Shrimp are a classic weeknight meal ingredient—they’re incredibly easy, fast, and family-friendly. But there’s one element of cooking with shrimp that often flies under the radar: the sodium.
All shrimp contain some sodium (they live in a salty environment, after all). But the food you buy at the store is probably a lot saltier now than it was when it was first made. Fresh-caught shrimp are typically soaked in a salty brine within minutes of being harvested from the ocean. Adding salt to the water helps the shrimp cool down faster and stops ice crystals from forming on the shellfish while it freezes. That’s great for texture. It’s not great for your sodium intake.
The shrimp soak up salt from the brine. Plus, shrimp are often frozen in a salt solution, which adds even more sodium to your overall numbers. Easy-peel shrimp are serious culprits for sodium, too. A different salt solution is used to make it easy for the small crustacean to slip out of its shell.
Without knowing it, you’re taking in a great deal of sodium from one single ingredient in your meal. Don’t believe me? Let’s look at the numbers.
Shrimp is one of the most popular seafood options worldwide, prized for its sweet taste and versatile preparation methods. But for those watching their salt intake, a key question arises: Is shrimp low in sodium? Or does it contain high amounts of hidden salt?
As a shrimp lover myself, I wanted to get to the bottom of this issue. I’ve dug into the research to definitively determine whether shrimp is a low sodium food. Keep reading to explore the sodium content of different types of shrimp and how to enjoy this shellfish while controlling your salt consumption.
The Basics: Shrimp Nutrition Facts
First, let’s review the basic nutrition information for shrimp. The USDA reports the following nutrients in a 3 oz serving of cooked shrimp:
- Calories: 84
- Protein: 18 g
- Fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 0 g
- Sodium: 84 mg
Right off the bat, this sodium number looks pretty low. 84 mg accounts for only 4% of the recommended daily intake of 2300 mg per day.
Shrimp is also very high in protein, providing 18 g per serving It contains minimal fat and carbs
So based on the standard nutritional data, shrimp does appear to be a low sodium food. But is that the whole story? Let’s dig deeper.
Variability Between Different Shrimp Types
While the USDA data provides a general benchmark for sodium in shrimp, there can actually be quite a bit of variability between different types of shrimp products.
Here are some sodium ranges for common shrimp varieties:
- Wild-caught fresh shrimp: 70-110 mg per serving
- Farm-raised fresh shrimp: 110-180 mg per serving
- Frozen shrimp: 160-260 mg per serving
- Pre-cooked frozen shrimp: 300-400 mg per serving
- Easy-peel frozen shrimp: Up to 730 mg per serving!
As you can see, easy peel frozen shrimp contains nearly 10 times as much sodium as wild-caught fresh varieties.
Why this huge discrepancy? And does this mean shrimp can’t truly be considered low in sodium after all?
Why Sodium Levels Vary
The sodium content differences between shrimp types all comes down to food processing:
- Fresh wild shrimp contain only naturally occurring sodium from the ocean. No extra salt is added.
- Farm-raised and frozen shrimp are treated with sodium-containing solutions during processing for preservation and texture.
- Easy peel frozen shrimp undergo an additional brining step to help remove the shells, adding more sodium.
So while shrimp themselves contain minimal sodium naturally, the more they are processed, the more salt gets added resulting in rising sodium levels.
Tips for Choosing Low Sodium Shrimp
Given the spike in sodium with heavy processing, what’s the best way to buy shrimp low in salt? Here are my tips:
- Seek out fresh, wild caught shrimp if possible. These contain the least sodium.
- Check labels and choose frozen options with lower stated sodium levels.
- Avoid easy peel, pre-cooked frozen shrimp which likely has the most added sodium.
- Ask questions at the seafood counter to find out their fresh vs. frozen shrimp sodium practices.
- Rinse thawed frozen shrimp before cooking to remove some surface salt.
With the right buying strategies, you can still enjoy shrimp while controlling excess sodium.
Cooking Methods Also Impact Sodium
It’s not just the initial sodium levels in shrimp that matter How you cook and season shrimp makes a big difference too.
Here are some best practices for low sodium shrimp recipes:
- Skip breading or battering shrimp, which adds more sodium along with carbs and fat.
- Limit use of store-bought seasoning mixes, which can be loaded with salt.
- Stick to fresh herbs, spices, citrus and other low-sodium flavor boosters.
- Sauté in olive oil and garlic rather than butter, which is higher in sodium.
- Bake, grill, sauté or air fry instead of deep frying in oil, which has more sodium.
- Enjoy shrimp cocktail with just a squeeze of lemon rather than heavy cocktail sauce.
With smart cooking methods, you can create delicious low sodium shrimp dishes at home.
