Crunchy. Spicy. Creamy.
All words that come to mind when describing these little gems, and all words I’d use to describe the original version.
I’m sure you’ve heard of bang bang shrimp, right?
Of course you have. If you haven’t, gosh, I feel bad for you. It’s only the most wonderful, finger lickin’, addictive appetizer on the face of the planet from Bonefish Grill – not to mention a complete Pinterest phenomena.
Now normally, I’m not a “chain” kind of gal when it comes to restaurant choices, but Bonefish is hands down my favorite of the chains. For one, it doesn’t feel like a chain restaurant; two, the food is SO good; and three, it’s insanely affordable – martinis seven dollars, um, yes please. I first started going there years ago, in Destin, Florida, and fell madly in love. It was always one of the highlights of our trips, along with this restaurant, this restaurant and this restaurant. Of course now we rarely go when we’re in Florida because we have two different locations right here in Kansas City, and I can have bang bang shrimp any time my little heart desires. But because I can’t constantly consume my weight in fried shrimp, I wanted to find a healthier, just as satisfying alternative.
Side note. If you ever need Destin recommendations, I’m your gal, I know that place the back of my hand…
Shall we get started on how to go about making these guys?
First of all, I was presented with two predicaments when it came time for execution. One, I’ve given up white flour for lent, and was planning on using panko breadcrumbs to achieve that crunchy exterior I love on the original version. Two, I made an extra trip to the grocery store specifically to buy sweet Asian chili sauce that I needed for the recipe, only, I went during my lunch break, and then proceeded to leave it in the fridge at work.
Fail.
My absent mind and dedication left me no choice but to improvise. After some Internet perusing, I found this recipe for sweet chili sauce and decided to go with it. It couldn’t be easier to put together; sugar, water, red pepper flakes, garlic and sirracha are cooked together until the sugar dissolves and then a slurry of cornstarch and water is whisked in and simmered until the sauce is nice and thick.
The shrimp are coated in almond flour, crisped up in a tiny bit of olive oil over the stove, and then tossed in a mixture of the homemade sweet chili sauce, light mayo and sirracha sauce. I actually really liked the texture the almond flour gave the shrimp, they were still super crunchy, but weren’t overly heavy which is key. If you want to omit the oil altogether, just throw the shrimp on a cooling rack set on a baking sheet, spray with olive oil spray and pop into a 425 degree oven until crispy.
Easy as can be.
While, of course, these guys don’t taste identical to the Bonefish version, they’re pretty darn close, proven by the fact Kev and I inhaled them just as fast as we would at the restaurant – in about 2.5 seconds.
I may never need to go to the restaurant again….
- ½ pound medium sized shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails removed
- ¼ cup almond flour
- ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon light mayo
- 2 teaspoons sweet chili sauce
- 1 teaspoon sirracha
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 green onions
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- ¼ cup water + 2 tablespoons water
- 1 ½ tablespoons garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon sirracha
- 1½ tablespoons flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- In a small saucepan combine sugar, rice vinegar and ¼ cup water. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Add garlic, red pepper flakes and sirracha.
- Whisk flour and 2 tablespoons water together. Slowly whisk in sugar and vinegar. Bring to a boil again, and reduce to a simmer until thickened, about 5-7 minutes. Cool.
- In a large bowl, whisk together mayo, sweet chili sauce and sirracha.
- Heat a large non-stick skillet to a medium-high heat. Add olive oil.
- Season shrimp with salt and pepper.
- In another bowl, toss shrimp with almond flour.
- Cook shrimp until cooked through, about one minute per side.
- Toss hot shrimp in chili mayo sauce.
- Serve with sliced green onion.
Loving all your skinny recipes Nicole! And love the title of this one 🙂 Chili sauce is the best!
Thanks Chelsea! Skinny skinny skinny. I just have to keep telling myself that so I can stick with my diet! 😉
I’ve never been to a Bonefish but you have me reconsidering! We normally avoid chain type restaurants but I do trust your judgement : ) And I love that you made your own chili sauce! Ugh I love that stuff.
LOVE chili sauce. I didn’t even mean to make my own, I just forgot the store-bought chili sauce at work, but now I’m never buying store-bought again. This was so much better, and SO easy!
Confession: I have never had bang bang shrimp, let alone even been to Bonefish! We didn’t have them in Canada, but now we have one right down the street in Florida! We have I been meaning to go. I can already tell that I am going to love your skinny version though! Yum in my tummmm!
You should totally try it Taylor! Like I said, I’m not normally into chain restaurants, but Bonefish is really good! They also have awesome crab cakes, and I’m a sucker for their bread with pesto dip. SO good.
