This homemade Bang Bang Shrimp is crispy and saucy at the same time. This shrimp can be served so many ways, but it’s especially satisfying as Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos drizzled with the bang bang sauce.
Watch the video tutorial and see how easy it is to recreate this restaurant favorite.

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
This recipe will elevate your taco Tuesdays. If you love tacos as much as we do, be sure to add our famous Fish Tacos to your rotation. You can also change things up with Taco Salad or even Taco Soup!
Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos Video
If you enjoyed this Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos video, please subscribe to our Youtube Channel (P.S. Click the BELL icon so you can be the first to know when we post a new video).
What is Bang Bang Shrimp?
Bang Bang Shrimp was made popular by Bonefish Grill. They are also called Dynamite Shrimp which was made popular by Cheesecake Factory restaurant.
The shrimp are battered and fried until extra crispy then tossed in a sweet and spicy creamy sauce. It’s just three ingredients for this easy and tasty sauce: mayonnaise, Thai sweet chili sauce, and sriracha hot chili sauce. We can’t help but add a little extra hot sauce for more heat.

Ingredients
The key to making great bang bang shrimp is in dredging with corn starch. It makes the crispiest exterior that stays crispy even after adding the sauce. It’s pretty fantastic!
- Shrimp – we use large 21-25 count raw shrimp, peeled and deveined with tails removed. Prep is much faster and easier if you get pre-peeled shrimp.
- Marinade – Combine buttermilk, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder to form a flavorful marinade. The buttermilk tenderizes the shrimp, adds flavor, and helps the corn starch stick to the shrimp to form a crust.
- Corn Starch – creates a golden color and extreme crunchiness.
- Oil – fry the shrimp in 1 to 1 1/2 inches of high heat oil such as peanut oil or canola oil.
- Bang Bang Sauce – made of just 3 ingredients: mayo, sweet chili sauce, and sriracha

How to Make Bang Bang Shrimp
- Bang Bang Sauce – Combine mayo, sweet chili sauce, and sriracha.
- Marinate – combine marinade ingredients and pour over shrimp. Stir and let sit while you heat the oil to 375˚F on a clip-on pot thermometer.
- Dredge – Remove shrimp from marinade one at a time, letting excess drip off. Dip in corn starch, tapping off the excess.
- Fry – Once all shrimp are breaded, fry in 3 batches for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes until golden brown, crispy, and cooked through. Use a strainer to transfer shrimp to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Add Sauce – Transfer warm shrimp to a mixing bowl and drizzle with half of the sauce.
- Make Tacos – toast corn tortillas, add toppings, shrimp and drizzle with remaining sauce. Serve with fresh lime wedges to squeeze over the top.

Pro Tip: Use a clip-on pot thermometer to keep the temperature of the oil steady at 375˚F and be sure to bring the oil back to temperature before adding the next batch. If the oil cools too much, the shrimp will absorb more oil, if it gets too hot, the shrimp may burn.
How to Serve Bang Bang Shrimp
People have gotten so creative with Bang Bang Shrimp over the years, serving it as a starter or main course.
- Appetizer – garnish with chives and serve right out of the bowl with toothpicks.
- Tacos – we love this option because the shrimp already come with a creamy sauce you can drizzle over the assembled tacos.
- Pasta – toss the saucy shrimp with your favorite pasta. Try adding a squeeze of lime juice over the dish as we did with tacos.
- Rice Bowls – Serve shrimp over a bowl of cooked white rice, add the same toppings as for tacos, and drizzle with sauce.

Pro Tip: To make it easy to drizzle sauce over tacos, transfer it to a ziploc bag and seal. Snip off the tip of the bag with scissors then drizzle sauce over tacos.

The combination of flavors and textures in Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos is ‘dynamite’ and you’ll fall in love with the bang bang sauce.
More Asian Recipes
If you love to recreate your favorite Asian takeout recipes, then you won’t want to miss these recipes:
- Chicken Fried Rice
- Chicken Chow Mein
- Kung Pao Chicken
- Crispy Egg Rolls (Mom’s recipe)
- Beef and Broccoli Ramen Stir Fry
Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos (Dynamite Shrimp)