Shrimp Nutrition Beyond Sodium
While this article has focused on sodium in shrimp, it’s important to remember the other beneficial nutrients:
- High quality complete protein to support muscle growth and metabolism.
- Vitamin B12, selenium, niacin, and antioxidants.
- Cholesterol, but no saturated fat, so risk is low in moderation.
- Low calorie density makes shrimp ideal for weight management.
Shrimp provides this stellar nutrition package while remaining relatively low in sodium compared to many other proteins.
Health Conditions Where Sodium Matters Most
For whom is it most crucial to track sodium levels in shrimp? Individuals with these health conditions require strict limits:
- Hypertension
- Heart disease
- Kidney disease
- Congestive heart failure
- Edema
- Diabetes
Consult your doctor for specific guidelines on daily sodium consumption. Stay below the limits through careful shrimp selection and preparation.
The Verdict on Shrimp and Sodium
After conducting extensive research, I have reached the conclusion that shrimp is generally low in sodium, with a few caveats:
- Wild-caught fresh shrimp is lowest, while processed options add sodium.
- Cooking methods further impact final sodium levels.
- Those with medical sodium restrictions should be most cautious.
As long as you keep processing methods and total diet in mind, shrimp can be part of an eating plan low in sodium. Prioritize fresh or thoughtful frozen options, season minimally, and balance intake across all foods consumed.
At the end of the day, shrimp provides protein and nutrition with reasonable sodium levels for most people. By choosing high quality sources and preparing properly, shrimp lovers can continue to enjoy this seafood delicacy without going overboard on salt!
How do you get shrimp with the least amount of salt?
For once, reading the labels won’t help you much here. You can look at what the brand says about the sodium level and choose the lowest one. But most frozen shrimp only has two ingredients: shrimp and salt. How much salt exactly, who knows?.
Instead, focus on what you can control: where the shrimp comes from and how you cook with it. Buy shrimp as close to straight-out-of-the-water as possible. You should talk to your fishmonger about getting the freshest fish possible if you plan to cook with them a lot.
And if the only thing you can find is the high-sodium variety in the freezer aisle, don’t fret. Unless you’re watching sodium for health reasons, shrimp can still be a healthy part of your diet. Just remember this salty fact and change the amount of salt you use in the recipe to balance out the natural sodium levels in the shrimp.
The shocking salt numbers
According to Cooking Light, wild-caught, never-frozen fresh Gulf shrimp had 97 milligrams of sodium in a 4-ounce serving in their tests. This is shrimp that, at most, has only had salt added to it after harvesting. It’s the closest to all-natural you can get.
Previously-frozen, farm-raised fresh shrimp has 159 milligrams of sodium in a 4-ounce serving, their tests showed.
The real sticker shock comes in the quick-frozen, easy-to-peel shrimp varieties. To find out how much sodium these shrimp had in a 4-ounce serving, Cooking Light did some tests. That’s 2. 5 to 7. 5 times more sodium in a single serving of easy-peel shrimp than fresh-caught, never-frozen shrimp.
Shrimp labels are not going to help your confusion either. Cooking Light had their own tests done at a food lab to find out how much sodium was really in each type of shrimp. Often, the number on the nutrition label is a standard number for the type and size of shrimp you shop for.
We found that retailers list sodium levels for almost all shrimp in the 530 to 640 milligrams per serving range, whether they’re easy-peel or not.
Whole Foods, however, promises that their shrimp are frozen without preservatives. Their frozen shrimp options show that to be true: Whole Catch’s cooked white shrimp have about 227 milligrams of sodium per 4-ounce serving.
Ramens & Shrimp [LOW SODIUM but Delicious]
How much sodium is in shrimp?
Let’s delve into this question and explore the sodium content in shrimp. **Contrary to what some might believe, shrimp are relatively low in sodium.** According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), a 3-ounce serving of cooked shrimp provides approximately 84 milligrams (mg) of sodium.
Are frozen shrimp low in sodium?
Shrimp naturally have a low sodium content, so there is not much room for further reduction without compromising their taste. 5. Are frozen shrimp as low in sodium as fresh shrimp? Yes, frozen shrimp have a similar sodium content to fresh shrimp as long as no additional sodium-based preservatives or seasonings are added.
Can you eat shrimp on a low sodium diet?
However, there is hope for us shrimp lovers on a low sodium diet! The processing described above is not done 100% of the time. Sometimes far less salt is added to the shrimp. The trick is finding the sources that supply mostly unprocessed shrimp that hasn’t had a lot of salt added. I won’t lie to you, this does take effort.
Does Gulf shrimp have salt?
According to Cooking Light, wild-caught, never-frozen fresh Gulf shrimp had 97 milligrams of sodium in a 4-ounce serving in their tests. This is shrimp that, at most, has only had salt added to it after harvesting. It’s the closest to all-natural you can get.