Air fryer frozen shrimp with garlic butter sauce is the BEST for busy weeknights as it takes just 15-minutes!
Perfectly adaptable, our frozen shrimp air fryer recipe works for breaded, unbreaded, popcorn shrimp, or frozen coconut shrimp all well making this the best option for quick and easy dinners that are a WHOLE LOTTA YUM!
Frozen Shrimp in Air Fryer
If you've been looking at frozen shrimp recipes and are wondering if you can cook frozen shrimp in an air fryer, you'll be thrilled to know it works beautifully. Frozen shrimp is always a family favorite and with our air fryer, we can enjoy it faster than ever! Pairing shrimp with a garlic butter sauce that compliments means these tiny morsels don't last long in our home. We easily go through the entire pound in no time. 😉
Air fryer shrimp from frozen with garlic butter sauce is not only a simple meal to create, it's adaptable for just about every eating plan out there! As-is the recipe is gluten-free, low-carb, and keto-friendly. Skipping the butter will make it dairy-free and Whole30 compliant. For paleo, either skip the butter or use ghee.
We love to simply eat our garlic butter air fryer shrimp beside a vegetable dish or side salad, but you can also use this shrimp in a variety of ways including in a seafood alfredo, a shrimp taco, or as a topping to a salad.
Why You'll Love This!
- No more defrosting! Unlike many shrimp recipes out there, our air fryer shrimp recipe is meant to be used with frozen shrimp!
- Season your shrimp with a simple combination of butter, garlic, salt, and pepper to bring a delicious yet simple dinner to your table.
- Our frozen shrimp recipe goes from freezer to table in just 15-minutes!
- Use this same method to make a variety of frozen shrimp dishes including breaded, unbreaded, and popcorn shrimp.
The air fryer is the perfect tool in your kitchen to create great tasting dinners quickly that your whole family will love including our air fryer turkey burgers, air fryer steak tips, and our air fryer frozen chicken breast.
And don't forget to try our cajun air fryer shrimp no breading recipe when you have defrosted shrimp or Old Bay air fryer shrimp.
Ingredient Notes
With just a few kitchen basics, you can start cooking frozen shrimp straight from the freezer and take it from bland and boring to elegant and flavorful!
- bag of frozen shrimp - raw with tail on. You can also purchase raw butterfly shrimp if your store has it.
- butter
- olive oil
- sea salt - sea salt is not as strong as common table salt like Morton's.
- ground black pepper
- garlic - minced fresh cloves will get you the best flavor but you can use garlic powder in a pinch.
Variations
You can easily use the same cooking method we are using for air fryer shrimp with garlic sauce for all varieties of frozen shrimp, whether it's frozen raw or already pre-cooked. You can also skip all of the seasoning oil/butter and just cook the shrimp plain if you're using it in a recipe.
Instead of garlic butter, serve the cooked shrimp with a Cajun seafood butter sauce!
Equipment
An Air Fryer- We have an Omni Plus oven style air fryer and a small 3.2L Farberware basket style air fryer.
Diet Adaptions
- Whole30 - Omit butter for Whole30 eating plans.
- Paleo - Either omit the butter completely or use ghee instead.
How to Cook Frozen Shrimp in an Air Fryer
We are going to season our frozen shrimp, place them right into the air fryer, then let the fryer works its magic. Dinner has never been SO easy!
Prep Ingredients
Preheat your air fryer for 5 mins on 400 degrees F.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine the frozen raw shrimp, olive oil, sea salt, ground black pepper, and minced garlic cloves. Stir to evenly season the shrimp.
Spread the shrimp in the bottom of the air fryer basket in a single layer. They'll be overlapping somewhat if you have a small air fryer (like we used).
Frozen Shrimp Air Fryer Temperature
You will cook your air fryer shrimp from frozen at 400F. If your air fryer doesn't automatically do this for you, simply turn your model on for 3-5 minutes before cooking.
400F is our standard temperature for cooking most of our air fryer frozen foods and snacks. You can use a lower temperature but you will need to adjust the cooking time. However, we have found that 400F is the best temperature for achieving that fried taste and texture.
Please note that it is ok to add oil or cooking spray if you have an aluminum air fryer basket. However, if your basket is non-stick, do NOT use cooking spray. Cooking sprays can ruin the non-stick finish and will make the food in the non-stick basket STICK.
