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 😉



This recipe was just what I was looking for! I had never made shrimp cakes and this was easy and sooo good. My husband devoured these–so much for leftovers. lol. Thanks for an awesome dish!
Thank you for the wonderful review!
My husband made these for me a while back and they were instantly one of my favorites! So much better than crab cakes(which I love as well). The aioli sauce is amazing as well.
The sauce is a must-have! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Tammy!
Natasha your shrimp tacos are simply the best we love them. We tend to eat seafood or fish on Fridays, this will be the 4th Friday in a row that we them for dinner.
I also love all your videos. I also love how easy your recipes are.
Thanks for sharing.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying our tacos!! We absolutely love them also! Thank you for your lovely compliment, I’m so glad you’re enjoying my videos.
Excellent and easy. 💖
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
OMG I made these for dinner with a salad they were so go. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review, Amanda!
Made this recipe using 1 lb of salmon cutlets, pulsed in food processor. They were amazing!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Also I am kidding… just a pet peeve when folks take an amazing recipe like this and start substituting… this is so great just the way you designed it!
“I made this recipe and it was awesome! Instead of the shrimp I used a Big Mac and then I substituted the rest of the ingredients for fries. Thanks again!”
Also I am kidding! Just my pet peeve when folks start substituting ingredients on an already perfect recipe!
Can you use almond flour or coconut flour instead of the all purpose flour?
Hi Sara, 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. If you experiment, let me know how it goes!
DELICIOUS! We could not get enough of these! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for your great review, Danielle!
Made the shrimp cakes are Excellent and very easy to make for any level of cooking. Thanks for the recipe Natasha. I will be checking out more.
You’re welcome, Caryl. Happy to hear that you enjoyed it! I hope you’ll love every recipe that you will try.
Tried this tonight for dinner and oh my lord it is so delish!! You’re right about the sauce. Gotta have them both together. This recipe deserves to be in my box. Thank you!!
You’re very welcome, Alicia. I’m just glad that you enjoyed this recipe for dinner. Thanks for your great review and feedback!
These cakes were really good and were easy to make. I saved time by using my food processor. I will be making them again.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review.
Hi Natasha:
I have a similar recipe but stopped making it because I felt the shrimp wasn’t fully cooking. Wasn’t sure if the recipe was lacking an instruction, but you also do it raw – so here goes!
I hope you love this recipe!! If you’re unsure, you can always check the shrimp with a thermometer.
Natasha,
WE love your shrimp cake recipe but I need your help with one aspect of the cooking process. My problem is they separate in the pan. I’ve reduced the size of the cakes but it does not help.
Thank you in advance for giving me a tip to hold them together.
Hi Ben, I’m so sorry to hear that, some of our readers noticed the cakes falling apart when they chopped the shrimp too big. Try making the shrimp cuts slightly smaller and that should help!
Natasha,
Thank you the idea of finer cuts of shrimp. I am also going to use a better non-stick pan to cook them in. I’ll know for certain after I make them tonight.
Most appreciated.
Ben,
One of the things I do to make sure they hold together, is once I drop them from the ice cream scoop, I let them fry a little and warm through some (let the cheese melt a little), then I press them flat. Once they are nice and crispy then I flip them. Once in a while the shrimp pieces fall out but usually, I can still push them back into the patty. I make some of the patties bun-size so I can serve them as a sandwich with a slice of provolone cheese, some coleslaw and my own “special
sauce”.
Refrigerate the mix for about 30 min before frying. The mix needs to firm up to help it all stick together.
I know you are a big fan of fresh parsley, the “zip” you refer to as well as the appearance. My wife actually has a “mouth problem” with it, such that she really tries to avoid it in cooking and in restaurants. My question is how much does parsley add to the flavor, and can it be left off or a substitute used? Thank you for your response!
We love it with parsley but feel free to omit it or use basil, or coriander if she likes it better.
Made the shrimp…Delicious…!!!
Next time will reduce amount of mayo to 1/8 c. It felt a little too oily. Will use greek yogurt instead of mayo for the sauce. My husband likes saziki sauce.
Sounds good! I’m glad you enjoyed it and yes, feel free to adjust the ingredients according to your personal preference. Thanks for sharing!
This is truly a family favorite. My 4 year old granddaughter has requested them for her 5th birthday dinner!! I highly recommend this recipe.
Aww, that’s the best! That is the best when kids love what we make. That’s so great!
Hi Natasha…I have made these so many times…they are fantastic! Question…can I make them early? How would I heat them up for dinner? Asking for a friend…lol
Hi Moe, yes you definitely can reheat these! 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.
Hi Natasha!
Could I make these in the air fryer?! If so, how long would you suggest?
Hi Lauren, I haven’t tried these in an air fryer but here’s what one of our readers wrote: “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 hope this is helpful.