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 😉



Hi Natasha… we have appetizer Thursdays with some friends and I am always looking for something with a Wow factor…well these little guys were the bomb and the Aioli sauce with awesome!! This is a keeper for sure!
Yay, love it! Thanks for your awesome review, Debbie!
Made these shrimp patties tonight for dinner. Hubby said they are better than you could get in any restaurant! He loved them! Thanks for the great recipe!
So lovely to hear that, Norma. Thanks for giving this recipe and try! I hope you and your hubby will love my other recipes too.
Can’t wait to try them, they sound delicious!
I made these today…OMG!!! They are the most delicious cakes I ever had. The aioli I could eat on it a on with a spoon. 🤣🤣🤣
Yum!!!
So fantastic! Thanks for sharing that with us, glad you enjoyed it!
Can I use crab meat instead of shrimp?
Hi Gay, I have not tested that but several of our readers have with great results! If you experiment, please let me know how you like this recipe!
My kids totally loved this!!! Had to make it 2x in one week. This is a must try if you love shrimp.
Thank you so much for your awesome review, Asia. I hope you and your family will love every recipe that you will try!
Hi Natasha,
I am trying this recipe this weekend and I do not have fresh parsley on hand. Can I substitute parsley flakes? If so, would the amount change?
Thanks!
Hi Ashley! I haven’t tested this with dry but it should work! Instead of 2 tbsp, use 2 tsp dried. You can add more if you feel that isn’t enough.
This was an amazing recipe! The whole family loved it. The lemon aioli was such a great addition. Thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome, Shay! I’m so glad you enjoyed that!
I tried this recipe tonight, and everybody in my family agreed that this was the best shrimp dish they had ever ate. They asked me to make it often, and I definitely will. So glad to find this fantastic recipe. Thanks a lot, Natasha!!!
Wow, what great feedback! Thank you so much for sharing the awesome comments with us. I’m so glad you all enjoyed it!
Really enjoy the presentation and positive attitude. You get to business and get things done. Like that you are indicating the cost of the recipe. So important in these days we are going through.
Thank you for this lovely comment and great feedback Ralph!
Texture was good as well as the aioli. I think this needs more flavor in the cakes. Overall impression is it’s a good foundation recipe to build on. I am thinking parmesan instead of mozzarella or at least a 50/50 blend, also old bay or lemon pepper seasoning in addition to some of the salt and pepper.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, James!
I made this to day and added about 1/2 to 1 tsp old bay seasoning. This was a WONDERFUL receipt and so easy!
I am so glad you loved it, Joanne! Thanks for trying out this recipe.
Hi Can I use any cheese with this recipe? Thanks!
Hi Terri, we love it with mozzarella cheese but others shared that they used another type of cheese and they loved it too.
Make sure you get the shrimp DRY. I put 1/3 of the shrimp in the food processor, and hand chop the other 2/3. I use panko instead of flour. Chill in the fridge to help it bind for about 30 minutes before cooking. I season some panko with Old Bay and coat the cakes slightly so that have that crisp outside. Served with a chilled salad, it’s the perfect summer dinner!
Oh! Do NOT skip the aioli, and kick it up a notch with a little sriracha!
Thank you for your tips and suggestions, it’s very helpful information!
Can you make the shrimp mixture ahead of time? And for how long?
Hi DW, we have always made it fresh so I’m unable to advise. If you experiment thought I would love to know how it turns out!
Made these for dinner tonight and they were great! Paired with the sauce it made them fabulous! Truly a KEEPER. Thanks so much.
So great to hear that you enjoyed yur dinner. Thanks for giving this recipe a try, Sharon!
Can i replace the flour with Almond Flour to make it more Keto-e?
And … do they freeze well?
Hi John, 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. 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!
Thanks for the info.
I made more of these than i can eat in a week so i froze about a dozen of them after giving them a good fry with an excellent crust.
Two days later i popped 3 in the microwave for just about 25 seconds and, man, they still had that crunch!
Would not hesitate to make a large batch and freezing as many as you can’t eat.
And, for the Keto-ites, using Almond Flour worked out great. These held together with no problem.
J
Carbalose works just like regular flour and only has 19 carbs per cup
Hi Natasha, can I omit egg in the recipe?
Hi Su, I haven’t tried making it without eggs yet. I’m not sure how it would work but if you want to do an experiment, let us know how that goes.
You can do it without the yolk but you need the white.
Forgot to mention the ice cream scoop is a game changer. Works perfect
Isn’t it the best! We use it each time!
Exceptional recipe. Ive made it with shrimp, then scallops and half of each.
My only change was to grate 1/2 Vidalia onion & 1 celery stalk. Flavor bomb. Tyvm
Isn’t it the best! Thank you for sharing that great review!
This is by far my favourite recipe for cocktail and Oscar parties. I love it and the lemon aioli is killer! I made a couple of small tweaks the third time I made it. I used Gruyere instead of Mozzarella, I added 1 tbsp of dijon mustard, and I used 1 tbsp “Epicure” lemon basil seasoning, or lemon dilly dip, or some old Bay seasoning in addition to the salt and pepper. Let me tell you; wow! The only reason I didn’t give you a full 5 is because I found (everytime I made it) that it doesn’t always hold together well in the pan when turning it. Any advice?
Hi Pat, my best advice is to use a good non-stick pan which will make flipping much easier.
Thanks Natasha! I’m serious…try with the gruyere and dijon. It elevates an already spectacular recipe to another realm!
Thank you so much Pat! I will do that!
Great recipe, but aioli try roasting the garlic a nice smooth taste and not bitter.
Thank you for that wonderful tip! I’ll have to try that!
I never buy raw shrimp. Always buy cooked frozen shrimp – 50 in a bag. Can these be used instead in all of your recipes? What would I do? Sorry – but I’m new to cooking.
Hi Beverly, I have had some people report good results using pre-cooked shrimp in this recipe, but it really depends on the recipe. I always suggest using what is recommended in a recipe before modifying.
I tried this recipe using pre-cooked shrimp and it works great. I had to add a piece of salmon (did’nt have enough shrimp). It was delicious with the aioli lemon sauce. A keeper for sure!
I tried this recipe tonight. It is definitely a keeper. The family loved it.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!