Our lighter version of Bang Bang Shrimp made popular by the Bonefish Grill restaurant chain uses an air fryer or oven to achieve lightly coated and perfectly crisp shrimp. It then gets coated in a homemade creamy Bang Bang Sauce with no added sugars.
We think this dish tastes incredibly fresh, with just the right amount of heat. This Asian-inspired recipe makes a delicious hot appetizer and can also double as something new and refreshing as a main-dish recipe, too. Use it as one of your nutritious new recipes to break through any dinnertime rut.
This post was created in partnership with Primal Kitchen.
Recipe Highlights
There’s a lot to love about our lightened-up version of the famous bang bang shrimp. Here are some key features about it:
- Skip the frying, and make this recipe in either an air fryer or on a sheet pan in the oven, cutting out the trans fats and reducing saturated fat
- Experience tons of flavors and textures in one simple dish that is creamy, crunchy, crispy, savory, salty, spicy, and even has a touch sweet
- This versatile recipe will be the talk of the table at any gathering as a fun appetizer dish. It also doubles as a main dish that can be served over rice or greens for a nutritious weeknight dinner
Ingredients To Make Healthy Bang Bang Shrimp
Here’s what you need to make Bonefish Grill Bang Bang Shrimp at home:
- Shrimp — use medium-size raw shrimp that is peeled and deveined
- Flour — use all-purpose flour to coat the shrimp and make the batter; use gluten-free flour, if needed. May also use the same amount of cornstarch (1 tablespoon + 3/4 cup cornstarch) in place of the flour (however, we prefer flour to cornstarch in our testing)
- Egg — one large egg
- Cold water — cold tap water is fine
- Salt — use fine salt
- Mayonnaise — you’ll need ¼ cup mayonnaise to make the sauce. We like the Avocado Oil Mayo from Primal Kitchen
- Sweet Thai chili sauce — look for a premade, low-sugar version to keep this recipe healthier than the original, such as Yai’s Thai brand that is sweetened with just pineapple juice and apple juice
- Sriracha — may use any favorite hot sauce, though sriracha is traditional
- Nonstick cooking spray — use this to mist the shrimp before you air fry or bake it. We like Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil Spray
- Optional: Shredded romaine and sliced green onions for serving
If desired, you may further flavor the bang bang sauce with a ½ teaspoon or more of garlic powder, onion powder, or black pepper. Stir it into the sauce before coating the cooked shrimp.
Find the ingredient list with exact measurements in the recipe card below.
The Thai Chili Sauce We Love
The Thai chili sauce (also known as sweet chili sauce) adds great flavor to the bang bang sauce, and you can use any favorite brand. To reduce sugar, look for a brand that is sweetened naturally with fruit juices, such as a favorite of our: Yai’s Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
How To Make Bang Bang Shrimp
Here are the quick steps to get bang bang shrimp on your table today!
- Make the batter: Start by making the light and bubbly batter, which is what gives the shrimp a crispy texture. Toss the medium shrimp with a little flour, dredging it lightly, then coat the pieces in the batter.
- Air fry or bake the shrimp: Bake or air fry the shrimp to give it a crispy crunchy texturing (similar to fried shrimp) without the need to deep fry it in oil. Directions for cooking the shrimp both ways are provided in the recipe card below.
- Make the bang bang sauce: In a medium-small bowl, toss together the ingredients to make the sauce: the mayo, sweet chili sauce, and sriracha or other hot sauce.
- Toss the cooked shrimp with sauce: After the air-fried or baked shrimp has a subtle golden brown color to the coating and is cooked through, toss the hot cooked shrimp with the sauce until it’s evenly coated. Serve it immediately while still hot.
For serving size and the complete directions and ingredient amounts, scroll down to the recipe card below. All of our recipes include the nutrition analysis, listing calories (kcals), protein, carbohydrates/carb, fiber, sugar, sodium, cholesterol, and more per serving.
Make It Gluten Free and Dairy Free
This recipe is naturally dairy free (mayo and eggs do not contain dairy), and it can easily be made gluten free by using gluten-free flour blend or cornstarch in place of the all-purpose flour.
How To Serve Bang Bang Shrimp
We think the creamy, spicy bang bang sauce that coats crispy shrimp is so enjoyable served over crispy shredded romaine lettuce and garnished with sliced green onions, similar to how you’d get it if you ordered this dish at Bonefish Grille.
You could serve this bang bang shrimp recipe:
- Over shredded romaine or iceberg lettuce
- Over cooked rice (like our Perfect Instant Pot Jasmine Rice)
- With cooked noodles
- With sauteed veggies
- On a plate or tray, appetizer style
- Stuffed into tortillas or taco shells to make Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos (yum!)
Where Did Bang Bang Shrimp Come From?
The term “bang bang” refers to certain styles of Sichuan Chinese food or Thai food that has a sticky spicy sauce.
Believe it or not, this bang bang shrimp recipe does not have Asian origins! It’s an American interpretation of “bang bang” made popular by the Bonefish Grill restaurant chain, where this item has been a mainstay on the appetizer menu for years.
The restaurant has had so much success with bang bang shrimp that it offers the appetizer at a discount on Wednesdays, making that one of the busiest nights to visit the restaurant.
Recipe Tips From Dietitian Jessie
Dietitian Jessie developed this recipe in her kitchen and has these tips to share:
- When making the batter, add the flour to the egg-water mixture in a slow sprinkle while whisking continuously. This creates a light and bubbly batter and prevents the flour from clumping in the liquid.
