste if you deep fry it in oil. This way I can get it to the same crispy texture on the outside but you only need a light olive oil spray, that is it.

We made Instant Pot shrimp many times and they are great for making shrimp alfredo and other dishes. BUT crispy battered shrimp are just so much better.

How much time to air fry shrimp?

You can’t really use wet breading in this machine but this is as close as you’re going to get, and it’s amazing y’all. Whether they have a crunchy coating or stay naked with just olive oil and seasonings, fish doesn’t take long. 5 minutes is all you need for jumbo size, smaller would take less time. You don’t want to over-cook these or they will get rubbery.

Like our dry rub air fryer wings and air fryer zucchini chips, this air fryer shrimp recipe is quite healthy as it isn’t deep fried. BUT it sure does taste like they have been! The outside comes out super crispy, yet the meat inside is still tender.

Of course you can throw these right into your basket just tossed with olive oil and seasonings until pink. We do this often, serve it over rice for a really healthy and simple meal. Occasionally we want to go all the way though and make them breaded like you see here.

Ingredients

1. Shrimp – We used Jumbo so timing is appropriate for that size. Shrimp were defrosted, shells removed, and deveined before being battered.
2. Italian bread crumbs work the best to coat the outsides
3. Taco seasoning – seriously!
4. Garlic salt gives it even more flavor
5. Butter is better than oil to get breading to stick
6. Olive oil cooking spray helps to get them extra crispy
7. Salt and pepper to taste is optional

I know, sounds kinda’ funny to put taco anything on shrimp but wow did it ever give it a wonderful flavor. I asked my husband (who says he doesn’t like taco seasoning period, even for tacos) after he finished an entire plate of these what he thought.

He said “they were so good!”, then I told him what I used to make them. Yep, had to admit he may be wrong about that spice. 😉

As you can see above I bought a bag of frozen jumbo shelled shrimp. They sat in the freezer for quite some time and really needed to be cooked. That is when I thought of creating some sort of air fried shrimp recipe.

Keep in mind that shrimp shrink quite a bit when they’re cooked. Jumbo really becomes a medium size so they’re ideal. A perfect bite size for everyone in our family. I wouldn’t use a smaller size.

How do you know when fried shrimp is done?

The exterior should be pink with red tails. Flesh will be slightly opaque and white in color. You do not want to overcook these or they will easily dry out. Underdone is better than over if you ask any one of us.

How do you cook pre cooked shrimp in an air fryer?

Cooking any sort of breaded frozen shrimp in a hot air machine would follow this same timing with slight variations depending on the size of them.

• Place a single layer of frozen popcorn shrimp into your air fryer basket. 
• Cook at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes, flipping halfway through the cook cycle
• Eat immediately for best results

Should you cook Fried Shrimp with Shell On?

NO. You can buy them with or without the shell. I prefer off or else when you peel the outside off all of your seasoning are going to go to the way side with it. Everything is on the surface so they will likely be rather bland underneath but your choice.

What goes with fried shrimp?

1. Air fryer pickles are an out of this world combo
2. Our easy roll recipe is great if you want some bread with this
3. We have a bunch of other air fryer fish recipes here too.

Here are quick step by step directions but I also have a printable recipe card at the bottom as well. Defrost shrimp if they’re frozen. Lay on paper towels to remove water on the outside. This is important so outside gets crispy and breading sticks well. I prefer leaving the tails on

How to Make Air Fryer Breaded Shrimp

• Melt butter in a bowl and mix dry ingredients in another shallow bowl or plate.
• Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees F for 5 minutes.
• Dip shrimp in the butter, then dredge in bread crumb mixture so it’s nicely coated. Allow excess to fall off.
• Add shrimp into air fryer basket in one layer. Overlapping will cause shrimp to cook not as crispy. Spray with olive oil and cook for 5 minutes or until as crispy as you’d like.
• Enjoy as is or with this killer sauce to make air fryer bang bang shrimp!

Now enjoy, and try our air fryer scallops next!!