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These healthier Buffalo Shrimp are so crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, covered in a homemade spicy-sweet buffalo sauce. Perfect as a snack to serve with celery sticks and ranch dressing while watching football.
This buffalo shrimp recipe comes together quickly as the shrimp cook up fast. You simply need to coat them in beaten egg and seasoned flour, pan-fry in a little oil (no deep-frying here!), then coat with the hot sauce. If you want to turn this into a full meal, I like to serve them over rice with some fresh veggies and extra sauce on the side for drizzling or dipping.
Looking for more uses for buffalo sauce? Try these Healthy Buffalo Chicken Tenders, or for vegetarians, my Cauliflower Buffalo Wings.
Recipe Overview
Before You Get Started
- Ensure the shrimp have been deveined before you start coating them in the egg and flour. If you don’t have experience doing this, get frozen shrimp that have been deveined already.
- These are best served immediately after frying, so check that your timings are correct, as you can’t prep them ahead of time either.
- The shrimp will cook quite quickly (a couple of minutes per side), so watch them closely. You’ll know they’re cooked when they turn from a translucent grey color to an opaque white and pink.
- As the buffalo sauce is quite wet, it’s a good idea to only lightly brush the shrimp with some of the sauce and leave the remaining sauce on the side, for dipping. That way you maintain maximum crispness of the coating.
- Make this recipe gluten-free by replacing the flour with a store-bought gluten-free flour blend.
- I like to leave the tails on the shrimp if I’m serving this as an appetizer as it makes them easier to pick up. If serving over rice, I remove the tails before coating.
Common Questions
Overall, it is a spicy, sweet-tart, and buttery flavor. Most popular buffalo sauces are made with Frank’s hot sauce, melted butter, and honey.
You can serve buffalo shrimp as an appetizer with ranch or blue cheese dressing, crumbled blue cheese, celery sticks, or carrot sticks. You can also turn it into a full meal by serving it over rice with some fresh veggies on the side.
There. Some stores carry mild versions of buffalo sauce that aren’t spicy and great to use if serving it for the family, and the kids can’t handle the spicier versions.
Ingredients Needed
Below are the ingredients I used to make this Buffalo Shrimp dish. Full quantities can be found further down the post in the recipe card.
- Large, raw shrimp: It’s important to use large shrimp here as smaller shrimp may be overwhelmed by the coating or sauce. The large shrimp also don’t overcook as easily as small shrimp, ensuring they stay juicy and tender when fried. If you get frozen raw shrimp, thaw ahead, drain excess water, and dab with paper towel to remove as much moisture as possible.
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- All-purpose flour: This forms the coating on the outside of the shrimp, which crisps up in the pan. You can use a pre-mixed gluten-free flour blend if you need the recipe to be gluten-free.
- Cayenne pepper or chilli powder: Use whichever you prefer. It adds a slight kick of spiciness to the crispy shell on the shrimp. You can leave it out if you want the dish to be less spicy.
- Smoked paprika: Go for sweet smoked paprika if you don’t want any extra heat in the dish. It adds a lovely smoky-sweet flavor to the shrimp.
- Garlic powder: An easy way to boost the flavor of the coating. If you don’t have any, you could add fresh, minced garlic to the beaten eggs instead.
- Onion powder: Adds a rounded savoury flavor to the crispy coating on the shrimp.
- Eggs: These help the flour coating stick to the shrimp which is essential for getting that nice crispy shell on the outside.
- Avocado or vegetable oil: A neutral oil is required here so that it can hold up to the heat needed for frying.
- Hot sauce: As this forms a major part of the buffalo sauce, make sure you go with a hot sauce that you really like, and that has a spice level you’re happy with. Frank’s Red Hot sauce is the classic one to use in buffalo sauce.
- Butter: This helps to round out the spiciness of the sauce and gives it a creamy taste.
- Honey: The sweetness balances the acidity of the hot sauce and brings a slightly caramelised flavor.
Tools to grab
- Bowls: You will need 2 medium bowls, one for the flour mixture and one for the egg mixture.
- Skillet: This is going to be used to cook the shrimp in.
