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.

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We are kinda’ obsessed with seafood so air fryer fried shrimp was on our list to try this week. It came out more amazing than I had imagined! If you love air fryer recipes we have a lot on The Typical Mom site to try beyond this one. (affiliate links present)

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.

If you love extra crispy food and quick recipes, here are some resources to start with:

A close-up photo of a hand pulling out the basket of an open air fryer on a light-colored surface. The interior of the air fryer basket is empty and features a mesh design, perfect for cooking your favorite dishes like bang bang shrimp. The edge of the air fryer has a latch mechanism for securing the basket.

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.

An air fryer sits on a countertop surrounded by ingredients for delicious fried shrimp: a bag of raw shrimp, fish fry seasoning, cocktail sauce, lemon, and butter. Text reads Best Air Fryer Fried Shrimp Recipe.

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.

Can you put shrimp in an air fryer?

YES! We will show you how here. I started with this boxed fish fry mix which turned out okay, but bread crumbs with seasonings I threw in turned out much better.

The only thing I didn’t like about this one was it tasted a bit grainy. Even after being sprayed with olive oil the Italian bread crumbs were crispy and so flavorful. Lesson learned.

Can you put frozen shrimp in an air fryer?

You won’t be able to coat it like you see here but yes you can. Add to air fryer basket and cook at 400 F for 5 minutes, or 10 minutes if it’s frozen RAW shrimp. Shake basket after half the time.

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.

A bowl of raw shrimp awaits its transformation next to a bowl of flour and a small bowl of melted butter on a white countertop, ready for the air fryer to create perfectly fried shrimp.

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. ๐Ÿ˜‰

A bowl of raw shrimp with the text How to Make Perfectly Crispy Air Fryer Fried Shrimp! above it.

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.

A hand holds a piece of crispy shrimp, with more air fryer fried shrimp on a plate in the background. Bold text at the top reads, Killer Air Fryer shrimp recipe!

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

If you’re trying to figure out how long to cook a variety of foods in your air fryer, use the printable air fryer cook times sheet lined at the top of this post. It helped determine how long to cook air fryer frozen chicken nuggets and more.

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.

air fryer fried shrimp

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.

The best side dish we love is air fryer cauliflower you see here. I use both my Foodi and my Cosori so I can make all of it at the same time.

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!!

Fried shrimp in air fryer
4.55 from 20 votes

Air Fryer Fried Shrimp

By The Typical Mom
Air fryer fried shrimp in Ninja Foodi or Cosori! With light breading and seasonings, no egg, you can make crispy shrimp under 10 minutes. No frying required.
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes
Servings: 5
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Equipment

  • 1 air fryer
  • 1 Bowl
  • 1 plate

Ingredients 

  • 17-20 shrimp, defrosted, we used jumbo, shells removed, deveined, tails attached
  • 1 c bread crumbs, Italian
  • 1 tbsp taco seasoning
  • 1 tbsp garlic salt
  • 4 tbsp butter, melted
  • olive oil spray

Instructions 

  • Melt butter in a small bowl in microwave for about 30 seconds. Take shells off shrimp, devein them and pat each one down WELL with paper towels to remove water from outside (this will make them crispy).
  • In a bowl mix bread crumbs and seasonings. Preheat air fryer now for 5 minutes at 400 degrees.
  • One at a time dip your shelled deveined jumbo shrimp into the butter, then into the bread crumb mixture. Use a spoon to completely cover the shrimp (keep tails out of mix). Carefully shake off excess crumbs and put into preheated air fryer.
  • Fill basket with as many as possible without overlapping them. Spray all of them with olive oil spray.
  • Close lid or push in basket and cook at 400 degrees for 5 minutes (for jumbo, smaller would not take as long). I did a round flipping them and one where I didn't. I think not flipping came out better as breading stayed in tact better.
  • Enjoy immediately for best taste.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 3oz, Calories: 188kcal, Carbohydrates: 16g, Protein: 7g, Fat: 11g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Cholesterol: 76mg, Sodium: 1836mg, Potassium: 59mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 334IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 72mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Appetizer, Entree, Main Course
Cuisine: American
Tried this recipe?Mention @thetypical_mom or tag #thetypicalmom!
Fried shrimp in air fryer

About The Typical Mom

Justine is the creative mind behind The Typical Mom and The Typical Family on YouTube. She began blogging about easy recipes, budget friendly activities for kids, and fun family travel destinations in September 2012.

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39 Comments

  1. I like the idea of taco seasoning on shrimps. Yum! Have to give this recipe a try. Thank you for sharing.

  2. I love that all these ingredients are easy grab-and-go ingredients. So much flavor and so easy!

  3. I dont know what happrned. But we have a N foodie air xl pro and these would not crisp up. The coating stayed kind of sandy. Flavour was good but couldnt get past the non crisp texture. Ended up tossing them in deepfryer for 2 min and then they were fine.

  4. The flavor is yummy, but I couldnโ€™t get the coating crispy. Any idea what Iโ€™m doing wrong? New to air frying….

  5. Why do you have McCormick’s Fish Fry posted in your photo as one of your ingredients used if you said it did not turn out as well by using Italian crumb seasoning instead? What brand of Italian bread crumb seasoning did you use?

  6. My Husband and I loved this recipe! We just had the shrimp over a big salad. Have you ever tried that breading on other things like zucchini? I’m just curious. I’m new to the air fryer. Thanks for the great recipe!

    1. Yes you can search air fryer _______ on my site in the search bar and I have done many other things