Air Fryer Frozen Shrimp
These air fryer frozen shrimp cook straight from frozen in 5 minutes. Tossed with garlic, paprika, and lemon, then finished with butter and parsley, they make a fast dinner for two.
Ingredients
- 12 oz raw frozen jumbo shrimp 330 g; peeled and deveined, tails off
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- 1 tsp paprika
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 pinch chili flakes adjust to taste
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
Season the Frozen Shrimp
- Break the shrimp apart if any are stuck together. Put them in a large bowl.
- Add the olive oil, garlic, paprika, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and chili flakes. Toss until the shrimp are evenly coated.
Air Fry the Shrimp
- Tip the shrimp into the basket in a single layer. Cook at 200° C - 392° F for 5 minutes.
Finish with Butter and Parsley
- At the last 30 seconds, add the butter and chopped parsley. Shake the basket so the melting butter coats every shrimp.
- Serve straight away.
Notes
- Take the shrimp out at 5 minutes; past 6 minutes they turn rubbery.
- They are done when pink and opaque, or 63° C - 145° F inside.
- Keep them in a single layer; cook in two batches if the basket is small.
- No need to thaw; break apart any shrimp frozen together first.
- I do not preheat my air fryer for this; if yours needs it, run it first.
- Precooked frozen shrimp take about 4 minutes; thawed raw shrimp 3 to 4 minutes. Smaller shrimp cook faster.
- Swap the paprika and chili for lemon pepper, Cajun, or Old Bay.
- Leftovers keep 2 days in the fridge; do not freeze them, since the shrimp were frozen before.
- Reheat gently in the air fryer for a couple of minutes; cold shrimp are good in wraps.
- Mix the dry seasoning ahead; it keeps for months in a jar.
- Jumbo shrimp come labeled 21/25 on the bag; the smaller the number, the bigger the shrimp.