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These healthy bang bang shrimp are crispy, tender, spicy, and creamy! They make a fantastic dinner recipe and are paleo, Whole30, gluten-free, grain-free, refined-sugar-free, and nut-free. Tossed in a sriracha-spiked creamy sauce, these bang bang shrimp are seriously good!
Let’s play a quick game of Never Have I Ever. I’ll start.
Never have I ever… won a game of Never Have I Ever.
Never have I ever watched the American Office. (I know. Don’t even try to convince me. It ain’t gonna happen. #Gervais4life).
Never have I ever gone to Bonefish Grill and not ordered bang bang shrimp.
Anyone drinking? Anyone at all? No? Didn’t think so.
It’s not difficult to understand why we’d all love crispy shrimp tossed in a creamy, spicy sauce, is it? The shrimp are so tender, wrapped in a crunchy little hug, coated in a sauce that brings in all the goodness from life and leaves behind all the poo-pooness. Well, no.
These Whole30 bang bang shrimp bring in all the goodness from life and leave behind all the poo-pooness. Because, of course, there are all sorts of wacky weirdness in those bang bang shrimp that make them, eh, not the best choice when you’re trying to eat healthily, avoid vegetable oils, refined grains, sugars, and preservatives. But don’t you worry, sister! These Whole30 bang bang shrimp are here to rescue you.
They’re dredged in an arrowroot and coconut flour mixture and pan-fried in your favorite oil then tossed in a homemade mayo + sriracha + coco aminos + ketchup mixture. Crispy, tender, spicy, creamy, perfection.
These Whole30 bang bang shrimp are, of course, paleo, gluten-free, grain-free, refined-sugar-free, and even nut-free, making them perfect to serve to almost anyone you know, except, of course, the vegetarians and vegans. And this recipe takes full advantage of homemade condiments that are super easy to prepare but that make all the difference in flavorful recipes.
Namely: my Whole30 sriracha recipe, my Whole30 ketchup recipe, and my Whole30 immersion blender mayonnaise recipe.
I highly, highly, highly recommend you keep the Whole30 sriracha on hand, but if you don’t have any, can’t make it (Please try if you can! You’ll freak out, I promise), and are on a Whole30, compliant hot sauce will do in a pinch. I’d recommend a more pepper-forward hot sauce in this case, like Cholula, rather than a more vinegar-forward hot sauce like Tabasco or Frank’s Red Hot.
And make sure that when you dredge your shrimp, you ensure there’s no excess clinging on – you want just the coating on the shrimp to form a light and crispy shell around your crustaceans. A clumpy dredge will result in ultimately soggy shrimp – not what you want here!
Perfectly made with my Whole30 sriracha recipe, Whole30 ketchup recipe, and Whole30 immersion blender mayonnaise recipe.
Whole30 Bang Bang Shrimp (Paleo, Grain Free, Nut Free)
Ingredients
Shrimp
- 1 pound shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1 egg whisked well
- ⅔ cup coconut flour
- ½ cup arrowroot powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- pepper to taste
- coconut or avocado oil for frying
- sliced green onions green part only, for garnish, optional
- sesame seeds for garnish, optional
Bang Bang Sauce
- ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp. Whole30 mayonnaise
- 2 ½ tsp. sriracha or hot sauce
- 2 ¼ Tbsp. ketchup
- 1 ½ tsp. coconut aminos
- 1 garlic clove minced
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Stir together all sauce ingredients and set aside.
- Whisk together coconut flour, arrowroot powder, salt, and pepper in a wide bowl. Dip shrimp in eggs then dredge in flour. Shake off excess and place on a baking sheet or plate. Repeat with all shrimp.
- Heat a thin layer of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, fry shrimp, making sure not to crowd. Wait until the bottom side is nicely browned before flipping, then flip and cook through on the other side. Shrimp should be beautifully browned and crispy. Remove from skillet with a slotted spoon and repeat until all shrimp are fried.
- In a large bowl, toss shrimp with half of the sauce. Add more sauce to taste and toss. Serve with remaining sauce (if you have any). Top with sliced green onions and sesame seeds.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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Holy cow, this was fantastic! I’ve seen recipes for bang bang shrimp all over but never tried one before – shame on me! The only adjustment I made was to substitute half of the mayo with forager plain cashew yogurt since I didn’t have enough mayo. I served it with some basic air fryer broccoli for myself and added some rice for my hubby. SO GOOD.
Ooh, yum! So glad you and your husband loved it! 😊
This may be my new and favorite Paleo/Whole 30 dish. I did use almond flour in place of coconut flour since I didn’t have that on hand and did add a bit of extra sriracha (not sugar free, but the sugar in sriracha isn’t what made me overweight….it’s the cupcakes…ha!) to the sauce. This is a definite make again and has been added to the rotation. That sauce was so delicious, I’ll be using it with chicken too as I think it would pair well with that too.
Ooh, the sauce with chicken sounds delicious- be sure to let us know if you try it! So glad you loved this dish, it’s such a great one to keep in rotation!
Would it be a disaster to use almond flour instead of coconut?
That should work fine, however we have not tested it, so we can’t say for sure! Be sure to let us know if you try it!
Has anyone tried the air fryer instead of pan?
This was Bang Bang On! So delicious. I used almond flour and air-fried it in my Brava oven. They came out perfectly.
So glad you loved the shrimp! Thanks for sharing, Lorna! 🙂
Wanting to do this recipe this weekend, but don’t have arrowroot powder! Is there a substitute that I can use that won’t throw the recipe off? Thanks!
Hi, Lindsey! You can substitute arrowroot powder with equal amounts of instant tapioca or cornstarch! Hope this helps! 🙂
YUMMMM!
Quick and easy with a side salad. I used tapioca flour instead of arrowroot, came out great!
Thank you so much for letting us know! I’m so happy you loved the recipe. Thanks, Laura!
Can you sub almond flour for coconut?
We haven’t tested that out, but subbing almond flour should be fine! Let us know if you try it!
Maybe a bit less mayo in the sauce, but the texture of the batter turned out great! Will make again!
Thanks so much for the review, Megan! Glad you enjoyed! Feel free to adjust the mayo next time!