Healthier Bang Bang Shrimp

This healthier Bang Bang Shrimp is baked, not fried, but has all the crunch and spicy, sweet flavor of the original. Perfect for an appetizer or dinner everyone will love!

 

I’ve been on a bit of a shrimp kick this summer, it seems like.

Recently I’ve shared lemon garlic shrimp and garlic butter shrimp, both of which are ready in under 15 minutes.

Honey garlic shrimp is another favorite. Just 5 ingredients and 10 minutes to make and the sauce is addictively delicious!

Today, we’re making bang bang shrimp, the Bonefish Grill classic that we all know and love.

Except we’re making them a little bit lighter by baking the shrimp instead of frying them.

And trust me, they come out SO crunchy! You won’t miss the fried one bit. (Plus, none of the splatter and mess of frying.)

Oh, and that sauce. That creamy, dreamy slightly sweet, slightly hot bang bang sauce that coats each shrimp... swoon!

It’s so good, y’all.

A must make for sure! (I just know you’ll be impressed with yourself!)

OK, let’s get cooking.

Now, I’ve got some notes, tips and substitutions coming up below on how to make bang bang shrimp. Just tryin’ to be helpful.

If you want to jump on down to the recipe, simply scroll right on through the rest of the text. The recipe card is near the bottom of the page, above the comments section.

Ingredient Notes:

• Shrimp: I used a pound of medium shrimp, which come 51-60 a pound. You can substitute another size shrimp, but you’ll need to adjust your cooking time.
• Shrimp prep: The shrimp need to be completely thawed (more on that in a minute) as well as peeled and deveined for this recipe. Please plan accordingly. (You can ask your seafood counter to prep these for you if needed. Or buy the peeled and deveined frozen shrimp that are ready to go for you.)
• Panko: Using Panko breadcrumbs is a must to get the super crunchy coating on the shrimp. I do not recommend substituting regular breadcrumbs.
• Mayonnaise: I prefer this for the creaminess, but you could swap some or all of it for plain Greek yogurt if you prefer. (I often do half and half.) It adds a bit of tang to the sauce.
• Thai sweet chili sauce: This will give you the classic flavor for the sauce. You can find it in the international or Asian aisle of the grocery store.
• Sriracha: This is traditional, but I’ve subbed regular hot sauce before and that worked just fine. As written, these are not super spicy at all, but you could add some extra sriracha if you prefer more heat. Or serve the shrimp drizzled with sriracha.

Otherwise, this recipe is super simple to make.

The hardest part is breading the shrimp and that’s just tedious and messy, not at all difficult.

But here’s the basic run-down.

Recipe Instructions:

1. Bread the shrimp. Dip each shrimp into flour, then the whisked egg then the Panko breadcrumbs.
2. Bake the shrimp. Bake the shrimp at 425 for 10 minutes, then flip and finish cooking for another 5-6 minutes.
3. Coat the shrimp. Make the bang bang sauce and toss with the shrimp as soon as they are done in the oven. Serve immediately and devour!

OK, let’s go over some shrimp basics if you want some pointers. 

Tips on Buying Shrimp:

– I buy frozen shrimp, which is actually fresher than “fresh” shrimp in the grocery store case. That’s cause the shrimp they have on display in the seafood case is almost always frozen shrimp that they’ve recently thawed. So buying it still frozen is a better move. Unless you can get it from a boat!

– I love, love getting my shrimp already peeled and deveined – saves so much time. Highly recommend if you can find it that way.

– I prefer the medium 51-60 size shrimp for this, especially when served as an appetizer, but you can use your favorite size.

Note: If you do swap out the size of shrimp, you may need to adjust the cooking time. You may also need more or less of the breading station ingredients.

And if your shrimp are frozen, no worries. Mine almost always are, too.

How to Thaw Frozen Shrimp

– You can place frozen shrimp in the refrigerator (in a well sealed container) overnight to thaw.

– You can thaw frozen shrimp quickly by placing them, frozen, in a colander and rinsing them in the sink with cold water for 2-3 minutes, until they are completely defrosted.

Since the first option takes a little more planning and foresight, I’m often in camp option number two. Meaning it’s dinner, I’m making shrimp and I’m pulling them out of the freezer 5 minutes before I want to cook them. And it works great every time.

OK, let’s get ready to eat!

Bang bang shrimp can be served as an appetizer, which requires nothing else. 

Or make them the main meal! They go great with rice or grain bowls, and we also love using them for shrimp tacos in some soft tortillas. 

Seriously flavorful!

Whichever way you serve them, feel free to sprinkle with some sliced green onions or fresh herbs.

And they pair great with something light and fresh like a cucumber salad.

Last thing, what to do with the leftovers.

Leftover seafood doesn’t keep that great on a good day, but these shrimp are especially not good candidates.

Once they are tossed with that sauce, the clock is a ticking.

In other words, you cannot save the leftovers. They will turn soggy. Yuck. 

Now, if you didn’t toss all of the baked and breaded shrimp with the sauce, that could work. Then you could reheat the shrimp in the oven on low broil or in the Air Fryer, and toss with the sauce before serving.

Otherwise, just go ahead and eat the whole batch. You’re gonna want to anyway!

I hope you give these a try for a healthier and homemade version of the beloved bang bang shrimp.

Enjoy!

XO,

Kathryn