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Air Fryer Shrimp with Smoky Baja Sauce

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Deb Belsha
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Air Fryer
  • Cuisine: American

Description

Tender, juicy shrimp are coated with garlic and seasonings and quickly air fried in about 10 minutes. Don't skip the sauce, it adds a delicious, smoky chipotle flavor to the shrimp.


Ingredients

Units Scale

Baja Sauce

  • 1/4 cup roasted red peppers (fire roasted if you prefer)
  • 2 chipotle peppers & sauce*
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons chopped onion or chives
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning, or 1/2 teaspoon paprika, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper

Shrimp

  • 1 pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined-tail on
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon Old Bay, or 1/2 teaspoon paprika, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper

 


Instructions

Baja Sauce

  1. In a small food processor, mini chopper or by hand, mince the chipotle and roasted red peppers.
  2. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and mix until smooth.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Shrimp

  1. Preheat the air fryer at 400°F. for 5 minutes.
  2. If using frozen shrimp, rinse under cool water to remove ice crystals. Pat dry.  If using fresh, don't rinse, just pat dry.
  3. Combine the olive oil and seasoning mix and sprinkle over the shrimp, lightly pressing the seasoning into shrimp.  
  4. Place shrimp in fryer and cook for 6 minutes.*  Check for doneness.  The shrimp will be light pink/orange and the tail will take on a "C" shape.  If the shrimp has a slight gray color, it needs to cook another 1-2 minutes.*
  5. Serve with lemon slices and Baja sauce.

Notes

*I buy canned chipotle peppers with adobo sauce.  If I want a recipe to be less spicy, I cut open the pepper and scrape out some of the seeds.  (that's where the heat is)

*When you buy frozen shrimp, it has the count on the front of the bag.  Mine said 16/20, which means there are an average of 16-20 shrimp per pound.  These would be considered a large size.

*If you are cooking fresh shrimp, it may cook 1-2 minutes quicker. Frozen may need 1-2 minutes more. The key is to check at the shortest time.  Check it for color and shape.  Cook a bit longer if needed.