- Though this recipe works in either the oven or the air fryer, I prefer the air fryer method. It resulted in slightly crispier shrimp, and it was also easier to remove the shrimp from the air fryer basket than the sheet pan (where you risk a little of the batter sticking). So, if you have an air fryer, use it for this recipe!
- Serve it hot! Have your tray or bowl of romaine lettuce ready to go (if you choose to serve your bang bang shrimp that way), so as soon as it comes out of the oven or air fryer, all you need to do is toss it with the sauce and spread it over the lettuce. Then, dig in right away with it’s hot and crispy!
- If shrimp isn’t your thing, you could easily replace the shrimp in this recipe with chunks of raw boneless skinless chicken breast and make Bang Bang Chicken instead!
- To save a little time, you could prep the bang bang sauce up to 2 days in advance and store it in an airtight container in the fridge until you cook the shrimp.
Frequently Asked Questions
If serving this recipe as a main dish, it pairs well with cooked rice or quinoa or over top of greens and other veggies as a main dish salad.
Our bang bang shrimp has some subtle spice to it, thanks to the sriracha sauce in the creamy sauce that coats the shrimp. You can control the level of spice by adding more or less sriracha and Thai sweet chili sauce.
This recipe (and most traditional bang bang shrimp) isn’t naturally gluten-free. However, you can easily make this recipe gluten free by using gluten-free flour blend or cornstarch in place of the flour in this recipe.
We’ve found this recipe is best served fresh and doesn’t reheat well. We don’t recommend preparing it in advance or trying to refrigerate/freeze and then reheat it. Instead, we recommend preparing it and eating it all in one go for the best experience.
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Bang Bang Shrimp Recipe
This delicious shrimp appetizer or main dish seafood dinner will remind you of the Bang Bang Shrimp made famous at Bonefish Grill restaurants. Our version is not deep-fried, however, and can be made easily in the air fryer or oven.
Ingredients
- 1 lb peeled and deveined raw shrimp
- Scant ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon flour (use gluten-free, if needed), divided
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup cold water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup mayonnaise (we like Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil Mayo)
- 2 tablespoons sweet Thai chili sauce
- 1–2 teaspoons sriracha
- 1 tablespoon water
- Nonstick cooking spray (we like Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil Spray)
- Optional for serving: Shredded romaine, sliced green onions
Instructions
- Rinse and pat the shrimp dry with paper towels.
- In a large bowl, toss the shrimp with the 1 tablespoon of flour to very lightly coat it.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg. Add the cold water to the egg and whisk again. While continuously whisking*, sprinkle the remaining scant ¾ cup flour into the egg-water mixture until a batter forms.
- Stir the salt into the batter.
- Add the flour-coated shrimp to the batter and toss lightly.
- Using a fork, lift each shrimp out of the batter, one at a time, and allow much of the excess batter to drip back into the bowl.
- Proceed with one of the cooking methods below. The directions include serving suggestions.
- While the shrimp is cooking, in a medium bowl, combine the mayonnaise, Thai chili sauce, and sriracha. Stir to combine, then stir in 1 tablespoon of water to loosen the mixture into a pourable sauce. Set aside until the shrimp are done cooking.
AIR FRYER DIRECTIONS [PREFERRED METHOD]:
- Preheat the air fryer to 360°F. You can also use the shrimp setting if your air fryer has one.
- Once preheated, mist the air fryer basket with nonstick spray. Add the battered shrimp in an even layer to the air fryer basket.**
- Air fry the shrimp for 4 minutes.
- Using a pair of tongs or a fork, turn over each shrimp piece and mist the top of the shrimp lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
- Air fry for 4 minutes more.
- Remove the crispy shrimp from the air fryer and add to the bowl with the sauce. Toss to coat.
- Serve the bang bang shrimp over a bed of shredded romaine lettuce and garnish with sliced green onions.
OVEN FRYING DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and generously mist the paper with nonstick cooking spray.
- Add the battered shrimp in an even layer to the baking sheet, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. You may need to use two baking sheets or bake in batches, depending on the size of your baking sheet and oven.
- Bake the shrimp for 5 minutes.
- Using a pair of tongs or a fork, turn over each shrimp piece and mist the top of the shrimp lightly with nonstick spray.
- Bake for 5 minutes more or until cooked through and breading is slightly crisp.
- Remove the crispy shrimp from the baking sheet and add to the bowl with the sauce. Toss to coat.
- Serve the bang bang shrimp over a bed of shredded romaine lettuce and garnish with sliced green onions.
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Notes
*It’s important to whisk while adding the flour (instead of just dumping the flour into the bowl) to prevent lumps from forming in the batter.
The batter is a thin batter, which creates a nice crisp coating on the shrimp. You will have some batter leftover.
**You’ll need to air fry the shrimp in 2-3 batches, depending on the size of your air fryer.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size: 1/6 of recipe
- Calories: 119
- Fat: 6 g
- (Sat Fat: 1 g)
- Sodium: 276 mg
- Carbohydrate: 8 g
- (Fiber: 0 g
- Sugar: 3 g)
- Protein: 9 g
- Cholesterol: 16 mg
Dietary
The photos in this blog post were taken by Rachel Cook of Half Acre House.
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Three stars for flavor. I used the oven method and there was no crisp to the coating – soggy batter everywhere. We still ate the shrimp and enjoyed the flavor. I followed instructions but I think it would do better in the air fryer for sure.
Hi Allison! Though this recipe works in either the oven or the air fryer, we prefer the air fryer method. It results in slightly crispier shrimp, and it is also easier to remove the shrimp from the air fryer basket than the sheet pan (where you risk a little of the batter sticking). So, if you have an air fryer, use it for this recipe!