Ingredients
Bang Bang Shrimp:
- 1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails removed
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 3/4 cup corn starch
- Peanut oil or Canola oil for frying shrimp
Sauce Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 3 Tbsp Thai sweet chili sauce
- 3 tsp Sriracha hot sauce, or to taste
Taco Toppings:
- 8 to 12 Small White Corn Tortillas, or Hard Taco Shells
- 3 cups Purple or Green Cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1 medium tomato, diced
- 1/4 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
Instructions
How to Make Bang Bang Shrimp:
- In a small bowl, stir together Bang Bang Sauce ingredients and set aside.
- Make the marinade by combining buttermilk, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder. Pour over peeled and deviled shrimp and stir to coat. Set aside while you start preheating your oil.
- Remove shrimp from the marinade one at a time, letting excess marinade drip off. Dip both sides in cornstarch until fully coated, tap off the excess and arrange breaded shrimp on a platter.
- Heat 1 1/2” of oil in a dutch oven or pot to 375˚F. Fry shrimp in 3 batches, cooking for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes until golden brown, crispy and cooked through (turn halfway if needed). Use a strainer to transfer shrimp to rest on a paper towel-lined plate for a few minutes.
- Transfer shrimp to a bowl and drizzle half of the sauce over warm shrimp. Toss gently until shrimp are coated and rest for 10 minutes to absorb the sauce.
How to Make Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos:
- Lightly toast corn tortillas on a griddle, skillet for 30 seconds per side, or over a gas flame if you want some charring.
- Add desired taco toppings, top with 2-3 shrimp per taco and drizzle with remaining sauce.
- Serve with a sprinkle of cilantro and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
I love to cook new recipes.i will definitely try yours.
Sounds good, Emily. I hope you’ll love all the recipes that you will try!
I did it! I made yummy bang bang shrimp tacos! Sauce was great. I left out last tsp. Of sriracha bc we don’t like too saucy. Ty for a new recipe!
You’re so welcome, Tina. I’m happy to know that you loved this recipe!
Love the shrimp, love the sauce (though I excluded Sriracha for hubby) – I made this twice already! So easy to make – thank you for the recipe!
You’re welcome, Maria! I’m so happy this was a hit!
Fantastic! My husband helped me make these, and couldn’t stop exclaiming over how good the tacos were. Thank you!
Yay, that’s fantastic feedback from you both. Thanks a lot for sharing that with us, Emily!
Once again, Natasha, you’ve nailed it with this one. My picky son gave me the side eye when I told him what I was making for dinner last night. He calmed down a little when I told him it was a “Natasha recipe.” Once he tried it, he was fully converted! So crispy and full of flavor. And easy too. Thanks!
That is the best when kids love what we moms make, especially the picky ones. I’m so happy your son tried it and loved it, Jill! That’s so great!
YUMMY!!! i have tried other website’s bang bang recipes and none were a hit EXCEPT YOURS!! natasha you are the best
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Arya!
Followed the Bang Bang Shrimp recipe and paid close attention to the frying temperature advice…it paid off! Crispiest fried shrimp(or anything) we’ve ever had…thanks for that tip, and all the great recipes!
Yay, that is awesome! Thanks for the great feedback, I appreciate you sharing it with us, James.
Hi Natasha! Im going to make this as an appetizer for my party..in order to preplan im going to fry the shrimp and let them sit until they cool, and then when the party starts just warm them lightly…and then add the marinade…would that be the best way?
Hi Cindy, I think that would work just fine. Please share with us how it turns out if you try this recipe!
This was amazing! My skeptical people here were just amazed.wish I could add pic but no idea how🥰
Hi Lisa, no worries about the pic. I’m glad to hear that you all enjoyed this recipe! Feel free to share some photos of your creation on our Facebook page or group so others can see them too!
Just delicious! And….Easy to make! Thank you Natasha.
You’re welcome, Lorraine! We love easy recipes, and I’m so glad you enjoyed this one!
100 percent family approved! Even the person, who doesn’t eat shrimp and for whom I made some using filet of sole, loved the shrimp!!! Fantastic recipe!
That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing that with us, Gerta.
I made the bang bang shrimp tacos and they were fabulous. They looked exactly like the ones pictured and were so easy to make. I definitely will be making them again soon!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Pat!
One word “Incredible”. This is that recipe that you crave and when I watched your video I could almost taste it! You have the best recipes and I don’t think twice about trying them as they are always winners! Thank You Natasha.
Thank you for always trusting my recipes, I appreciate it!
Amazing!
Tried the bang bang shrimp. It was a BIG HIT! Everyone loved it! I added a little more hot sauce and it turned out perfect! Thanks again!!!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Donald!!
Anything I can substitute for buttermilk?
Hi Christine, if you don’t have buttermilk on hand you can make your own! We do this if we ever run out. Combine the milk or cream and some lemon, let stand 5-10 minutes, and use it in the recipe.
Can these be made in the air fryer instead of fried?
Hi Jessica, I haven’t tried making air fryer bang bang shrimp so I don’t have specific instructions for it. If you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes!
Natasha,
Thank you so much for all your post. Everything that I make from your website is always a hit! I will be attempting this recipe this weekend. I can’t wait! I know it will turn out awesome just like everything else you post! 🙂
-Martha Camp
You are very welcome, Martha. I hope you love every recipe that you will try!
Yep, they were a hit as usual!!
We did lettuce wraps with crispy fried noodles. Sooo tasty! 🙂
Oh that’s awesome! I’m so happy to hear you loved the bang bang shrimp and it sounds perfect in lettuce cups with crispy noodles. yum!
This sounds so good I’m definitely going to try it this sounds like a strange question because of the name bang bang shrimp taco, but other than just leaving the Sriracha out and the sweet chili sauce, what can I use that would make it tasty but not so spicy I have a condition (sjogren’s) where my mouth cannot handle spicy foods.
Hi Jennie, I’m sorry to hear about the sjogrens. I honestly haven’t tested it that way just using the sweet chili sauce and omitting the sriracha. You might experiment with adding just a teensy bit of vinegar to offset the sweetness. I wish I had better advice on that, but without testing, I can only guess.
There’s a Japanese sauce I love called “yum yum sauce” that consists of Mayo, ketchup, butter, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, paprika and water. It lives up to its name and I recommend it as an alternative!
Yum! Thank you so much for sharing that with us!
Once again, you did not disappoint. The Fambam LOVED IT, especially my picky one. Thank you, for always making me look like a great cook!!! 🙂
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Josie! I’m so happy your Fambam loved it!
This looks really tasty. I can’t wait to try it.
And I just love your videos. Your presentation is so much fun to watch. I learn a lot about how to cook and assemble dishes.
Thanks for your good comments, Terry! I hope you love this and all the recipes that you will try.