If you love shrimp recipes, these shrimp cakes are for YOU! They are juicy, tender and so flavorful. These shrimp fritters always disappear fast! P.S. DO NOT skip the lemon aioli sauce.
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This is a surprising way to use shrimp but it’s also the best way to make a pound of shrimp go a long way. Biting into juicy shrimp, fritter style, is a real treat. The cheese creates an irresistible cheese pull inside and forms a golden crust on the outside. Watch the Video tutorial and you will just know; these are GOOD!
Shrimp Calories / Shrimp Nutrition:
- Purchase wild-caught shrimp whenever possible.
- Avoid “Farm Raised Shrimp” or anything marked “Farmed,” especially coming from overseas where they may be produced in unsafe or unhealthy conditions and could lead to health problems.
- There are about 99 calories in 100 grams of cooked shrimp.
How to Devein Shrimp:
Deveining larger sized shrimp is especially important. Check out our video tutorial on how to peel and devein shrimp. You can use a small pairing knife or a deveining tool like this one from OXO.
Ingredients for Shrimp Cakes Recipe:
The ingredients here are so simple and come together quickly for an easy appetizer or side with dinner or lunch. Combining raw diced shrimp with a batter creates an irresistibly good shrimp fritter. I hesitate to call them ‘fritters’ because fritters are often deep fried but you don’t need much oil at all in this recipe. I usually use 1 to 2 Tbsp for the entire batch. Seriously though, don’t skip the lemon aioli sauce – it is everything with these shrimp cakes; dunk after dunk.
Watch How to Make Sauteed Shrimp Patties:
Watch Natasha make these cheesy shrimp cakes. You will be surprised by how easy this recipe is! If you haven’t already, to our and click the bell icon so you’ll be the first to know when we post a new video.
Cook’s Tips: Here are our favorite measuring spoons that I bragged about in the video. Also, a trigger release ice cream scoop makes it so easy to portion and and sauté these while keeping your hands clean. Also, a non-stick pan works best to keep the patties from falling apart while cooking.
Easy Shrimp Recipes to Explore:
- Coconut Shrimp with a ridiculously good 2-ingredient dip
- Shrimp Cucumber Bites – so easy and good. They fly off the plate!
- Shrimp Ceviche Salsa – we are obsessed with this shrimp salsa
- Creamy Shrimp Pasta (with our favorite Alfredo sauce!)
Print-Friendly Sauteed Shrimp Cakes Recipe:
Shrimp Cakes with Lemon Aioli (VIDEO)
Ingredients
For the Shrimp Cakes/ Fritters:
- 1 lb large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 4 oz mozzarella cheese, (1 1/2 cups shredded)
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 Tbsp parsley, finely chopped, plus more to garnish
- 1/2 tsp sea salt, or to taste
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, or gluten free flour
- 2 Tbsp light olive oil, or high heat cooking oil of choice
For the Lemon Aioli Sauce:
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 garlic clove, pressed or finely minced
Instructions
How to Make Shrimp Cakes:
- Pat dry shrimp with paper towels then dice into pea-sized pieces.*
- Transfer chopped shrimp to a large mixing bowl. Add 4 oz shredded mozzarella, 1 egg, 1/4 cup mayo, 2 Tbsp parsley, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp black pepper. Stir together then add 1/4 cup flour and mix until batter is creamy and well combined.
- Heat a large non-stick pan over medium heat and add 1 Tbsp olive oil. Add 1 heaping Tablespoon at a time (or a level ice cream scoop) and flatten out the tops of your fritters as you go so they are about 1/2" thick patties. Saute about 3 minutes per side or until golden brown on the edges and cooked through.
How to Make Lemon Aioli Sauce:
- In a small bowl, add mayo and stir to remove any lumps. Add 1 tsp lemon zest, 2 Tbsp lemon juice and pressed garlic clove and stir to combine.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Would YOU try these sauteed shrimp fritters? We think you will be impressed 😉
Magnificient !
Went off in seconds. Thanks Natasha for this incredible yet simple recipie
You’re so welcome! I’m happy you enjoyed it!
These are really good! Love the lemon aioli too. I rotate between that and a spicy sauce. I made these in the air fryer and they cane out great. I preheated to 350 and lightly sprayed an olive oil on top. I did for a total of 14 minutes flipping the cakes halfway through. Already made these a couple of times. Yum!
I’m so happy to hear these worked in the air fryer! Thank you for sharing that with us!
Has anyone had any luck cooking these in an air fryer? If so, any instructions for that?
Hi Sarah! I tried searching the comments for that. I don’t see any responses to that just yet.
Excellent shrimp cakes, company just loved them. The aioli was just as good. All off my guests are going to be at your site. Very happy I came across your site. Going to make your baked apples for thanksgiving, added you to my favorites. Irene
I’m so happy you discovered our blog Irene! Thank you for sharing this with me!
