Raw shrimp, preferably Wild-caught American, peeled and deveined, passed through a milk and egg mixture, then into a seasoned cracker meal dredge and deep fried to golden brown delicious!
Cracker Meal Deep Fried Shrimp
Growing up, my Mama did not use flour on her fried seafood. She used boxed cracker meal.
If I had to guess, I'd say that once I started cooking for myself, I ventured away from using it because it can be a bit pricey and these days, even hard to find, but flour? Well, I always have that on hand.
I do prefer to use self-rising flour because it contains baking powder, which contains cornstarch, and seems to me to give a more crisp and crunchy texture than plain all-purpose flour does.
I know some folks have disagreed with me, and that's okay, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it y'all!
Just a quick reminder.... if you aren't interested in the chit chat, info, photos, tips, product recommendations and such on a blog, as always, you'll find the complete recipe text with measurements and instructions, as well as a printable document, a little bit further down the page. Just swipe or scroll down to the bottom of the post!
Here's what you'll need to make my Cracker Meal Fried Shrimp:
- 2 pounds medium (26/40 count) raw shrimp, peeled and deveined (preferably wild American Gulf shrimp)
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 (10 ounce) box cracker meal or equivalent homemade
- 2 teaspoons kosher, sea or spring salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Creole or Cajun seasoning, or to taste, optional
- 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
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Preheat the deep fryer or heat oil in a large heavy pot to 350 degrees F. Once upon a time, I had a larger deep fryer that I used to use on our covered porch outside, where, somehow, I lost the cord! Since it's just the two of us, I replaced it with a Presto GranPappy fryer (#ad) and I use that the most often these days when deep frying. I love this thing and it's really so much better and faster than pan frying!
I'm also using fresh Gulf shrimp that I had frozen, so those will need to be peeled and deveined. If you're using frozen raw shrimp that's likely already been done for you but please, when you buy your frozen shrimp, flip the package over, check for country of origin at the bottom and look specifically for Wild Caught American/Gulf shrimp.
Place shrimp into a colander and rinse well. Pat dry with paper towels to remove excess water.
Whisk together the egg and milk until well blended. Rotary whisk (#ad).
Add shrimp to milk mixture.
Today I'm using the same packaged McCormick Golden Dipt Cracker Meal (#ad) Seafood Fry Mix that my Mama did. You could absolutely create your own cracker meal by using your food processor and saltines. The texture of this meal is very fine, so unlike my Crunchy Saltine Chicken Tenders, you'll want to process down most of the larger crumbs but be careful not to take it down to powder!
Whisk together the cracker meal, salt, pepper, Creole or Cajun seasoning and Old Bay.
Remove the shrimp a handful at a time from the milk mixture, letting excess drip off. Dredge in the cracker meal mixture and shaking off, transfer to a plate.
Once all of the shrimp is coated, return the shrimp to the cracker meal a second time and toss around. Shake off excess and place back on the plate.
To avoid overloading the fryer and cooling the oil, fry shrimp in small batches, about 3 to 4 minutes per batch, or until golden brown.
Use a slotted spoon or spider to remove from the hot oil onto a platter covered with paper towels. Continue frying the remaining shrimp in batches, refreshing paper towels as needed, until all are fried.
For more of my shrimp recipes, check out this collection on my Pinterest page!
Unable to view the printable above on your device? Tap/click here for a backup printable.
Remove the shrimp a handful at a time from the milk mixture, letting excess drip off. Dredge in the cracker meal mixture and shaking off, transfer to a plate.
Once all of the shrimp is coated, return the shrimp to the cracker meal a second time and toss around. Shake off excess and place back on the plate.
To avoid overloading the fryer and cooling the oil, fry shrimp in small batches, about 3 to 4 minutes per batch, or until golden brown.
Use a slotted spoon or spider to remove from the hot oil onto a platter covered with paper towels. Continue frying the remaining shrimp in batches, refreshing paper towels as needed, until all are fried.
For more of my shrimp recipes, check out this collection on my Pinterest page!
Unable to view the printable above on your device? Tap/click here for a backup printable.
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