Instant Pot shrimp frozen or fresh are easy to cook in a Ninja Foodi pressure cooker too! We’ll teach you how to cook frozen shrimp quickly to perfectly pink to add to your alfredo dinner or as a high protein snack.
Jump To
- Instant Pot Shrimp Frozen
- Ingredient Notes
- Should you peel shrimp before cooking in a pressure cooker?
- How long do you steam frozen shrimp?
- What do you need to cook shrimp in Instant Pot?
- with Vegetables
- How to set your Instant Pot to cook for 0 minutes?
- Instant Pot Shrimp Recipe
- Other Instant Pot shrimp recipes you’ll love
Wondering how to cook shrimp in a pressure cooker? We did too and experimented with different times to get the directions perfect to share them with you today. It has been such an effective cooking method that we use it every month for dinners and is one of our favorite Instant Pot recipes.
Instant Pot Shrimp Frozen
Last weekend I was craving shrimp so I sent my husband out to buy a few pounds so I could figure out how to cook shrimp in the Instant Pot. You can make this as a Ninja Foodi recipe shrimp this same way too using the pressure cook function and the lid that isn’t attached.
Of course he followed directions to a tee (not) and brought home two bags of frozen shrimp instead of fresh from the meat counter so I started experimenting and figured out there is NO difference between cooking fresh vs. frozen!
If you are new to pressure cooking we have a lot of easy one pot meal recipes for you here. To begin with let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then PRINT this —–> Instant Pot cooking times cheat sheet that will help you understand how long meat, vegetables and beans take to cook in your pressure cooker.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot.
- You should know how to deglaze a pressure cooker after sautéing but it won’t have as many issues with this better liner.
For reference, this is the model I have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.
We started with this Instant Pot fish recipe where we made both vegetables and white fish in stackable pans inside our pressure cooker, that was yummy. Now we’ve made lots of Instant Pot shrimp recipes to share.
I started with the simplest of them all, just how to cook them all by themselves. As time went on and I got the hang of how to get them done perfectly I added other items too. That is when the Instant Pot shrimp boil was created.
Ingredient Notes
I’m specific in showing you what I used here. I took a photo of the bag, size, etc because these are the best shrimp to use. Use shrimp with the shells still on so they don’t cook quite as fast as if there were no shells. You do NOT want to overcook shrimp or they’ll be hard and rubbery.
They shrink quite a bit and become bite sized when they’re done so don’t let the size scare you. Guaranteed you too can find this in your grocery store in the freezer section too so you can make shrimp in the Instant Pot like we did.
Should you peel shrimp before cooking in a pressure cooker?
No. If they are frozen you won’t be able to do that, and it is not necessary anyway. Once done they will peel right off. Makes it even easier and cheaper since shell on is less expensive than without them.
How long do you steam frozen shrimp?
Unless you were adding a TON of shrimp into your pressure cooker, like to the 3/4 fill line I wouldn’t cook fresh or frozen, small to medium sized shelled, longer than 0 minutes.
- I got the cook times off the Instant Pot website but ended up adjusting the shrimp cook times after I experimented with them on my own.
- There’s stated that shrimp took 1-2 minutes if they were fresh, I found it took 0 minutes on my Instant Pot
- It said frozen shrimp took 2-3 minutes, once again they took 0 minutes to be pink like you see here below
- Fresh fish was said to take 2-3 minutes, my 3/4 lb. fillet of salmon took 4 minutes to be cooked through so I increased the time to 4
What do you need to cook shrimp in Instant Pot?
- Instant Pot steamer basket – I like the one with little feet on the bottom because it has a hook attached and a piece for easy lifting out too
- Instant Pot or any other brand of pressure cooker like Crock Pot Express – this is the pretty one I have
- Bag of shell on jumbo shrimp that is raw (not precooked versions)
with Vegetables
This is possible too, you just have to choose those that have the same quick cook time. Broccoli is the best of the best for this duo. Just 1 minute will work for them both and then just top. with your butter, salt and pepper for a virtual fat free dish.
From there you can shell them and enjoy your cooked shrimp as is or add them to your favorite Instant Pot shrimp recipe, we will share a few of our favorites and share pressure cooker garlic shrimp below.
How to set your Instant Pot to cook for 0 minutes?
- Add items into your pressure cooker
- Press manual (if you have that button)
- Then pressure, high
- Adjust timer using – button until it says 0
- Allow it to start
- It will beep as soon as it reaches pressure
- That is what it means to cook for 0 minutes in your Instant Pot
- Do a quick release (for shrimp anyway, or follow the recipe you’re reading for further instructions)
Note: When you follow these steps your frozen shrimp will come out cooked, not just thawed and still raw. Here they are after just zero minutes in the Instant Pot! You can follow these same directions for how to cook frozen scallops too!
Instant Pot Shrimp Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 jumbo shrimp, fresh or frozen
- 2 tbsp butter, optional
- 1 tbsp garlic, minced, I use jarred, optional
- 1/2 tbsp chives, diced, optional
Instructions
- Pour 1.5 c water into your Instant Pot and put a vegetable steamer basket inside your pot with your fresh or frozen raw jumbo shrimp inside. Set to pressure high for 0 minutes, do a quick release.
- Optional: If you want to add flavor, follow above directions, drain pot, and follow below instructions to make into Instant Pot garlic shrimp.
- Set Instant Pot to saute, low, and add butter. When butter is melted add minced garlic. Once butter starts to sizzle add your shrimp and toss with butter and garlic.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Other Instant Pot shrimp recipes you’ll love
We love defrosting our shrimp using the method above and then adding them on top of our Instant Pot shrimp alfredo. You can use your defrosted shrimp in these pressure cooker asian steamed dumplings one night. You could saute shelled shrimp after cooked this way, add on saute with some minced garlic and butter to add flavor for a meal. Or make Instant Pot bang bang shrimp for dinner some time.
Either way they become a delicious protein packed meal! If they’re still frozen make air fryer frozen shrimp with parmesan
Can this be done with small scallops as well?
Should work about right with the same timing I would think
I only see shrimp….how frozen cod cooked.
I can’t believe how the shrimp came out, first time for me sating something like that but I had to. They where cooked prefect.
The only change to the original was that I used beer instead of water.
Boy I really like it when something works out when it’s new an I have a bunch of guest are coming in a hour.
Excellent recipe! I made this for my hubby who just loves shrimp. He gave it two thumbs up. One question though – when I did the QR after 0 minutes for frozen shrimp, there was a LOT of steam and splatter. I’ve been using my Instant Pot for several months now, and relatively speaking, this was a huge amount of splatter. In fact, it almost also filled the little catch bucket on the back of the IP. Is this consistent with your experience? Or am I doing something wrong? Thanks!!
Oh good. No I haven’t had that issue with this. Only thing I can think is the seal inside wasn’t secure enough or more water was added than I said in recipe.
It made a big mess for me, too. Next time I will use half c water with steamer basket and some frozen veggies to block all the smelly qr venting from shooting all over the pot/walls or just saute instead. Saw a tip on you tube, throw a dish towel over the pot.
This is such a great tip and so helpful for quick recipes.
What a flavorful and easy recipe! This will definitely be on my meal plan again!
😉
First, I adore your adorable Instant Pot. So cute! Second, this is a real lifesaver of a recipe that I can’t wait to make for my husband who go nuts for all things shrimp!
Lol….thanks.
I am assuming that once you defrost in your pressure cooker that you have to remove shell and devein before using in any other recipe. Am I correct? I am a novice.