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.
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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
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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.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
Absolutely amazing! Great tutorial as well made it easy to make. I will definitely be making this again.
Thanks for your good comments and feedback, Heidi!
I’ve made this recipe multiple times before and it’s absolutely delicious and the sauce oh so scrumptious. Will this work in the air fryer?
Hi Fatima! I’m glad you love it. 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!
We are dairy-free (allergies). I was wondering if I can use oat milk to substitute for Buttermilk.
Hi Stephanie, we haven’t tried that to advise. If you do an experiment, we’d love to know how it goes!
Hi, I do not have buttermilk on hand. Can I sub heavy cream?
Hello Ana, one of our readers shared this “This recipe is amazing! I didn’t have buttermilk and just used half and half but it turned out so good.” I hope that helps.
Really loved this recipe. Used the shrimp to make tacos and incorporated fresh lime on the shrimp before adding the sauce. Used a coleslaw cabbage mix, fresh jalapeños, cilantro, sliced avocado and shredded cotija cheese. They were delicious. The shrimp had wonderful flavor and when adding the sauce, were even better. Plan to use your shrimp recipe to make Cajun po’boys.
Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing, we appreciate it.
Made exactly as directed. Husband declared this the best shrimp he’s ever had. It was delicious.
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Courtney!
As huge bang bang shrimp fans I have tried several copy cat recipes that never lived up to Bonefish until now! Thank you so much, the videos are great! We are so glad we found you!!! 😊
Hi Jen! Thank you so much! It means a lot that you would try my recipes and I’m so glad you love them.
absolutely phenomenal recipe!!! love that it’s gluten free (celiac household), and incredibly easy, plus made with minimal ingredients!! thanks so much!
Hi Emily! You’re very welcome. Thank you for trying my recipe.
The Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos are amazing! I couldn’t quit eating the Shrimp and I ate 3 small tacos! So good! Especially with lots of lime juice! Excellent!
I’m so glad you love them! Thank you for the feedback! I love lime on my tacos!
Hey, would you change anything if you used shrimp that was already cooked?
Hi Jamie, we prefer this with fresh shrimp. Using cooked shrimp will result in chewy and tough shrimp.
I just love this recipe! I couldn’t wait for Taco Tuesday, so I made shrimp tacos today (Sunday). Prepped the night before, which made it alot easier. Invited the family over and it was a hit! Deliciously filling and satisfying! Followed the recipe to the letter without the avocado. Love the crunchy shrimp! Learned something new frying with corn starch. Very tasty! Gave the tacos an extra kick. The sauce was out of this world! Shared this recipe with family and friends.
That is so wonderful, I appreciate you sharing that with us!
This recipe is fantastic, I used the shrimp part for the protein in our poke bowl last night, and would definitely make again.
My question is regarding the tacos and nutritional values: what is the serving size? 1 taco? 2? or are the values just for the shrimp? 1/8 recipe? 1/4?
Hi Coby! Glad you loved them! Thanks for sharing. The nutrition facts are an estimated amount for about 1 taco, depending on how big you make them.
That looks delicious! I am looking forward to cooking this tomorrow night! I see the recipe calls for canola or peanut oil. Which one is better?
Hi Katy! This is based on preference, they are both great. 🙂
OMG This has become a staple in my house! My kids love it when I make this. Only thing I changed was I used Ranch dressing for the marinade since I had no buttermilk on hand. SO.AMAZING!
Hi Trino! I’m happy your family enjoys this recipe. We love it. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Hi Natasha! I cannot eat corn starch so I’m wondering what can I sub it with?
Hi Christine, I have only tried it with corn starch, so I can’t advise on a substitute. One of my readers mentioned using tempura instead, which I think would work great. It wouldn’t be as crisp as the corn starch but would still taste nice. If you try an alternative, I’d love to know how that goes!
The shrimp came out amazing a lot of flavor . My only question is they came out crispy right from frying but when I added sauce and tossed a lot of crispy coating fell off ! Still delicious but wondering what I may hav edible wrong ? Should I have waited for them to completely cool down before adding sauce ?
Hi Jackie! I add the sauce when they are warm. Some of the coating will fall off but you just have to mix them gently. It could also be that the oil was not hot enough when they were fried, or frying too many at a time can cool down the oil causing the coating to not stick as well. I hope that helps.
This is the first time that I have reviewed/rated a recipe…this has become our family favorite, very easy to make and delicious! We’ve even done this with fish instead of shrimp!
That’s great! Thank you for sharing. I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe.
Move over Torchy’s , these are soooo good. Easy to make and the sauce is so versatile.
Thank you for your wonderful review, Judi! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I’ll be the one who leaves out the cilantro!!! Great recipe. Love Bonefish but they shut down where I am. 🙁
These are a must-have! I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Pash!
Just made this today! No leftovers was so easy to make and the perfect crunch!
Hi Amanda, nice to know that it was a success!
Loved, loved , loved this as written. By chance do you have a way to alter this recipe for an air fryer? That way a) less calories but more importantly b) not a big waste of oil.
Hi Linda, 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!