The BEST Fried Shrimp

By: Jessica · Posted: Mar 25, 2025 · This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

4.88 from 181 votes

Fried Shrimp is so much easier to make at home than you think. Just a few, simple pantry ingredients to create this fried shrimp batter using flour and cornmeal to make it crispy, and now you’ll know how to make pan-fried shrimp for easy dinners and it will become a true favorite!

Roll up your sleeves, break out your pans and get to dredging. You’re less than 30 minutes away from crispy shrimp and old bay cocktail sauce or the dipping sauce recipe I share below, at home tonight or on “Fried Friday” in your Dinner Theme System.

Serving tip: Serve this with steak! Not sure how to make steak? Here’s my favorite restaurant-quality steak recipe to use: How to Cook Steak!

Hey there! Meg here and I'm so excited to share another recipe with you all! I know how much you loved this grilled shrimp so this will be another seafood recipe to add to your cookbook!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

I don't know about you but sometimes I find making fried foods at home kind of intimidating unless it’s air fryer shrimp.

Easy Breading: When frying, there's the whole dredging process and the sometimes messy, (tip below on how to make very little mess) frying of the food in hot oil. But I'm here to tell you, you will LOVE how easy this recipe is and it’s way better than the store-bought, frozen breaded shrimp, that’s for sure!
Restaurant quality fried shrimp at home in less than 20 minutes.
Batter Secret: Plus, using cornmeal and flour together in the batter, creates a crispy shrimp that’s hard not to love!

Fried shrimp on plate next to dipping sauce.

Fried Shrimp Cornmeal and Flour Batter

The mixture of flour and cornmeal adds such a delicious crust to the shrimp. The cornmeal adds a crazy crunch and the flour adds its own wonderful touch for the crispiest fried shrimp!

A good amount of onion powder, garlic powder, kosher salt, and a nice sprinkle of cayenne pepper in the batter also bring lots of flavor and interest.

Fried Shrimp Recipe Ingredients

The ingredient list for this fried shrimp recipe is small and basic but it packs a punch! You’ll find that ingredients are similar to other fried recipes on the blog, so if you have pork chops handy, you’ll also love this fried pork chops recipe!

*Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients list & instructions!*

Shrimp + Oil

Canola oil for frying (or vegetable oil)
24 ounces large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

Egg Wash

2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk (or milk)
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon black pepper

Batter and Shrimp Seasoning Ingredients

Keeping the seasoning simple is key for a crispy coating! Just a few favorite spices really give this shrimp, tons of flavor! You’ll be using these spices to mix with the flour and cornmeal!

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Optional Dipping Sauce:

This sauce recipe is optional but highly recommended.

¾ cup mayo
½ cup sweet chili sauce

Similar to this sauce, this boom boom shrimp is coated in a delicious tangy sauce!

Step by Step Directions:

Before beginning: Heat oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Line a large plate with a paper towel, set aside.

In a cake pan, pie plate, shallow dish or shallow bowl, whisk together eggs and buttermilk. Add ½ teaspoon of salt and pepper. (Image below.)
In another cake pan, mix together the flour, cornmeal, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne pepper.
Add shrimp to the egg mixture and coat shrimp well.
A few at a time, add the shrimp to the flour/cornmeal mixture and coat completely. (Place on a clean plate while you bread the remaining shrimp.)

TIP: Allowing the shrimp to rest while breading the other shrimp, will help prevent the breading from falling off during frying.

Add shrimp to skillet in a single layer, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Let shrimp cook and fry for 3 minutes, until crispy and to a golden brown perfection.
Remove shrimp from oil with a slotted spoon and drain on a prepared plate that has layers of paper towels to soak up any excess oil. Continue until all shrimp is fried.

Dipping Sauce Recipe for Shrimp

Mayo and sweet chili sauce mix up to a creamy, spicy, slightly sweet sauce that really compliments the crispy, tender fried shrimp.

Place the mayo and sweet chili sauce in a separate small bowl.
Mix together the ingredients until evenly combined and serve with the cooked fried shrimp.

Recipe Pro Tips

The Key to Less Mess: Ideally, set up two pie plates to create a breading station. You can use bowls if necessary but the wide, shallow shape of pie or cake pans makes the process much easier. One cake pan will have the liquid ingredients, in this case, an egg and buttermilk. The second pan will hold the dry ingredients, flour, cornmeal, and spices for a major flavor punch.

Tips for How to Batter Shrimp

This is by far the best shrimp batter, and after so many others have made this too and left reviews saying they think it’s delicious too… it’s safe to say it’s an easy recipe that you’ll want to cook shrimp in from here on out!

Use one hand (I usually use my left since I move through the process left to right) to coat the shrimp in the egg mixture. Pick up the shrimp with the wet hand and place it in the dry mixture. Now use your other hand to gently coat the shrimp.

Because you aren't going back and forth with both hands they aren't getting goopy and gross. One hand will have egg and one hand flour but not a big lumpy mess.

It's not anything revolutionary but it makes a big difference in the mess level of battering and frying.

Recipe FAQs

How long do you fry shrimp for?

Once battered, it only takes 3 minutes to fry the shrimp in oil.

Do you have to soak shrimp in milk before frying?

You can soak it but it’s not required. However, dipping shrimp in to milk (or buttermilk) instead of soaking, before frying is recommended. The buttermilk helps the batter stick to the shrimp and provides a thicker coating.

How do you get breading to stick to shrimp?

A buttermilk and egg will help the flour and cornmeal batter stick to the fried shrimp.

Fried Shrimp Sauces

If you don’t want to make the sauce recipe above, here are some other dipping options for your shrimp that you will love:

honey mustard
cocktail sauce
spicy ketchup
country white gravy
tartar sauce
hot sauce
remoulade sauce
ranch or even this jalapeno ranch

Side Dishes to Serve with Southern Fried Shrimp

Serve this southern shrimp recipe (or so we think it’s “southern”) with Amish potato salad or a side salad to round out your meal and enjoy. P.S. That side salad will give you LIFE.

Or, serve popular side dishes such as:

fried mushrooms
hush puppies
since you’re frying shrimp, might as well make these fried pickles too!
seasoned potato wedges
french fries (or polenta fries or eggplant fries for healthier options)
roasted brussels sprouts
Instant Pot corn on the cob

Or, if you want to serve it alone, you can easily add lemon wedges to the side and even a little chopped fresh parsley if you like!

Easy Fried Shrimp Recipe and batter how-to!

How to Store Leftover Shrimp

To store any leftover shrimp, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

How to Reheat Fried Shrimp

When ready to reheat the fried shrimp, using the air fryer works amazingly well! Or, you can bake it in the oven or a toaster oven (around 400 degrees for a few minutes until heated through) to crisp it up a little.

Using a microwave can leave the fried shrimp soggy but it’s definitely a way you can reheat if preferred.

Classic, crispy fried shrimp is so much easier to make at home than you think. Just a few, simple pantry ingredients and you're on your way to fried perfection.

More Recipes You’ll Love

Want more yummy recipes? You’ll also love this shrimp baked potato, grilled shrimp marinade recipe. Or, if you love fried recipes, this southern country fried steak is a great southern staple.

This fried rice recipe is perfect to create a fried shrimp rice recipe.
Or serve up this fried shrimp recipe as an appetizer with some of our other favorite easy appetizer recipes that we have here on the blog.

Originally published in 2019, then updated in November 2024 and in March 2025.

Recipe

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Comments

4.88 from 181 votes (148 ratings without comment)

The BEST Fried Shrimp

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Fried Shrimp Cornmeal and Flour Batter