Air Fryer Shrimp Sandwich is made with crispy shrimp served on a soft potato bun with lettuce and homemade tartar sauce, the perfect summer sandwich.
Fried Shrimp Sandwich with Tartar Sauce
These air-fried shrimp are light, bouncy, and cooked to perfection! They are served with my healthier tartar sauce flavored with chopped dill pickles, which add the perfect tang. For more air fryer shrimp recipes, try my Coconut Shrimp and Cajun Shrimp.
Last week when I was out on Fire Island, we stopped for lunch by the beach. They had a fried shrimp sandwich on the menu, which sounded wonderful, and it was! That lunch inspired this healthier homemade version made in the air fryer. This sandwich is an ideal summer lunch.
Using the air fryer to fry these shrimp was the best way to get crispy fried shrimp without the extra calories from the oil. I start by coating the raw shrimp in egg and then dredging them in a mixture of breadcrumbs and panko. The only oil I use is a little olive oil sprayed on both sides of the shrimp before cooking. This is the air fryer I use.
How long do you cook breaded shrimp in an air fryer?
You cook breaded shrimp for about six minutes in the air fryer heated to 400 degrees turning halfway. To ensure they cook evenly, cook the shrimp in batches. You don’t want to overcrowd the basket.
How do you make tartar sauce from scratch?
Homemade tartar sauce is so easy to make! Plus, it’s better than any store- bought version you will find. Tartar sauce is pretty high in calories since its main ingredient is mayonnaise. I lighten up my tartar sauce by using a mix of reduced- fat sour cream and light mayo. I then season it with chopped dill pickles, fresh dill, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. After you mix everything together, refrigerate the sauce until you’re ready to serve it.
What goes good with fried shrimp sandwiches?
I would serve these shrimp sandwiches with a healthy side like veggie sticks or my Quick Cabbage Slaw. A nice salad with summer produce would also be delicious. Try my Corn, Tomato, and Avocado Salad or Summer Tomato Salad.
Variations:
- Try the tartar sauce with capers in place of pickles and omit the salt.
- Iceberg lettuce can be used in place of butter lettuce.
- To make them in the oven, you can follow the time for these oven-fried healthy breaded shrimp.
More Shrimp Recipes You’ll Love:
- Creamy Shrimp and Celery Salad
- Lemon-Chili Shrimp Quinoa Bowls
- Zesty Lime Shrimp and Avocado Salad
- Mexican Shrimp Diablo
- Chopped Salad with Shrimp, Blue Cheese, and Bacon
Air Fryer Fried Shrimp Sandwich with Tartar Sauce
Ingredients
- 20 about 14 to 16 oz raw peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp, tails removed
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1/3 cup dry seasoned panko crumbs
- 1/2 cup whole wheat seasoned breadcrumbs
- olive oil spray
- 1 head butter lettuce, leaves separated
- 4 whole wheat 100 calorie potato buns, (round or long) I like Martins
Tartar Sauce:
- 1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
- 3 tablespoons light mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup finely chopped dill pickles
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Combine the ingredients for the tartar sauce and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Crack the egg into a bowl and beat it. Combine panko, and breadcrumbs in a second bowl.
- Using a fork, place shrimp 1 at a time into the egg, then into the crumbs, then onto a plate in a single layer while breading the rest.
- Spray the top of the shrimp generously with oil then transfer oil side down to the fryer basket in a single layer in batches.
- Spray the other side with oil and air fry 400F 4 minutes.
- Shake the basket and cook 2 more minutes, or until golden. Repeat with the remaining shrimp.
- On 4 buns, divide the shrimp on each, top with lettuce and 2 1/2 tablespoons tartar sauce on the top side of the bun.
My family and I love these sandwiches. We make them with shrimp and also use the same recipe for fish. The sauce is a favorite in our house and it all comes together so quickly for a week night diner. Thanks for another great recipe.
YUM!!! I will make these again! (And I cheated and used store bought sauce this time because I already had it.)
I’ve always been scared to make shrimp because the only time I tried I way over did it because I was afraid of undercooking it. These were perfect.
Love this one and I make it often! The shrimp is cooked perfectly! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Love this recipe. My 15 year old son thought it was great!
These shrimp were fabulous..wish I had nutritional info for shrimp only… did not make the sandwich made lettuce tacos 🌮
Just deduct the 100 calories for the bun and you get 252 calories per serving.
What about carb difference without bread?
I love, love, love your recipes…so very tasty! Now, my question is, “Where do I get these 100 calorie whole wheat Martin’s potato buns?” I can’t even find them online! I have a longstanding love with potato rolls, but the points on the regular ones make me sad.
Hello, how many shrimp per sandwich for each serving? Thank you
Well there’s 20 shrimp and the recipe makes 4 servings… So 20 shrimp divided by 4 rolls equals 5 shrimp per roll.
