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 😉



I made this according to the instructions with the exception of not having fresh lemon on hand. So with no zest in the sauce and bottled lemon juice it was still very good. It made much more than I expected. I will definitely make these again. Nice crunch with moist flavorful center and the sauce really does set it off nicely.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Rebecca! Thank you for the wonderful review!
I made these shrimp cakes for dinner tonight. What a nice, simple recipe. Both my wife and I thought they were great. And, you’re right: don’t skip the aoili!
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review
Hi Natasha…made these for dinner tonight…delicious! What a great recipe. I didn’t have fresh shrimp but cooked frozen shrimp, thawed them out and followed the recipe and it turned out great! Thank you!
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed that, Patti! Thank you for sharing & I’m so glad to know it worked with that frozen shrimp!
How many cakes does this recipe make? Looking to double the batch for 10 people
Hi Michele, we have that listed in the recipe, this makes 12 cakes (2 per serving for 6 people).
This is my absolute favorite recipe!
That’s just awesome, Nicole!!
made this tonight and they are fantastic. made a double batch and just like your chicken fritters they disappeared as fast as I made them. I would of taken a picture but the only thing left were crumbs. love them
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
Any tips for trying in an airfryer
Hi Carol, I haven’t tested these baked or air fried but my best guess comes from another reader who happens to be named Carol also! She said she sprayed the baking sheet, placed patties on the sheet and refrigerated 20 minutes then baked at 400˚F for 20 minutes per side. For an air fryer, they will bake twice as fast or even faster. I would flip after 10 minutes and then check after another 5 min for doneness. If you experiment, please let me know how it goes.
This is a very good recipe. I substituted yellow lake perch tonight and it was outstanding. Thank you for this gift.
You’re welcome, David! Thank you for the great feedback.
These look delicious. I found these on your keto.plus IG. I can’t figure out how they can only have 4 carbs though using the 1/4 cup of all purpose flour.
Hi, just pulling up some quick math from googling. 1/4 cup flour has about 23 carbs divided by 6 servings = 4
Excellent. Thank you, i can’t wait to make these.
Love your recipes! I’m making these With almond flour tomorrow night for A New Year’s Eve Party. Do these need to be refrigerated a few hours, like the chicken fritters?
Hi Stacey, there is no need to marinate them in the refrigerator prior to cooking.
Curious…has anyone used cornbread mix instead of flour? I think it would be a good taste combo, but thought I’d check with the masses first! LOL
I made these for dinner tonight and we loved them. I did add some paprika and Old Bay seasoning to the mix. Also, I used almond flour instead of the regular flour and fried them in avocado oil (which has a higher smoke point). My husband couldn’t stop eating them.
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Frances!
I’m doing Keto now so I will be using Almond flour…can’t wait to try…they are Delicious with regular flour
I hope you love this recipe! We look forward to your feedback, Dwayne!
I made these for a small dinner party and they got rave reviews. I used mexican blend cheese because I was out of mozzarella and I tossed in just few panko crumbs because I was making them into burger sized patties and was worried about flipping them. Everyone wanted the recipe. I did refrigerate the mixture for about an hour before forming and making them. I will definitely use this recipe again. Everything was perfect!
I’m so glad you loved the recipe!
I printed out the recipe for shrimp-cakes w/ lemon aioli sauce and decided to make this for dinner tonight. It was simple but excellent. We will have this again with quests. I thought about subbing yellow perch or walleye into this recipe. Thank you!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
OMG! This looks “out of this world” delicious! I was looking for new recipes for shrimp that are quick and easy…and who doesn’t love fritters! Going out now to get ingredients!
I hope you love this recipe, Barbara!! Thank you for that awesome feedback!
Are these best served hot or can they be served room temperature. I would like to make a large batch of these for an anniversary party, however it is on a boat, so they would have to be made ahead of time.
Hi Jessica, I love this warm but they are still enjoyable cold.
These were so easy to make and very impressive to serve. “Keto-ized” them by using coconut flour and spiced them up with a little Old Bay seasoning. Served with homemade coleslaw. Thanks for a great keeper recipe!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Cheryl!
Thank you for this wonderful recipe, Wonderful , I can’t wait until tomorrow to make this shrimp cake. Although I really would like to replace mayo dip with something else and not so keen on cream or cream cheese either , I find them sickly. What else I can make a nice creamy dip with , any advice ?
Hi Amura-An, I had one reader report making a dip with sour cream and garlic with great results. Another mentioned greek yogurt instead of mayo.
Made this for my daughter’s birthday and it was a hit with all my difficult kids as well. It will be a repeat for sure.
Thank you for sharing
Sounds like you found a new party favorite! Thank you for that awesome review Luc!
I HAVE EVERYTHING EXCEPT THE MOZZARELLA, CAN IT BE REPLACED WITH A SHREDDED CHEDDAR? I’M DYING TO MAKE THIS,AND I HAD PLANNED ON DOING SO TONIGHT!!!
Hi Loria, yes that should work with cheddar also! I hope you love this recipe!
Could you make this ahead of time and then reheat to serve at a party?
Hi, yes you definitely can reheat them! Our readers have reported reheating them in the oven is much better than the microwave If you re-cook them in the microwave on too high of heat, the shrimp will get tough.
Natasha, I made these last night and they are truly a winner! Delicious! I was so anxious to eat them, I didn’t get a picture taken. I used a 3″ ring mold to form them and got 8 cakes out of the recipe. I also froze the remaining cakes before frying and they came out fine. Love your website and recipes.
That’s so great Linda and sounds beautiful! Thank you for sharing that with me!
I’m going to make these tonight!! They look SOOOOOO good what woukd you consider a serving size, 1 or 2 cakes? Thank you!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed that Deja! I have the servings towards the top of the recipe card: Servings: 6 people (2 fritters per serving) It honestly depends on how big you make them.
Oh definitely 2 they look so yummy
Big hit with everyone… already shared the recipe with 4 people…
That’s so awesome! Sounds like you found a new favorite Jill!