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.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
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 😉
Will be making these tomorrow but wondered what size ice cream scoop you used?
Hi Kathy! The Ice Cream Scoop is a size 20.
I just made these tonight 7/16/18 and I made according to the recipe and added a little Old Bay because I’m from Maryland and that’s what we do. They were a giant hit nd we are adding to our book of favorites! Simple recipe with so much taste. And I loved the Lemon Aoli, my husband used a sirachi mayo…both were delish! Thank you for this recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the wonderful review, Diana!
These were absolutely delicious and the lemon aioli really added to the taste! I had all the ingredients on hand which made it that much better and the prep time was not bad. These will definitely be part of our dinner menu in the future.
I love when that works out so perfectly! Thank you for the wonderful review Diane!
Loved it, I just switched bread crumbs for the flour, did half mozzarella/half parmesan and I added garlic to the lemon aioli
That sounds so good! Thank you for sharing that with us!
Absolutely amazing! My family inhaled it!
That’s what we like to hear 😀. Thank you for the great review
Please tell me pan that is you use in this recipe is it electric and maker – I want same Tx
Hi Pandora, this is a Ballarini 10″ pan (Amazon affiliate link)
Hi Pandora, this is a Ballarini 10″ pan (Amazon affiliate link)
Hi Natasha, do you think they will work if I bake them instead of frying? I just fried them and all of them got stuck to the pan and turned into very not pretty mess. They taste great, so for appearances sake I am wondering if baking might work.
Hi Anna! I haven’t tested them as baked shrimp cakes so I can’t say for sure. I had one reader report good results with baking but she didn’t share details of how she baked them.
Natasha….
Have you ever frozen the Shrimp Cakes? I’m planning a large party, so I need things I can make ahead of time. Thanks, they look so good!
Hi Cappy! 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!
It looks delicious, but I would like to know if I can substitute the mayo for something else? Source cream, Greek yogurt?
Hi Nyree, 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!
Hi,
Not a fan of mayonnaise nor excessive use of salt. Is there an alternative sauce that I can make with the lemon zest and an alternative to mayonnaise in the cakes as well as salt as a seasoning that you would recommend?
Hi Medallio. 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!
Wow these are really good and really easy. I cut the shrimp too large for the first ones and they fell apart so I chopped them finer and they were perfect. I don’t even like shrimp and they were okay because it was cut up small. To look at they seem a lot of work but they really are not. I am taking them as an appetizer for a bbq, hope they reheat well.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
Excellent! My husband loved these and I did too! Yummy! Could not have been more perfect! I think I will make another batch and make mini muffins for my Sunday School class. I used Wild Black Tiger Prawns we had ordered from Great Alaska Seafood! They were a from last year, but still good. This will be a repeat recipe!!! Thank you Natasha!
Someone had asked if you can bake these, and yes, just spray the pan, press out on the pan in patties, and spray the patties or brush with a little olive oil. I bake our Salmon patties this way.
That’s so nice of you to bring these to Sunday School! I’m so happy you enjoyed these, Sherry!
I’m on the Oregon Coast where we have pink salad shrimp. Has anyone used those instead of regular shrimp? They aren’t cheap so hoping someone has tried them.
Hi Dawn, I haven’t tried but I’m thinking it would work.
what makes them a pink salad shrimp is they are harvested before they have grown they are what we referred to in the shrimping industry here in Texas as maggit shrimp which we tried not to even catch by using larger meshed nets during the shrimps spawn season
heres a link to a news report on our seafood industry the last part of the report is inportant about the types of seafood you are cousoming do watch this https://www.facebook.com/MichelleMalkinCRTV/videos/521618348257986/
OMG these look delicious!
Can these be baked? I can’t eat fried foods.
Hi Rhonda! Thank you! I haven’t tested them as baked shrimp cakes so I can’t say for sure. I had one reader report good results with baking but she didn’t share details of how she baked them.
Can panko be substituted for flour….or commbined with flour
Hi Karen, I haven’t tried that but I think it would taste good to coat the outside in panko. The batter is too loose though to form into a patty with your hands so it would be difficult to dip the patties in bread crumbs. I hope this helps 🙂
Hi Natasha they look delicious, and I can’t wait to make them. What your thoughts on using coconut or almond flour instead of all purpose flour?
Hi Irma, Although I haven’t tried it this way myself, our readers have reported using almond flour as a substitution and they loved it!
These were so good!! However, I sent my husband to get mozzarella and he came back with burrata! I substituted Pepper Jack. I also added two sliced green onions. Truly amazing! Half the recipe was enough for two guys for Sunday dinner. Yes, Natasha, do not skip the Lemon Aioli.
That’s so great Michael. Thank you for sharing that with us
Oh my goodness! I made these tonight to surprise my husband. He ate nearly the whole batch! What was left is going in his lunch tomorrow. I was so surprised that they turned out. HA! I even liked them and I don’t like anything strange. I am so glad I ran across your video. I have printed a bunch of recipes to try!!!! Thanks for getting me out of my box to try new things. 🙂 Ben thanks you too!
Hi Debbie! Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to write this wonderful review! I’m so so happy you both enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Just made these tonight for dinner. They were delicious, but they did not look like yours. I used a non-stick pan over medium heat, but they started falling apart. Not sure what I did wrong.😕
Hi Joann, 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! 🙂
I made these Friday night and they were perfection when combined with the Lemon Aioli. No need to change a thing. Making them again today!
I’m so glad you enjoyed these! Thank you for sharing that with us Cynthia! Hope you had a great weekend!
Would these freeze well and if so, before of after cooking?
Hi Laurie, 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!