The Best Air Fryer Parmesan ShrimpIndulge in a classic comfort food dish without any of the guilt by following this healthy recipe for the best ever air fryer shrimp. By cooking them in an air fryer, the shrimp get a wonderfully crispy, crunchy, golden exterior without the excess calories, oil and greasiness associated with regular old deep frying. Plus, the insides of the shrimp are kept wonderfully soft, succulent and juicy. The contrast between the outer crunchy coating and inner juicy center when you take your first bite is amazing!
Can you put shrimp in an air fryer?
Yes, you can definitely put shrimp in an air fryer! There are loads of different ways you can cook shrimp. But when it comes to a fast, easy and healthy way. It’s doesn’t compromise on texture or flavor, you can’t beat the air fryer.
Healthy
Instead of using oil, like in the traditional way of deep frying food, an air fryer cooks by circulating hot air at high speeds. This isn’t like steaming or microwaving. It’s more like cooking food in a convection oven. It gives you all the incredible crispy, crunchy texture of frying while still being healthy.
Just 1 tablespoon of oil contains around 120 calories. If you were to make regular deep fried parmesan shrimp, you’d have to use at least 2 cups of oil to cook them properly. That’s a whopping 3,820 calories!
Not all the oil would be soaked up by the shrimp. So you wouldn’t be consuming every single calorie. But you can easily see how doing something as simple as frying in oil can significantly increase calories. So if you want to keep it healthy, make these air fryer shrimp instead of deep fried shrimp.
Easy
Not only is cooking shrimp in an air fryer healthier than in a regular deep fryer, but it’s easier, too. When you deep fry something, you’ve got to stand at the stove, flipping each individual shrimp and keeping an eye to make sure the oil doesn’t get too hot and the shrimp don’t burn. This can be a real nightmare! when you need to be setting the table or when it’s summer and it’s just too hot to be stood over a stove with a pan of bubbling oil!
When you use an air fryer, all the hard work is taken care of for you. Simply preheat it to the appropriate temperature, lightly grease the basket, pop the food in and leave it to cook. You don’t need to monitor the air fryer at all. Just let it do its thing for however long the recipe says and when you return, you’ll have perfectly golden and deliciously crispy eats.
Fast
Better still, air fryer shrimp are just as quick to make as the alternative methods. Most oven-baked parmesan shrimp recipes require you to preheat the oven for 15 minutes then bake the shrimp for 10 minutes. That’s 25 minutes in total. A standard deep fried parmesan shrimp recipe usually takes 10 minutes to allow the oil in the pan to heat up and other 3-4 minutes to cook the shrimp. That’s 13-14 minutes in total.
My air fryer parmesan shrimp recipe needs just 5 minutes for the air fryer to preheat and then another 10 minutes for the shrimp to cook. That’s 15 minutes in total.
Technically you could argue that the deep fried shrimp take 1-2 minutes less. But what’s 1-2 minutes? You can use that time to quickly set the table or throw together a super speedy salad to serve with the air fryer shrimp!
How do you reheat fried shrimp in an air fryer?
Not only is an air fryer an amazing way to cook healthy food in a quick and easy way. But it’s also an incredible means of reheating foods while maintaining their original crispy, crunchy texture! If you tried to reheat leftover parmesan shrimp in the microwave, they’d end up soggy and gross. And if you tried to warm them up in the oven, they’d get rubbery and over-done. Not in the air fryer!
To reheat these air fryer shrimp (or any other kind of shrimp) preheat the air fryer to 180℃/360℉ for 5 minutes. Lightly grease the air fryer basket, place the shrimps inside it and cook for 5 minutes. They’ll be just as crispy and yummy as the first time you cooked them.
What to serve with these air fryer shrimp
I love keeping it simple and serving these air fryer shrimp as an appetizer with some tartar sauce for dipping. The contrast between the cheesy parmesan coating and the tangy tartar sauce is incredible. You’ll never be able to stop at just one — no matter how hard you try!
Thanks for reading
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The Best Air Fryer Parmesan Shrimp
Equipment
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs shrimp peeled and deveined
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese shredded
- 1 cup flour
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- fresh parsley chopped
- tartar sauce for serving
Instructions
- In the one shallow bowl beat the eggs well.
- In the second bowl mix flour and smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste,
- In the third bowl mix breadcrumbs with freshly shredded parmesan cheese.
- Coat the shrimps in the flour mixture, next dip the in beaten eggs and in the cheesy breadcrumbs.
- Preheat your air fryer for 5 minutes at 200°C/400°F. Place breaded shrimps in greased air fryer basket and cook at 200°C/400°F for 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle hot crispy shrimps with fresh parsley and serve with tartar sauce.