Every year when we visit our family in Florida, we eat at Bonefish Grill one night. Everyone at the table loves Bang Bang Shrimp. I’ll pass this post on to all of them.
Thanks Karen!! Don’t you just love it?
You can feel bad for me because I’ve never had bang bang shrimp. If I’m being completely honest, I’ve never even heard of it!
I feel like I need to change this all asap. I wish my husband would eat seafood, because these would get done this weekend! Ill definitely have to try them when he’s not around sometime though! They sound amazing!
Oh my. If you ever get a chance you have to! These seriously one of the most addictive things I’ve ever had. I can’t believe your hubby doesn’t like seafood! I didn’t know that! Now I feel extra bad for you! 😉
I love Bonefish’s bang bang shrimp. I will definitely try your lightened up version. Looks yummy.
Thank you Norma! Let me know if you do!
Beautiful photographs – these look amazing! I love, love, love Bonefish’s bang, bang shrimp – totally addictive! I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Thanks Kathleen!
I love that these are a skinny version but still look delicious. Hurray for homemade sweet chill sauce!
I’ve never heard of Bonefish restaurant… we don’t have any of them here in NY! But I’ve definitely heard of bang bang shrimp. Never made it but totally need to now! Looks delicious! Love that you used almond flour and that homemade chili sauce looks legit!
And gave up white flour for Lent?! That’s awesome! I wish I had that kind of willpower!
I think there is a Bonefish by us, now we will certainly give it a try. This is such a great recipe in so many ways. Love it!
Ooooh my gosh, bang bang shrimp are my favorite! These look like an exact dupe! I haven’t been to a Bonefish in a few years, but there was one a few minutes away when I lived in NJ, and we would go there ALL the time and split bang bang shrimp as an app. Such great memories! I think I need to recreate these ASAP. 🙂
You totally should Alyssa! Plus there’s no guilt in these guys!
Dang I’m impressed with your homemade sauce after your work-fridge-fail. I would have just thrown a little tantrum and then pouted it out, haha! Okay Nicole I’m not a seafood person and shrimp kinda weirds me out. but this looks SO GOOD. I think I might just have to change my ways so that I can try it.
Karen — sometimes I do that too! Ha. I don’t know how you don’t like seafood! Omg.
Saw you on Marvelous Mondays. Gosh this shrimp looks so delicious! I’m going to try it for sure. Pinned and shared!
Thanks so much Jill!
I’m drooling over the shrimp and I never even thought to make homemade sweet chili sauce!
Seriously, I’ve been looking for a recipe for this because me and my husband LOVE Bonefish Grill too! And he adores the bang bang shrimp. 🙂 Man does this sound good right now. Thank you so much!!
I had never heard of bang bang shrimp (which clearly proves that I don’t spend enough time on Pinterest :-))! These sound and look incredible, I’ll have to try them soon!
Thanks Nicole!!
Wonderful recipe ! Would love to try it..
Thanks Rumela!
Made this dish this evening, and I’ve decided, I have no reason to go to Bonefish ever again!
Love this!!!
Hi,the recipe seems simple and yummy… But what is almond flour??
Almond flour is just finely ground almonds — you can buy it at most grocery stores!
Are there any suggested substitutions if almond flour isn’t an option?
I haven’t tried it with anything else, but maybe try chickpea flour?
I can’t wait to try this. I love the bang bang shrimp at Bonefish but would love to make my own
skinny version!
Thanks,
Just made your recipe. Delicious! Quick and easy. What are the stats for the skinny version? I served this as an entree on a bed of mixed greens. Both my husband were impressed. Thanks for sharing.
Loved hearing this Kaylene!! Thank you so much for visiting!!!
Made this for my kids and husband with RAVE reviews – bye bye MSG laden, heavy fat Take Out Chinese!! My husband suggested I add walnuts to it next time (loved the idea) – a new family favorite!!
Awesome DeAnna!!! So happy your family enjoyed this. Thank you so much for visiting!! 🙂
If you ever go to Captiva Island go to the Green Flash Restaurant. They have an appetiser called ‘Hot Flash Shrimp’, It is their take on Bang Bang Shrimp and was called the same until Bonefish supposedly threatened legal action so they changed the name to Hot Flash. Trust me, it is better than the dish at Bonefish. I promise you!!
Ooooooooo yum!!!!!!
Just made this recipe for bang bang shrimp about an hour ago and I am beyond impressed! As a huge fan of the BFG bang bang shrimp, I was so excited to see this recipe here. I used store-bought sweet chili so I was a little doubtful it would even come close to the BFG version. HOWEVER, his recipe did not disappoint AT ALL! The shrimp tasted pretty much exactly the same a BFG’s. My whole family devoured them!! We made shrimp tacos with lettuce raps and garnished them with some avocado and tomato and it was absolutely delish! Since we had them for a meal instead of an appetizer, I had to double all the ingredients to feed a family of four. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! It’s definitely now a favorite in our house!
