Easy Buffalo Shrimp Recipe
Buffalo fans, where are you? Because you’re going to need to add this buffalo shrimp recipe to your repertoire. Crispy shrimp is tossed with buffalo sauce for the ultimate shrimp appetizer. (Try my old bay steamed shrimp next time!)
If you are OBSESSED with buffalo shrimp recipes like this one (hi, we should eat together), be sure to give my buffalo chicken flatbread, buffalo chicken quesadillas, buffalo cheesesteaks, buffalo chicken sliders, and buffalo stuffed sweet potatoes (trust me!) recipes next time.
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Table of Contents
What is buffalo shrimp?
Buffalo shrimp is similar to buffalo wings! Shrimp gets a light coating is lightly pan fried, then tossed with a buffalo butter sauce for a slightly spicy, totally yummy dish that can be eaten immediately as an appetizer or served as a salad, sandwich, wrap, or pasta (see ideas below!).
What You’ll Love About Buffalo Shrimp
- Quick and easy
- Crispy shrimp with flavorful sauce
- Made with basic ingredients
- Just 5 minutes prep time
- Just 10 minutes total time
Ingredients
You’ll need just a handful of ingredients:
- Jumbo shrimp – Get the largest shrimp you can, especially if you are serving it as an appetizer. I recommend raw peeled shrimp with tail-on for best flavor, but if you’ll be using the shrimp in a salad, pasta, sandwich, or wrap, tail-off is easier to eat.
- Corn starch – Corn starch helps give a crispy crust to the shrimp. You could also try using seasoned flour, rice flour, arrowroot powder, or potato starch if you can’t do corn starch.
- Oil – Use a vegetable oil with a high smoke point like canola or avocado.
- Butter – Use high quality butter for best flavor.
- Buffalo sauce – You can adjust the amount of buffalo sauce used according to your spice preference, or remove some of the shrimp before adding it to leave some out for the spice-adverse. I buy buffalo sauce, but you can also use cayenne pepper hot sauce, you’ll just need to adjust the amount as it will have more heat.
- For serving – Full list on serving ideas below, but I love the classic carrot, celery, and blue cheese dressing combination.
How to Make Buffalo Shrimp
This fried buffalo shrimp comes together in about 10 minutes!
- Prep shrimp. Rinse shrimp and pat dry with paper towels. In a large bowl, toss cornstarch until the shrimp is coated.
- Make buffalo sauce. In a small bowl, melt butter and stir in buffalo sauce.
- Cook shrimp. Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. When butter foams, place shrimp in a single layer. Cook until cooked through.
- Season shrimp. Drizzle buffalo sauce mixture over shrimp and toss together. Cook for 30 seconds, until evenly coated.
- Serve shrimp. I’m sharing a whole list of serving ideas below. If you’re serving it as an appetizer, serve with carrots, celery, and blue cheese dressing.
Ways to Serve Buffalo Shrimp
There are many ways to enjoy these buffalo shrimp. I’ve shown them as an appetizer, served with carrot sticks, celery sticks, and blue cheese (just like buffalo chicken wings!), but here are some other ideas:
- Buffalo shrimp salad – Top a crunchy lettuce salad with this celery carrot and blue cheese slaw, shrimp, and a drizzle of dressing.
- Buffalo shrimp mac and cheese – Swap out the chicken in this buffalo pasta bake! I help parents feel good about meal times. Follow recipe but omit chicken and instead of baking the pasta, simply stir in the shrimp or serve over the top with an extra drizzle of buffalo sauce.
- Buffalo shrimp po boy – Layer French bread (not baguette, you want a soft and fluffy bread) with shrimp, lots of shredded lettuce, sliced tomato, and a drizzle of ranch dressing.
- Buffalo shrimp wrap – Stuff shrimp, shredded lettuce, sliced tomato, and ranch dressing into a flour tortilla and roll up.
- Buffalo shrimp tacos – Stuff shrimp, shredded lettuce, and sliced jalapeños (if you can handle the heat) into small flour tortillas.
- Buffalo quesadillas with shrimp – Similar to these buffalo chicken quesadillas, but swap the chicken for shrimp.
- Buffalo shrimp with couscous – Similar to my garlic shrimp with couscous – serve over a grain or rice
Storage Instructions
Shrimp is best eaten immediately.
How to reheat
Reheat shrimp in a hot skillet for best results. Be careful to not overcook or the shrimp will get rubbery.
How to Serve Buffalo Shrimp to the Whole Family
I get it, feeding kids can be tough! But following the Division of Responsibility and knowing your job and your child’s job makes it SO much more enjoyable. You’ll be able to feed your kids any meal, which will help ensure that they are eating a variety of nutritious foods – with plenty of play food sprinkled in. 😉
If your kids are anything like mine and don’t (YET) appreciate buffalo sauce…leave out some shrimp before adding the sauce (it may need a little sprinkle of salt).
It can also be a great time to put out a “sample spoon” (just a tiny spoon) if they are interested in trying the sauce.
All of my articles on feeding kids can be found here and if you want a FULL list of all of the videos I have with hacks, tips, scripts, and ideas for feeding kids, check out my instagram or tiktok page.
More Easy Buffalo Recipes
If you like this recipe for buffalo shrimp, you might also like some of these other easy buffalo recipes:
- Buffalo Chicken Flatbread
- Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Sliders
- Buffalo Chicken Quesadilla
- Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
In a dinner time rut? Overwhelmed with the task of meal planning?
Hand over meal planning to a pro!
This done-for-you plan can easily be customized and your grocery list is made with the click of a button – all while you sit in the school pick up line.
You’ll save time, save money, waste less food, and go into meals calm because your dinner is already planned.
Easy Buffalo Shrimp Recipe
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings (appetizer portions) 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Skillet
Description
This irresistible buffalo shrimp recipe features crispy shrimp tossed in buffalo sauce and can be served as an app, on salads, in wraps, and more!
Ingredients
- 16 oz. jumbo shrimp, thawed (peeled, but with tails on)
- 1/3 cup corn starch
- 1 Tbsp. avocado oil
- 2 Tbsp. butter, divided
- 3 Tbsp. buffalo sauce
- blue cheese dressing
- celery stalks
- carrot sticks
Instructions
- Rinse shrimp and pat dry with paper towel. Toss shrimp into a large bowl and sprinkle with corn starch to coat.
- In a small bowl, melt butter and stir in buffalo sauce.
- Heat oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. When butter foams, add shrimp in a single layer, sautéing until cooked through, about 3-4 minutes. **Shrimp should be opaque and tails will turn from grey to pink.
- Pour buffalo sauce mixture over shrimp and toss together with shrimp. Cook for about 30 seconds to a minute, until evenly coated.
- Transfer shrimp to a serving bowl and top with celery leaves and blue cheese.
Notes
- leave out some shrimp before adding sauce for kiddos who don’t appreciate buffalo
This post may contain affiliate links. They do not add any charge to you, but I will make a very small commission from them. I only link to products I use and recommend. Thank you for your support!
Photo Credit: All photos in this post were take by Loren at Sweet Rustic Bakes
