Buffalo shrimp is a popular bar food that you can make at home. All you have to do is fry some raw shrimp and serve them with buffalo sauce.
I’m so excited to share my Buffalo Shrimp recipe with you! I first tried this dish with friends at a bar, and I’ve been trying to make it better ever since.
It comes from my Fried Shrimp recipe, but I added a lot of spicy heat to the breading to make it more flavorful. A toss in homemade buffalo wing sauce makes these spicy shrimp absolutely amazing!.
Buffalo shrimp is a tasty appetizer made from shrimp fried in a spicy breading, then tossed in a zesty buffalo wing sauce This bar food favorite packs some heat, but the crispy breading helps balance it out The result is an irresistible finger food that makes game day snacking way more fun!
If you love spicy food buffalo shrimp should definitely be on your radar. Keep reading to learn all about how it’s made how to cook it at home, and why it’s so addicting. I’ll also share some tips for tweaking the heat level and served ideas, so you can enjoy shrimp with a buffalo twist your way.
What Makes Buffalo Shrimp So Good?
There are a few key components that set properly made buffalo shrimp apart from other appetizers
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Crispy Breading: A light coating of seasoned flour gives the shrimp an irresistibly crunchy exterior. No dense breadcrumbs required! Frying helps ensure maximum crispness.
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Spicy Buffalo Sauce: The sauce provides the signature buffalo flavor. It’s made from hot sauce (Frank’s Red Hot is traditional), butter, and sometimes garlic or honey. The sauce soaks into the breading a bit as it coats each shrimp.
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Perfectly Cooked Shrimp: Proper frying yields tender, juicy shrimp inside the crispy coating. Overcooking makes shrimp rubbery, so fry just until opaque.
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Cool Dipping Sauce: Rich blue cheese or ranch dressing helps balance the heat. Celery gives you something cool and crunchy to nibble between shrimp.
It’s the interplay of crispy-crunchy, spicy-cool, and juicy shrimp that makes this such a crowdpleasing appetizer. The flavors and textures just really complement each other.
How to Make Buffalo Shrimp at Home
You’ll be happy to know that making restaurant-quality buffalo shrimp at home is totally doable. With just a few simple steps, these spicy shrimp can be on your table in under an hour. Here’s an overview of what’s involved:
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Prep the Shrimp: Peel, devein, and pat dry medium or large raw shrimp. Season with salt and pepper.
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Make the Breading: Whisk together flour, smoked paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, thyme, and plenty of black pepper in a bowl.
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Bread the Shrimp: Place seasoned flour in a plastic bag. Add shrimp, seal, and shake to coat. Refrigerate breaded shrimp for 20-30 minutes.
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Fry the Shrimp: Heat oil to 350°F in a skillet or pot. Fry shrimp in batches for 2-3 minutes until golden brown.
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Make the Sauce: Melt butter and mix with hot sauce and garlic.
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Toss in Sauce: Toss fried shrimp in buffalo sauce until coated.
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Serve Immediately: Enjoy the crispy shrimp right away with blue cheese dressing and veggies.
Pretty easy, right? I recommend checking out this step-by-step recipe for full cooking details and pro tips. It uses simple pantry staples to create amazing flavor with minimal work.
You’ll notice that most buffalo shrimp recipes call for frying, not baking. While baking does cut down on oil, the shrimp just don’t get as crispy without frying. I’d rather indulge in the occasional deep fried appetizer than settle for subpar texture and flavor.
Tweaking Buffalo Shrimp to Your Taste
One of the great things about making buffalo shrimp at home is that you control the flavor. So you can easily customize it to your preferences. Here are some tasty ways to put your own spin on this classic:
Make it Milder: To tone down the heat, use less cayenne in the breading, and cut back on the hot sauce in the buffalo sauce. Adding more honey mellows it out too.
Amp Up the Heat: On the flip side, heat lovers can use extra cayenne in the breading and increase the hot sauce-to-butter ratio in the sauce.
Add Smoky Flavor: Smoked paprika gives great flavor without much heat. Use it liberally in the breading.
Use Different Hot Sauces: Franks is traditional, but you can experiment with other hot sauces like Cholula, Sriracha, or Tabasco.
Switch up the Dipping Sauce: Ranch dressing, bleu cheese, and even honey mustard work well for dipping.
Bread with Cornmeal: For extra crunch, use half cornmeal and half flour for the shrimp coating.
Try a Dry Rub: Skip the wet buffalo sauce and coat fried shrimp in a spicy dry rub instead.
Don’t be afraid to play around until you find your ultimate buffalo shrimp! The crispy-crunchy shrimps are incredibly versatile.
Serving Ideas for Buffalo Shrimp
Delicious on their own, buffalo shrimp also pair well with a variety of other foods. Here are some fun serving ideas:
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Buffalo shrimp with crisp celery and carrots, plus ranch or blue cheese dressing for dipping
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Slider-style buffalo shrimp sandwiches with blue cheese coleslaw
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Buffalo shrimp tacos with shredded lettuce, pico de gallo, queso fresco
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Buffalo shrimp nachos piled high with all the fixings
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Buffalo shrimp and avocado salad with mixed greens, bacon, tomato
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Pita pockets stuffed with buffalo shrimp, feta, cucumber, red onion
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Baked potatoes loaded with buffalo shrimp, sour cream, scallions
You can also incorporate buffalo shrimp into customizable build-your-own taco/nacho/baked potato bars for fun interactive meals. The possibilities are endless!
Why You Should Add Buffalo Shrimp to Your Game Day Menu
Along with classic wings and nachos, buffalo shrimp deserves a spot in your game day lineup. What makes it such a winning football food?
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It’s tasty and exciting, adding a unique flavor guests will love
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Super easy finger food, perfect for snacking and sharing
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The breading means less mess and sticky fingers than wings
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Fried shrimp cooks quickly – great for last minute get-togethers
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Works well for a crowd since shrimp fries up quickly in batches
So next time you’re hosting for the big game, look beyond the usual chicken wings and pigs-in-a-blanket. Your guests will be glad you did!
Tips for Cooking Perfect Buffalo Shrimp Every Time
Like any fried food, there are a few key tricks that separate merely good buffalo shrimp from truly great buffalo shrimp. Here are my top tips for crispy, juicy, flavorful buffalo shrimp worth craving:
Buy Raw Shrimp: Pre-cooked shrimp get rubbery when fried again. Raw deveined shrimp works best.
Use Medium or Large Shrimp: Avoid tiny shrimp that overcook too quickly. Larger shrimp hold up better in the fryer.
Season Under the Breading: Salt, pepper, and all the flavor gets sealed into the shrimp.
Double-Dredge in Flour: Dredge shrimp in flour, chill, then dredge again right before frying for extra crispy coating.
Fry at the Right Temp: Use an oil thermometer and fry shrimp around 350°F to prevent under or overcooking.
Work in Small Batches: Don’t crowd the pan or oil temp will drop and shrimp will get greasy.
Fry Just Until Opague: Once the shrimp turn pink/opaque, they’re done. Overcooking leads to rubbery shrimp.
Toss Immediately in Sauce: Tossing hot shrimp in the sauce helps the flavor soak in.
Serve Right Away: Enjoy buffalo shrimp ASAP once cooked for the best texture and crunch.
Follow these steps, and you’ll be rewarded with big flavor and texture in every bite of these buffalo shrimp. Once you try homemade, you may never want to order them at a restaurant again!
Satisfy Your Cravings with Zesty Buffalo Shrimp
If you love the addicting flavors of Buffalo wings, do yourself a favor and give buffalo shrimp a try. These spicy appetizers will satisfy your cravings in a fun new way.
Crispy, crunchy shrimp gets bathed in a fiery blend of melted butter and hot sauce for a flavor you won’t be able to resist. Making buffalo shrimp at home lets you customize the heat to your tastes. An array of dipping sauces and serving ideas means you’ll never get bored.
So next time you’re hosting a crowd or just need a zesty snack for game day, whip up a batch of buffalo shrimp. This iconic bar food favorite is easier to make than you think. And it
Ingredients In This Buffalo Shrimp Recipe
Raw shrimp are turned into something really special with these ingredients!
- Shrimp: This recipe makes a pound of shrimp. You can use shrimp that are a little bigger or smaller than the ones I’m using (31 to 40 count per pound). Your shrimp must be raw, deveined, and without shells. If you’d rather, you can leave the tails on or take them off.
- Spices: Salt and pepper the shrimp first, then add garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, dried oregano, and dried thyme to the breading.
- Flour: You don’t need breadcrumbs to make fried shrimp that are really crispy. All you need is plain all-purpose flour and the spices listed above.
- The right amount of Frank’s Red Hot sauce, honey, and melted butter make up Buffalo sauce. You’ll want to put this tasty stuff on everything once you learn how to make it!
- Oil: You’ll need oil for frying. The amount will depend on the size of your pot. Put about 2 inches of canola, vegetable, or peanut oil in the bottom of a Dutch oven. If you have a deep fryer, read the directions to find out how much oil to put in it.
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe for Buffalo Shrimp
- Some buffalo shrimp recipes don’t call for breading or frying the shrimp, but for the most authentic taste, you have to fry the shrimp until they are nice and crispy.
- You don’t need a deep fryer. If you have one, you can use it, but I find it much easier to make fried foods on the stove in a heavy Dutch oven.
- Big Buffalo Flavor—These Buffalo Shrimp are just the right amount of spicy thanks to their tasty spicy breading and homemade buffalo sauce made with Frank’s hot sauce.