Beer Battered Shrimp
A light batter is the key to making perfect fried shrimp! This beer batter shrimp recipe is light, nicely seasoned, and perfect with a wedge of lemon!
Beer Battered Shrimp
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We missed our annual trip to North Carolina with Betsy’s family this year for obvious reasons and it has left me completely craving wonderful shrimp. We go every year and I always try to basically eat my weight in seafood since it’s so fresh and delicious. Normally, I keep the shrimp steamed, but this year I experimented with Beer Battered Shrimp and loved the results!
Sometimes when you get fried shrimp they are coated in a heavy breading and they end up being more breading than shrimp.
Using a beer batter kind of flips the ratio and you end up with this thin, crispy batter coating a tender juicy shrimp. A little Old Bay helps add some seasoning and while you could serve it with cocktail sauce, I like these beer battered shrimp with just a squirt of lemon!
- Looking for other good beach eats? Check out my 10 favorite foods to eat at the beach!
Beer Battered Shrimp Video
How to Make Beer Batter
Any time I think about frying, I like to think about the texture I’m looking for in my finished fried food. Sometimes you want a thick breading, but for something like seafood I want something thin and crispy that doesn’t hide the food. If it’s done right, you should be able to see the shrimp through the fried batter!
To make my batter even crispier, I like to add a good amount of cornstarch to my batter, which his classic in Asian style tempura.
Add an egg and a beer, of course! Whisk this all together and you are in business.
The finished batter should be like a light pancake batter. Let’s move to the shrimp!
Beer Battered Shrimp
I like to use large or extra large shrimp for beer battered shrimp. Add the shrimp to the batter once they are peeled.
You know your batter is right if you can pick the shrimp out of the batter and most of the batter drips off the shrimp. This is perfect!
Fry the shrimp in oil at 350˚ F. They will fry quickly and be done and crispy in about four minutes. Try to fry them in batches though or else they will stick together!
When the shrimp come out, hit them with an extra pinch of Old Bay. I love how these turned out!
Here’s my test bite so you can see how thin the batter is on the beer battered shrimp!
Pile these fried beer battered shrimp high and eat them while they are hot! A wedge of lemon is all you need!
Beer Battered Shrimp
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound large shrimp peeled
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon Old bay
- 1 large egg
- 1 12 ounce lager beer
- Lemon wedges for serving
- 1 quart canola or vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Peel your shrimp (or buy them pre-peeled) and dry the shrimp with a few paper towels.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt, and Old Bay. Then whisk in egg and beer until the batter is smooth. The batter consistency should be roughly that of pancake batter.
- Preheat your oil in a deep fryer or in a large pot to 350˚ F.
- Add shrimp to the batter and coat well.
- When oil is at temperature, use a fork to take out shrimp and let excess batter drain off. Gently place shrimp in hot oil.
- Fry the shrimp for about 4 minutes. Work in batches so the shrimp isn’t too crowded.
- When shrimp are done frying, remove them and let them drain on a few paper towels. Season with a sprinkle of extra Old Bay.
- Serve beer battered shrimp while warm with lemon wedges.
Video
Nutrition
Did you make this?
Snap a photo and tag @macheesmo so I can see your work.
Here are a few other great Shrimp recipes!
- Spicy Shrimp Quesadilla
- Easy Baked Shrimp Dip
- Homemade Shrimp Burgers
- Easy Creamy Tuscan Shrimp from Salt & Lavender
Living in Florida along the Atlantic coast, fresh native shrimp is easy to come by! I love English style, beer battered, fish and “chips”, sooooooooooo…I am going to make this for dinner this evening! I’ll try a few with a squeeze of lemon, a few with Malt Vinegar and a few with “cocktail sauce”, along with fresh cut baking sized russet potato fries! I am also lucky enough to have an electric deep fryer with digital temperature control, and a “commercial” hand operated fry cutter! I’ll share my thoughts as well as pics via email with Nick…after I have devoured those delicious little morsels! This will work out great, as I already planned to make shrimp, scallop and fish ceviche! An extra pound of shrimp certainly won’t hurt anything! ;)
Awesome Larry! I hope you like them!
I’m certain I will. Prepping as we speak! I’ll send the results and the pics to you. Feel free to use them as you wish!
Alright Larry, I’m along for this ride. How did it all turn out?
Just looked at pictures and the shrimp appear already cooked as they are pink. You don’t mention if these are raw or cooked before you batter them.. I live in the desert so seafood is a mystery to me!
Hey Lynne! They are raw. I think the slight pinkish in the photos is just a photo color issue. :)
That must be some color issue b/c they really do look like they were partially cooked! Will love to try this soon as I moved to the NC coast not too long ago and love our seafood! #GottobeNC
What is old bay?
The best seasoning ever
A spicy Cajun peppery seasoning tgat Maryland Era love on everything seafood and then some. Fried chicken, French fries and anything else you can think of but take causation because it is on the salty side a little goes a long way. Use sparingly an adjust to your taste buds.
Can you use this batter for onion rings?
Made this recipe tonight with my boyfriend. Fabulous, thin batter, crunchy, and seasoned to perfection. My batter was watery and not consistency of pancake batter ( very helpful to describe this way). Added more flour and corn starch. So tasty! Going to use this for cauliflower next.
Amazing recipe!
instead of deep frying can this batter be used to bake fish, chicken
Nah. You need to fry them Edward. If you wanted to bake them I’d look for a dryer breading option. Good luck!
Yummy, I will do it.
A recipe worth learning, looking hungry.
like the recipe but 1 qt oil i feel is way to much
for me AND dietian. What is a ‘dryer breading option”?
Do you have suggestions for making in an ‘air fryer’ appliance
instead
Besides steaming shrimp, this is my favorite shrimp recipe
instead of deep frying can this batter be used to bake fish, chicken
Hello. This batter will only work for deep frying. It’s too runny to use in a baking recipe. Good luck!
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nice post keep it up!
An interesting and perfect combination that makes for a great taste, thank you for sharing this recipe with us.
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