Stephanie — I LOVE to hear this! So happy you and your family enjoyed this!! Please visit again! 🙂
Sorry, dumb question, but do you use raw or cooked shrimp? I assume raw?
Thanks.
Not dumb Holly! Raw!
From Alaska, we don’t have this Bonefish Grill you speak of. I did stumble upon a delicious appetizer at a local restaurant by the name of ‘Firecracker Shrimp’, coincidentally enough, that’s how I came across your blog. After the first time I tried it, I knew it had to go in my food go-to bag for future reference.
They are amazing for a light summery lunch on a pickled beet and goat cheese salad as well. Don’t forget your pickled eggs!!! Amaaazing!
Okay, enough drooling, thanks for an easy & scrumptious go-to recipe!
I am so stoked to try this!! I am addicted to Red Lobster’s Sweet Chili Shrimp but I discovered that they are 1140 calories and 79g of fat and 2050g sodium!!!
I know this is a “skinny” recipe but what is the nutrition information on it. Red Lobster serving is 12 medium shrimp.
If I don’t use all of the sauce. How can I store it for future use?
How can I store what’s is left for future use?
Hi Mindy! I’ve never stored the sauce, but I’d say you can definitely refrigerate it, for at least 2-3 weeks! I’m not sure how the sauce would be frozen, since there is mayo in it! The shrimp can be breaded, and then frozen in one layer on a sheet pan, then transferred to a freezer ziplock after they are completely frozen.
hi! This looks amazing! But…I don’t eat mayo. Any suggestions for a substitute.
Hmmmm let’s see….you could try a plain greek yogurt!
I made this tonight as a superbowl appetizer and it was FANTASTIC! Dissapeared before anything else on the table. Thanks!
So glad to hear that!!!
Hi there! Is there any substitute for the rice vinegar? I don’t have any on hand
Ooops, that was supposed to be an appetizer not a meal. It was so good I devoured all of the Bang Bang Shrimp. Thanks!
Hahaha I got ya! 🙂
Can I substitute the almond flour for anything else? It’s pretty hard to find for me meaning not in walking distance lol.
Yes! Just all-purpose or whole-wheat flour will work!
I just got back from Red Lobster where I ate their Sweet Chili Shrimp app, similar to Bang Bang, Shrimp. I looked up the nutritional info since it was quite tasty, and was appalled to discover I had just eaten half of 1140 calories! So I was looking for a skinnier recipe, and found this one. A few people have asked what the nutritional info on this is, but there was no answer. I decided to run it through the Calorie Count website to compare.
Sadly, this recipe has pretty much exactly the same calories as Red Lobster’s app. As best I can find, Bang Bang Shrimp is a little higher in calories than this recipe, but not much. It still looks like a tasty recipe, but certainly not for a diet.
Here’s what I came up with for the nutritional info:
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 565 g
Calories 1,139
Calories from Fat 364
Total Fat 40.5g
Saturated Fat 5.2g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 465mg
Sodium 2448mg
Potassium 171mg
Total Carbohydrates 140.5g
Dietary Fiber 2.4g
Sugars 111.5g
Protein 53.4g
Vitamin A 17% • Vitamin C 17%
Calcium 13% • Iron 50%
Hi Harley! Thanks for your comment! While I don’t post nutritional values here (this is not a health blog), I did go through and quickly run through this one. By my count I get 621 calories and 37.5 grams of fat, and that’s for the entire recipe. The whole recipe has four servings, so that would mean that each serving has approximately 155 calories and 9.3 grams of fat, half of which come from heart-healthy olive oil and almond flour. Again, this was just a quick run through, I’m wondering if you didn’t divide the servings by four or maybe didn’t input the correct values of each ingredient?
Interesting that you didn’t post my comment with the nutritional information on this dish. It’s just numbers, nothing to be afraid of. You lose a lot of credibility because of this.
I apologize. My first comment didn’t appear when I read through them, but after I posted this one it suddenly appeared. Please feel free to delete my recent comment and this reply.
This sounds amazing and I don’t even eat shrimp! I was just curious, in the paragraph describing the sauce, you said cornstarch and water to add, but then in the chili sauce recipe you listed flour and water to be added in. Does it work with either one? Thanks so much for the recipe!
Hi there, the sauce sounds yummy. However, I was wondering how long can I store it to reuse in other meals?
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I wonder what this would be like putting on top of a raw salmon fillet and baking it
I replaced the 1/2 c sugar with 1/3 c honey and used some cornstarch instead of the flour. Other than that made it as is and it was very good. A little on the hot side for me but my husband liked it. Thanks