Tempura Batter Recipe

Easy recipe for tempura batter with 3 ingredients you can make with shrimp, fried green beans or chicken at home. A great way to make a crunchy side dish the kids will definitely love.

Tempura Batter

Great for making side dishes crispy and delicious like our favorite salt and pepper zucchini chips. Our whole family loves perfect tempura shrimp and vegetables when we go to our favorite sushi place. I thought there had to be a way to bring that great taste home and there is.

Starting with zucchini chips was a given because they’re my favorite thing to order at Carl’s Jr. Thick slices of this cheap green vegetable are best because they won’t get too soft and still have a “bite” to them.

That is when I started experimenting and came up with this easy tempura mix. Of course some people like a bit thicker breading, we like it light and not heavy. Then you can eat more veggies. It is a great way to get your kids to eat more veggies.

Ingredient Tips

1. Egg whites should be free from yolk and whisked with a fork.
2. All purpose flour is the main base, I haven’t tried cake flour as of yet. This is how to measure flour properly which is important. Too much will make it too dense so fluff it up when measuring, don’t scoop.
3. Ice cold water, not room temperature! This will help keep this fluffy and airy like at the Chinese restaurants. Want to add flavor? Use beer like we do with beer battered chicken tenders.
4. Any dipping sauce you want like bang bang shrimp sauce or ranch

Adding seasonings as you wish, Lawry’s seasoned salt is another favorite choice beyond salt and pepper.

for Chicken

As for proteins; shrimp and Tempura Chicken Nuggets are the most popular. You will want to cut them into equal sized pieces so they cook evenly and it should be boneless for best results.

for Vegetables

Veggies should be firm like; sweet potato, zucchini, carrots, onions or other stiffer choices. If softer like slices of eggplant should be a bit thicker and watch closely as those are more likely to fall apart.

for Fish

I have even used it for fish nuggets to make a crisp outer layer instead of traditional frozen sticks. It works great for that too!

for Dessert

And you guessed it, you can use this to make sweets too!! Oh yes, with fruit like our banana tempura you can coat your whole meal and have a finger food night.

Tips

You’ll need vegetable oil and a pan over medium high heat to deep fry shrimp tempura or other pieces. You do NOT want to add anything until it is hot enough to fry either. Ideal oil temperature for tempura is 350-375F. If you add before then it will get soaked up and the exterior will be mushy.

Have layered paper towels ready so once you batter and deep fry to a golden brown you can set them there. This will absorb the excess oil and make a lighter taste.