- Spatula: I use this tool mostly when pan-frying anything, but you could technically also use a fork to flip the shrimp while cooking.
- Tongs: This helps with the breading process instead of using your hands and makes it easier to grab the breaded shrimp without removing any of the coatings.
- Sheet pan and Parchment paper: To lay the breaded shrimp on it before cooking them.
- Basting brush: Used to brush the sauce over the shrimp. Ensures even coating.
How to Make Buffalo Shrimp
1️⃣ Coat the shrimp
Pat the shrimp dry, then dip them in the egg mixture and seasoned flour.
✏️ It’s important to get the shrimp nicely dry before dredging in the egg and flour, as it will make it easier for the egg to stick to the shrimp.
2️⃣ Pan-fry the shrimp
Gently pan-fry in a little oil, turning them over so the shrimp can crisp up on both sides.
✏️ Once the shrimp curl up and turn pink, they’re done.
3️⃣ Coat in buffalo sauce
Mix up the hot sauce, melted butter, and honey to make the buffalo sauce, then brush it sparingly over the shrimp. Serve the remaining sauce on the side for dipping.
✏️ Only brush on a little sauce to keep the coating crispy.
Variations & Substitutions
- Gluten-Free: Use a gluten-free flour blend in place of the all-purpose flour.
- Swap Protein: You may swap the shrimp with chicken bites if you like.
- Dairy-Free: Use a dairy-free butter alternative in place of the butter.
Buffalo Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
- Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper or chilli powder
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 tablespoons avocado or vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup hot sauce
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons honey
Instructions
- Pat dry the 1.5 pounds large shrimp (peeled and deveined) with paper towels and season with Kosher salt and black pepper.
- In a shallow plate mix the 3/4 cup all-purpose flour with 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper or chilli powder, 2 teaspoons smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon garlic powder and 1 teaspoon onion powder. In a second shallow plate, whisk the 2 eggs.
- Working one by one, lightly dip the shrimp in the flour mixture, then dunk into the beaten eggs, then again evenly coat with flour. Place the coated shrimp in a sheet pan.
- Once all the shrimp are coated, heat the 2 tablespoons avocado or vegetable oil in a large non-stick pan. Fry the shrimp in 2 batches, until golden brown and curled.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the 1/2 cup hot sauce with 2 tablespoons butter (melted) and 2 tablespoons honey.
- Lightly baste the buffalo sauce over the cooked shrimp to coat. Don't overcoat it with the sauce, or they will lose the crispiness. Rather, serve them dipped into the remaining buffalo sauce.
- Serve with carrot and celery sticks, and ranch dressing, if desired.
Notes
- Ensure the shrimp have been deveined before you start coating them in the egg and flour. If you don’t have experience doing this, seek out frozen shrimp that have been deveined already.
- These are best served pretty much immediately after frying, so check that your timings are correct, as you can’t really prep them ahead of time either.
- The shrimp will cook quite quickly (a couple of minutes per side), so watch them closely. You’ll know they’re cooked when they turn from a translucent grey color to an opaque white and pink.
- As the buffalo sauce is quite wet, it’s a good idea to only lightly brush the shrimp with some of the sauce and leave the remaining sauce on the side, for dipping. That way, to maintain maximum crispness of the coating.
- Make this recipe gluten-free by replacing the flour with a store-bought gluten-free flour blend.
- I like to leave the tails on the shrimp if I’m serving this as an appetizer, as it makes them easier to pick up. If serving over rice, I remove the tails before coating.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Storage & Make Ahead Tips
- Storing: If you have leftovers, you can store them in the fridge for up to 3 days. They will lose their crispness, but will be ok to store for a few days and eat later.
- Reheating: If you plan to reheat, try not to overheat them because the shrimp will come out rubbery. You can try to air fry them a bit to get them a bit crispy again, or simply reheat them in the microwave if you do not mind them being a bit soggy. It is best to serve these fresh right after its made.
More Shrimp Recipes
- Crispy Coconut Baked Shrimp
- Chargrilled Shrimp
- Honey Walnut Shrimp
- Cajun Shrimp
- Easy Shrimp Scampi
- Kung Pao Shrimp
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