This was excellent! I used Old Bay and Panko bread crumbs to bread the shrimp – that’s all I had. We ate all the shrimp tonight. Thanks for another delicious recipe!
Wonderful recipe. Can frozen shrimp be used.
Thank you
This has become our family’s #1 favorite AF recipe!! Easy and fantastic!!! All of us loved these and now it’s a regular on our menu! I took a shortcut and use dill pickle relish in place of chopping pickles- delish!!!
One of the best air fryer shrimp recipe i have ever tried. This shrimp recipe is really easy to make. Also do check out my special air fryer shrimp recipe as well. Check out the recipe here: https://www.foodybud.com/perfect-10-minute-air-fryer-shrimp/
Do you have the nutritional info for just the shrimp itself?
Tasty and easy!!
I don’t have an air fryer so could these be done in the oven? How long would you cook them if so?
Scroll up a little above the recipe and there is a link for oven fried under variations..
My other cookbooks feel abandoned. Skinnytaste 3-4 times per week. We baked them in the oven and had grilled corn on the cob. It was great.
Any suggestions for making more breading stick to the shrimp?
Thanks for sharing your talent with the rest of us.
Thank you! Use a fork and just handle them delicate.
This is so tasty! I even liked the tartar sauce and I’m not a huge fan of dill pickles. My son devoured it! I used seasoned GF batter flour and GF unseasoned breadcrumbs. My husband and. Son had the potato rolls and I used a Udi’s hot dog bun.
Perfect!!
These are incredible!! I used gf panko/regular bread crumbs and a gf baguette!! My family devoured them!! (I did add a little bit more pickles to the tartar sauce, and it was delicious). Will make again
Can you substitute chicken? I can’t have shrimp. Or a lighter fish?
I think it would work great with fish, not sure about chicken with the tartar sauce.
Awesome recipe!! I knew I would never find low calorie buns in my small town, So I just did it with brioche buns and adjusted my calories to reflect an extra 100 and ate a low calorie side. The sweetness of that type of bun was so delicious with the breaded shrimp and dilly tarter sauce. Didn’t have dill pickles so just used relish.
This was soooo good… my husband and I loved it. Quick and easy and the tarter sauce was so delish. We will make this again and again.
I make your recipes at least 3 times a week for a few years now. This might just be my favorite recipe of yours! It was perfectly coated and crispy and the tarter sauce was awesome! Thanks again!
I am so thrilled!
I have a bag of pre-cooked jumbo shrimp in my freezer. How long would you recommend cooking them in the Vremi air fryer?
You can’t use cooked shrimp, it will be dry.
I just recently purchased an air fryer and have only used it once and the results were amazing. I’m curious though because the instructions for the fryer say not to spray oil in the basket but every recipe I read says to spray the basket. Have you ever had issues with build up on the basket over time? I’m concerned I might ruin the basket. does everyone else ignore the packaging and nothing bad has happened?
I’ve been using my air fryer for several months, and I haven’t encountered any issues spraying the basket of mine (although I don’t recall instructions not to do so. )
This was absolutely delicious! Easy and quick. Family loved it, thank you!
If I used the tiny shrimp would you only do 2 minutes in the air fryer? I’m thinking fried shrimp tacos 🍤 🌮! Thanks!
I would do larger shrimp so they don’t overcook before the crumbs brown.
In the south, we call these poboys. These were DELISH!!! Absolutely scrumptious, in fact! My entire family loved it.
I used the remainders of a bag of medium-to-small shrimp plus a partial bag of jumbo shrimp, and they all cooked properly with the timing of 4 mins, shake, 2 mins.
Also, I have a kiddo who doesn’t like shrimp, so I sliced a mostly-frozen tilapia filet into thin strips across the grain and prepared it the same way for him. It was also delightful!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was a hit. Thank you for another winner.
Everything in this recipe was amazing! It was my first time using my air fryer & the shrimp came out perfect! I used a 647 hot dog bun which was only 2 pts!
This sounds so good. How many points without the bun?
This looks delicious! 😍 Mama want! What temp and for how long would you cook these in an oven instead? (I have no air fryer) Thank you!
I haven’t tried them in the oven, I worry that in order for the crumbs to brown, the shrimp would overcook.
Wow this was incredible! My fiancé and I loved it!!! I just stumbled upon your website from Facebook and I’ve cooked at least 3 meals a week from the site. So thankful as I am not a great cook but man my confidence is starting to rise after cooking from these recipes! Thank you!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
Hi Gina! Sounds delish! What would the blue WW points be without the bun? Thank you!
Sorry, I don’t have that info handy!
Do you have any info on the calories of the tarter sauce?
Hi, Erin,
I came up with 4 WW blue points. Panko 2, bread crumbs 5, reduced fat sour cream 4, and light mayonnaise 4. I, too, couldn’t find the 100 calorie buns, so my sandwiches came out to a totally worth it 10 WW points each.