Frozen Shrimp Air Fryer Cooking Time
How long do you cook frozen shrimp in the air fryer basket you might wonder? The cook time of the shrimp will take 10-11 minutes of total cooking time, however, you cannot just set the timer and walk away. 😉
Place your basket in your preheated air fryer and cook for 5 minutes. You'll be shaking the basket halfways and then will Continue cooking the shrimp for 5-6 more minutes until it JUST turns pink and is cooked through.
Add more seasoning like a drizzle of butter or squeeze of lemon juice, if desired.
Serve warm as a main dish or mixed into your favorite shrimp dish.
Please note that air fryer models do vary so keep an eye on your air fryer frozen shrimp during the second part of the cooking process to ensure you do not overcook your shrimp.
Recipe Tips
- This air fryer shrimp recipe is based on using frozen raw shrimp - do not thaw your shrimp prior to cooking or you will overcook them.
- If you are using pre-cooked shrimp, follow the instructions for the garlic butter seasoning and cook for 7-minutes, stirring after 5.
- If you do not like to cook with oil, feel free to omit it or replace it with butter for the seasoning.
- Preheating your air fryer is essential to cooking starting as soon as you place your basket in your air fryer.
- If you have medium-sized shrimp instead of large, take 1 minute off of the cooking time.
- These cooking instructions can be used with all varieties of frozen raw shrimp.
- All air fryer models can vary slightly, some models cook faster or slower than others. The first time you go to make a recipe keep a closer eye on it so you food doesn't end up overcooked.
Common Questions
Serve your shrimp in air fryer recipe with garlic butter sauce with pesto zoodles for a quick and easy, flavorful meal. Rice, buttered noodles, or with roasted potatoes and vegetables also make a quick and easy meal.
To cook air fryer frozen cooked shrimp preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees and air fry for 7 minutes, shaking the basket after 4 minutes, or until the shrimp pieces are just warmed through. This method will also work with fried frozen shrimp like precooked coconut shrimp or battered shrimp too.
If you have any leftover air fryer frozen shrimp, store them in the fridge in an airtight container. Use any leftovers within 1-2 days, seafood doesn't keep for very long in the fridge.
More Air Fryer Recipes
Looking for more air fryer recipes?
- Air fryer bratwurst
- Air fryer shrimp with Old Bay
- Frozen chicken breast in the air fryer
- Frozen chicken wings in air fryer
Come connect with us on Instagram! Be sure to tag us (wholelotta.yum) when you make a recipe. You can also find us on Facebook, and Pinterest.
Air Fryer Frozen Shrimp
Easy air fryer frozen shrimp with a garlic butter sauce gets dinner on the table in 15 minutes without having to defrost the shrimp!
Ingredients
- 1 lb frozen shrimp, raw with tail on
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 teaspoon garlic cloves, minced
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer for 5 mins on 400F.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine the frozen raw shrimp, olive oil, sea salt, ground black pepper, and minced garlic cloves.
- Spread the shrimp in the bottom of the air fryer basket, they'll be overlapping somewhat if you have a small air fryer (like we used).
- The shrimp will take 10-11 minutes of total cooking time. After 5 minutes, shake or stir the shrimp.
- Continue cooking the shrimp for 5-6 more minutes until it JUST turns pink and is cooked through.
- Add more seasoning like a drizzle of butter or squeeze of lemon juice, if desired. Serve warm as a main dish or mixed into your favorite shrimp dish.
Notes
If you have medium sized shrimp instead of the large, take 1 minute off of the cooking time.
Since frozen shrimp has lots of moisture and ice crystals, the liquid will collect in the bottom of the unit. The seasoning doesn't stick as well as raw shrimp because of this, so adjust seasoning to taste after cooking.
Be sure to purchase raw frozen shrimp for the recipe, the instructions are for raw shrimp and not pre-cooked frozen shrimp. If you have pre-cooked frozen shrimp you can still use them in the recipe just cook the shrimp for a total of 7 minutes, or until the shrimp are heated through.
Be sure to shake the basket after 5 minutes to mix up the shrimp.
The shrimp is done cooking when it JUST turns pink, shrimp can become overcooked quickly so you don't want to go longer than when it first turns pink.
Do you just need plain cooked shrimp to go in another recipe? Skip the butter and seasonings and follow the recipe as directed for the cooking time and temp.
Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 249Total Fat 14gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 8gCholesterol 255mgSodium 1701mgCarbohydrates 3gFiber 0gSugar 0gProtein 26g
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