Air Fryer Frozen Shrimp with Butter and Garlic

Post was Updated on September 4, 2021

Air Fryer Frozen Shrimps with butter and garlic perfectly cooked in under 15 minutes with almost no effort. These frozen shrimps without shells cooked in the air fryer are sweet and spicy and have a great texture. Serve these low-carb keto shrimps near sauce, a salad, noodles, or eat them as is. They will cook perfectly every time straight from the freezer. No thawing is needed.

I always have a few frozen bags of shrimp in the fridge. They are so versatile that you can every time to cook something quick and delicious with them. What can be easier than just 5 minutes of preparation and putting them into the air fryer and waiting for 10 minutes?

I was super surprised and impressed when I made the frozen shrimps for the first time in the air fryer. They have a crisp and caramelized exterior and they are very tender and juicy inside.

After you will try this recipe once, you will cook it more often than you think. Why? Because you can make them so quickly and the end result is fabulous.

🍤 What Shrimps I Used for This Recipe?

I used frozen uncooked shrimps without shells of the size of 16-20, which means that you will find 16-20 pieces of shrimps in a pound. You can use also cooked shrimps for this recipe, but you will need to change the time to 6 minutes instead of 10.

🥰 Why You Will Love This Recipe?

• You don’t need to defrost the shrimps which means that you can make this recipe quick and spontaneous. You can just pull them out from the fridge, to make a butter marinade, or if you want to cook them even faster, just pull them in the air fryer and cook them as is.
• You can use any different mixes of spices that you like, and you will get different flavors every time.

🏆 Tips for Success? How to Make It Better?

• Remember that shrimps may vary in sizes, they may come raw, pre-cooked or coated, so pay attention to that and adjust the cooking time accordingly.
• By sprinkle the shrimps with oil or butter and you will get a more uniform frying, you will avoid them to dry and the taste will become more intense.
• Don’t overlap the shrimps in the air fryer basket. Spread them evenly and leave some space between them, to allow the hot air to circulate and cook the shrimps evenly on all sides. If you need a larger quantity, consider cooking them in a few batches to obtain the best results.

🤔 How to Scale the Recipe up and Down?

This is a simple recipe, so you can increase or decrease the ingredients proportionally. If you need to cook a larger amount of shrimps, consider cooking them in a few batches to not overcrowd the air fryer basket.

🥘 Ingredients Needed for This Recipe?

• 1 lb of Frozen Shrimps. I used 16/20 size. Which means that they are 16-20 shrimps per pound.
• 2 tablespoons of ghee butter.
• 2 Garlic Cloves.
• ⅛ teaspoon of Chili Flakes.
• ¼ teaspoon of Salt.
• Chopped Parsley for decoration.

🥦 Ingredients Swap?

• Frozen Shrimps. You could replace the frozen shrimps with fresh shrimp, just keep in mind that the cooking time will be 6 minutes instead of 10.
• Ghee Butter. You can replace the ghee butter with simple butter or olive oil.
• Chili Flakes. You can replace it with fresh chili peppers, or omit it altogether if you don’t prefer spicy food.
• Fresh Garlic Cloves. You can replace it with granulated dried garlic.
• Chopped Parsley. You can avoid it, replace it with dried oregano, fresh basil, or other aromatic herbs that you prefer to eat with seafood.

🍽️ Serving Suggestions

These Air fryer Shrimps will go very well with the following:

• Parmesan Zucchini Chips
• Air Fryer Spicy Broccoli
• Spicy Nando Rice
• Marinara Sauce
• Risotto Zafferano
• Pumpkin Risotto
• Potato Wedges With Dill Sauce
• Tzatziki Sauce
• Roasted Vegetables

As you can see, the air fryer shrimps are very versatile and you can serve them near a lot of dishes.

🍲 Variations

Bacon-wrapped frozen shrimps. Wrap each shrimp in a thin slice of bacon, and then bake them.

Lemon Pepper Frozen Shrimps. Squeeze juice from lemons and season them over with black pepper.

Mexican spicy Frozen Shrimps. Add a few dashes of cumin powder and chili flakes.

Garlic Parmesan Frozen Shrimps. For an extra flavor, add over the shrimps a little bit of grated parmesan and chopped garlic.

⏱️ For How Long to Cook the Shrimps?

The time may differ from the shrimp sizes and if they are cooked or raw:

• If the shrimps on the package are marked as uncooked, you will need to cook them in the air fryer for about 10 minutes,
• If they are market as cooked, then you will need only 6 minute to cook them in the air fryer.

Quick Note: Take into consideration that not all air fryers heat and cook in the same way. Because of that, be with an eye on the shrimps, check them in the last minutes, and if is needed adjust the timing. Personally, for this recipe, I used Cosori Air Fryer 5.8QT.

👩‍🍳 Directions

Melt the ghee butter in the microwave, or in a saucepan on the stove.

Quick Note: We are melting the butter because the spices will open better in hot butter.

Meanwhile, take the shrimp out of the freezer and rinse a little with water at room temperature.

After the butter has melted, put the chopped garlic and spices in it and mix well the composition. Pour the obtained sauce over the shrimp.

Quick Note: Melted butter on contact with frozen shrimp will harden instantly. That’s why you should try to mix them as quickly as possible and to cover as much of the shrimp as possible.

Put the shrimp in the air fryer pan. Arrange them in a single layer to bake them evenly. Also, if you have any butter with spices leftovers from the previous step, you can put them over the shrimps in the air fryer basket.

In the preheated air fryer, cook the shrimp at 370°F (185°C) for 10 minutes.

Quick note: As the heating mode may differ from one air fryer manufacture to another, please check the shrimps from time to time and if is needed adjust the time accordingly with your air fryer. For this recipe, I used the Cosori Air Fryer 5.8QT.

After that, serve the shrimp on the plate and optionally, you can sprinkle them with finely chopped parsley over them.

Our frozen shrimps in the air fryer are ready to be served!

Quick Note: If you want a more intense garlic taste, sprinkle the shrimp with the butter sauce from the air fryer tray that drained during the cooking. If you are on a low-fat diet, skip this step.

♻️ Storage and Heating:

📋 Recipe Card: