Air Fryer Frozen Shrimp

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In less than 10 minutes, you can have the most incredible air fryer shrimp to serve! They turned out so plump and tender- it’s hard to believe they were cooked in the air fryer. The best part is you can make this straight from frozen shrimp – no thawing needed!

Air Fryer Frozen Shrimp

Air Fryer Frozen Shrimp

I always have a bag of frozen shrimp in my freezer in case I need to make a quick and healthy dinner.

I often cook shrimp in the Instant Pot, but now that I have been trying out all of these new air fryer recipes, I knew I wanted to try cooking the frozen shrimp in the air fryer

cooked shrimp in a white bowl

…and it turned out so yummy!

air fried frozen shrimp

The shrimp had a slightly caramelized, crisp exterior and yet were extremely tender and juicy all at the same time. I was super impressed!

air fried shrimp in a black air fryer basket

If you are on the market for an air fryer, I recommend this model on Amazon.  If you don’t own an air fryer and want to cook shrimp today, you can use the oven for my baked shrimp recipe.

For this recipe, I really didn’t season the shrimp but there are a ton of delicious flavor combos you can try out. These are some of my favorites:

  • Garlic Parmesan Add a little bit of chopped garlic, parmesan and Italian seasoning for a burst of flavor.
  • Spicy Mexican- With just a couple of dashes of chili and cumin powder, you can make the perfect shrimp tacos! Oh and also don’t forget to check out my recipe for Mexican shrimp ceviche – you’ll love it!
  • Lemon Pepper- Use a couple of fresh lemons and cracked black pepper to add some bright flavors.

eating a bowl of cooked shrimp with a fork

How To Cook Frozen Shrimp In The Air Fryer

Place the frozen shrimp into the air fryer basket.

cooking frozen shrimp in the air fryer

Cook the shrimp at 400F. The cook time varies and depends on what kind of shrimp you have.

  • Cook for 5 minutes if the shrimp is labeled as frozen cooked shrimp.
  • Cook for 10 minutes if it’s frozen raw shrimp.

Cooked Frozen Shrimp in an air fryer basket

Make sure to shake the basket halfway through!

Air Fryer Frozen Shrimp in a white bowl

Cooking Tips

  • For this air fryer recipe, you do not need to defrost the shrimp before you start cooking them. You can just pull them straight from the freezer and pour them out of the bag into the air fryer basket!
  • You can make this recipe with fresh shrimp but you will need to adjust the time and temperature to be shortened. It might overcook and dry out the shrimp if you leave them in there for too long.
  • When buying a bag of frozen shrimp, make sure to double-check the bag. You can buy cooked or uncooked frozen and with or without the tail. The choice is up to you!

eating juicy shrimp

What to Serve With Air Fryer Shrimp

When I first tried out this air fryer frozen shrimp recipe for the first time, I paired it with these roasted bell peppers and broccoli I also made in the air fryer. It was so good!

After I ate my dinner, it occurred to me to put both the shrimp and the roasted bell peppers in a corn tortilla to make some quick shrimp fajitas.

Definitely making that next time!

You can also add them to this creamy garlic sauce and serve it with a side of linguini or zoodles if you are trying to keep everything low carb!

air fried shrimp served with roasted bell peppers and roasted broccoli

More Healthy Air Fryer Recipes

If you loved this scrumptious ‘fried’ frozen shrimp recipe, check out some of my other air fryer recipes!

These are my favorite main dish recipes:

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Air Fryer Frozen Shrimp
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5 from 8 votes

Air Fryer Frozen Shrimp

This air fryer frozen shrimp recipe is amazing! Works with frozen raw or cooked shrimp! No thawing shrimp needed, cook the shrimp straight from frozen in your air fryer!
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time10 minutes
Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: shrimp
Cooking Method: Air Fryer
Diet: Gluten-Free, Keto / Low-Carb, Paleo
Servings: 2
Calories: 227kcal

Recipe Video

Ingredients

Recommended Kitchen Tools (click the links below to see the items used to make this recipe)

Instructions

  • Put frozen shrimp in the air fryer basket (no need to defrost!)
  • Cook at 400F for 5 minutes (if the shrimp is labeled as frozen cooked shrimp) or for 10 minutes (if it's frozen raw shrimp), shaking the basket halfways through.
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Nutrition

Calories: 227kcal | Protein: 46g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 572mg | Sodium: 1762mg | Potassium: 181mg | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 329mg | Iron: 5mg
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11 Comments

  1. Can’t wait to try this! I spotted a deal on a 2 lb bag of frozen uncooked shrimp the other day & pounced on it. I thawed 1 lb & removed the shell & tail & fixed Shrimp Alfredo. It was good but not great. My giant shrimp weren’t so giant after they were cooked.

    But here’s my question. My other lb of frozen uncooked shrimp with shell & tails are in the freezer. I assume I can’t pull off the shell & tails while they’re frozen? So if I use this recipe, can I shell & tail them after they’re cooked in the air fryer for 10 minutes? Or thaw them first & choose my frozen shrimp more carefully in the future? Thanks for what you do! Joe

    1. 5 stars
      I just did this with the frozen uncooked shrimp with shells and tails and it worked perfectly! I put them in for 10mins and just cleaned them up once they were done. So happy to have found this!

  2. 5 stars
    This was perfect for a ninety degree day. I didn’t feel like cooking and wasn’t super hungry. Sprinkled with chilli Limon seasoning, it was a great light dinner

  3. 5 stars
    I only wanted to cook enough shrimp for a large serving (about 15), so I adjusted the time and my frozen raw shrimp cooked in 5 minutes. What a great idea for a quick meal healthy meal. I sprayed my shrimp with ghee and added a little garlic salt. Tasted like restaurant quality.

  4. 5 stars
    These were amazing and I would have never thought to put them in the air fryer. I had to cook them longer but delicious! I had raw uncooked shrimp and put them in straight from the freezer and in 12 minutes they were done to perfection.

  5. 5 stars
    I had frozen raw shrimp and tried 400 degree for 10 minutes but turned out nothing like yours. Do you think I needed to cook longer? Just got our air fryer so really unsure about cooking times.

  6. Thank you for this recipe! I have the exact same bag of shrimp (they are the best!) and going to have with a Thai salad tonight.

  7. 5 stars
    I gave this recipe a shot tonight. I used 4 extra jumbo raw, shell on shrimp. I set the air fryer for the recommended 10 minutes at 400 degrees. I stopped it at 5 minutes to give the basket a toss and noticed they were just about done so I cooked them for one minute longer and they came out great. I peeled them and tossed them in some Thai sweet chili sauce and they were great. I guess my point is the cooking time will vary greatly depending on the size and volume of the shrimp so you have to check on them. 10 minutes would have turned them into leather.

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