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This honey walnut shrimp is the perfect shrimp recipe to make for a small group. It’s crispy, creamy, sweet, and doesn’t take long to make. I know a lot of you don’t want to deep fry so in this post I will be showing an air fryer method as well.

If I’m being honest, this was the first time I have ever tried honey walnut shrimp. I’ve always known about it but didn’t know if it would be good. Fried shrimp is always great, but sweet mayo? I wasn’t so sure about that. Regardless, I decided to try it and the sweet mayo was one of the best things ever. I could see myself lathering that sauce all over my sandwiches.

The savory and sweet combination works perfectly here and it reminded me of chicken and waffles. So much so, that I actually had a dream that I put this shrimp on top of waffles. I think it would work perfectly but I unfortunately don’t have a waffle maker.

Key ingredients and steps for honey walnut shrimp

Carbonated water: The carbonation allows the batter to be more airy and light. If you don’t have carbonated water, you can use beer, or seltzer as a substitute.

Sweetened condensed milk: I use sweetened condensed milk as my primary sweetener. It goes really well with the creamy texture and flavor of mayo. This is the brand I always use.

Shrimp: I would highly recommend using shrimp at least U16 in size. What this means is that there are 16 shrimp per pound. I used U6-8 which are basically small lobster tails and that means there are 6-8 shrimp per pound.

Japanese mayo: This is optional, but I would recommend Japanese mayo because it is more rich in flavor. This is because they use egg yolks, vinegar, and msg to make it.

5 from 1 vote

Honey Walnut Shrimp

Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
Total: 30 minutes
A sweet and savory fried shrimp dish that is perfect for your next dinner.
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Ingredients 

Shrimp

  • lbs shrimp, (U6-8)
  • ½ tbsp salt

Wet batter

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 large egg
  • 330 ml carbonated water , or beer

Sauce

  • ½ cup mayo
  • 2 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • ½-1 tbsp lemon juice

Candied walnuts

  • 1 cup walnuts
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • ¼ cup water

Instructions 

  • Peel, wash, and butterfly your shrimp. I like to use a pairing knife and make a few thin cuts along the back of the shrimp until your can spread it like a butterfly.
  • Season shrimp with salt.
  • Preheat your oil to 350F.
  • Mix all your wet batter ingredients in a bowl.
  • Coat your shrimp into the wet batter and fry for 2 minutes until crispy.
  • Add all your candied walnut ingredients into a bowl then heat over medium until all the water has evaporated. (5-10 minutes)
  • Mix your sauce ingredients together in a bowl and toss the shrimp with the sauce and candied walnuts.

Air fry method

  • All steps stay the same except you will not need the wet batter. Instead, mix the shrimp with 1 beaten egg then coat in corn starch.
  • Air fry at 400F for 5-10 minutes depending on size.

Additional Info

Course: Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine: Chinese

If you enjoyed this, check out some more shrimp recipes here:

About Jacky Kwok

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