Love this recipe! I also like to add a little chopped fresh tarragon, chives and old bay seasoning to the mixture. So delicious!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the wonderful review!
I made these last night and they were really delicious but they kind of fell apart and stuck to my pan even though I used avocado oil and a really good non-stick pan. What could it be?
Hi Brenda! Did you possibly cut your shrimp too big? Possibly check the proportions in the recipe to make sure you have enough shrimp to batter and also it helps to dice the shrimp smaller to help them stay together. Also, I only flip them once. You want them to get golden brown on one end before flipping which also helps them stay together. I hope that helps!
can we freeze them before cooking ?
Hi Anne, I haven’t tried freezing these shrimp patties but if I did, I would probably freeze them already cooked or they may not stay together well. If you experiment, let me know how it goes!
Made a massive batch (8lbs of shrimp) for a benefit dinner. Everybody loved them.
Wow! That is a lot of shrimp! I can only imagine how amazing that spread looked!
Absolutely delicious! Will definitely make again.
I’m so happy to hear that, Jill! Thank you for the amazing review!
How can you make this keto-friendly?
Hi Chelle! One of our readers made a Keto version. Here is what she says: “This was amazing. I made mine keto friendly by grating my own mozzarella and using almond flour. Will be making these again for my friends.” I hope this helps
Awesome thank you. Can’t wait to make this!
You’re so welcome!
These are out of this world good!! I’ve made them a few times now for my family and they are a hit! They are just as good the second day (I’ve even had them cold 😋), and the aioli is a must!! Thanks for another yummy recipe!!
Thank you so much for this wonderful review, Domnica! I so happy you enjoyed it!
Hi Natasha! I love your recipe’s! What do you suggest serving along with these? I will me making them this week 😀.
Thanks!
Hi Chasity! Many of our readers are definitely loving it with a side of veggies or a salad! Don’t skip that aioli!
These were great. Halved recipe for just wife and I. Aioli was awesome. The patties got slightly burned in cast iron skillet. I have made crab cakes before w/o burning. Not sure if I used enuff olive oil. Maybe next time I will use canola oil.
Hi Jerry. I’m so sorry to hear that. Was the heat possibly turned up too high? Adding a little bit more oil may helps also.
The heat was set as per the recipe. But I believe that more oil and using canola instead of olive oil would help as canola has a higher burn point. Thank you for your response. Next up is your Tuscan soup.
I hope you love it, Jerry! Enjoy!
Hello! I love this recipe and I’ve noticed several people asking about baking the patties. Well I did my studying today and found a way to bake them. I mixed the batter as usual. I used two cookie sheets that are “cushion air” sheets. I set the oven to 400 degrees. I sprayed each cookie sheet with Pam or some similar cooking spray. I dosed each cookie sheet with the patties. I then placed the cookie sheets in the refrigerator for the patties to set. Then one pan at a time I placed the cookie sheet in the middle of the oven and cooked each side 20 minutes each. Be sure to flip the patty after 20 minutes then cook the other side for 20 minutes for approximately 40 total cooking time. They came out beautiful and as the cooled off they got really crispy. They taste great! I hope this helps and the way I explained it is not confusing. Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I’ve made them six times now! I took a picture of my end results but didn’t see where I could add a picture.
Wow! Thank you so much for sharing this with all of us. I’m sure our readers will find this helpful! Thank you Carol!
Wondered if the shrimp cakes can be made ahead
Hi Karen, We normally have them fresh and haven’t really had a chance to experiment with storing them in the fridge. If you try that let us know how you like them!
I dearly enjoy eating shrimp. Is there anything that I can substitue for the mayo?
Hi Elizabeth. Here is what one of our readers says in regards to omitting the mayonnaise. “My sister-in-law has to watch her sodium intake, so I changed a few things. Instead of mayonnaise I used Greek yogurt and for salt I used Mrs. Dash. I will definitely be making these again.” Hope this helps!
These were delicious! And you were right – the lemon aioli was fabulous with them! Definitely a keeper!
I never skip the aioli! Thank you for sharing your review with us, Trish!
OMG!!!!!
These were so so good! But we have a big bag of cooked shrimp, do you think I could use it some how and not have shrimp too rubbery??
Hi Kim, you can try use it but they won’t be as juicy. Cooked shrimp may just become overcooked and shrink down with additional cooking.
Can I use almond flour…and how much?
Our readers have use almond flour with a 1:1 ratio. Enjoy 🙂
HI Natasha! What brand of mayo do you use in your recipes? Thank you!
Hi Ganna, I don’t stick to a specific brand – usually switch between Hellmans, Best Foods, Real Mayo and the Kirkland Signature brand at Costco. I guess I haven’t found one that I didn’t like (except Miracle whip but that is not real mayo) 😉