Have you ever thought of making your own Vegan Shrimp at home, using simple ingredients? It's easier than you think, and the result is simply delicious. Serve these crispy plant-based shrimp with a lovely tartar homemade sauce and surprise your guests!
Vegan Shrimp, how?
I know, it sounds absolutely mind-blowing. How can you make your own vegetarian shrimp? You can use different plant-based ingredients to get a similar texture to shrimp and a great combination of seasonings to create just the perfect flavor. For our vegan shrimp recipe, we use king oyster mushrooms and ingredients such as nori sheets, nutritional yeast, and smoked paprika to get a yummy flavor.
Do these taste like the real thing?
No. Our recipe is a vegan alternative to fried shrimp. The texture is quite similar to the texture of seafood and we use different ingredients such as nori, nutritional yeast, and lemon to resemble the taste of seafood but you won't fool a meat eater with them. We create shrimp shapes by cutting the oyster mushrooms as a half-moon. Still, this delicious vegan shrimp recipe is really tasty and everyone will enjoy it even if there is no real seafood involved.
Best Vegan Shrimp Brands
Our recipe uses homemade vegan shrimp made with oyster mushrooms but you can choose to buy already-made vegan shrimp. These are some brands we can recommend:
- Vegan Zeastar. This brand specializes in vegan seafood products making amazing textures and flavors.
- All Vegetarian Inc. They come in packs and are perfect to add to your dishes such as pasta.
- Sophie's Kitchen. For a gluten-free alternative, this vegan food brand makes delicious vegan shrimp.
Our Vegan Shrimp Recipe is:
- Vegan
- An appetizer
- Crunchy
- Deep-fried
- Easy to make
- Great for parties and finger food events
How to make the best Vegan Shrimp
Ingredients
King Oyster Mushrooms. King Oyster Mushroom stems have the perfect texture, great flavor, and are easy to shape into shrimp shapes. You can find them in big grocery stores, as they may not have them in your regular supermarket. Other alternatives you can use instead of king oyster mushrooms are hearts of palm, vital wheat gluten to make seitan, soy curls, or tofu.
Marinade. The marinade we use for these plant-based shrimp is made with sweet paprika, garlic powder, and soy sauce. Alternatively, you can use old bay seasoning, traditionally used to season seafood.
Batter. We prepare the batter by combining finely ground nori sheet and nutritional yeast, all-purpose flour (you could use rice flour), salt, pepper, and unsweetened plant-based milk. If you cannot find nori sheets, you can use ground wakame or kombu, or even seaweed extract.
Bread crumbs. You can use homemade or bought bread crumbs. We use a local brand but if you can easily find panko breadcrumbs, they are perfect to bread your vegan shrimp. Other options are coconut flakes, to make vegan coconut shrimp.
Oil to fry. To fry the vegetarian shrimp you will need vegetable frying oil such as olive oil, sunflower oil, or rapeseed oil.
Step-by-Step Method
Making this homemade vegan shrimp recipe is fairly simple once you have the ingredients.
- Cut the oyster mushrooms into shrimp shapes. The easiest way is to try making a yin-yang shape. You will need a sharp knife so you can shape the mushrooms easily. Don't worry if you don't have perfectly shaped shrimp, as they will be breaded.
- Prepare the marinade by combining sweet paprika, garlic powder, and soy sauce in a small bowl. Add the shaped mushrooms into the marinade, combine well so all the mushrooms are coated, and leave while you prepare the batter.
- Using a food processor or blender, blend nori sheet and nutritional yeast until finely ground.
- Prepare the batter by mixing flour, ground yeast flakes and nori sheets, salt, black pepper, and plant-based milk.
- Add the mushrooms to the batter and mix well. Then, using your hands, take one battered vegan shrimp, coat it with breadcrumbs and place it on a plate. Repeat with all the pieces.
- Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan to medium-high heat and when hot, add the vegan shrimp scampi in small batches. They will fry quite fast, so make sure you don't burn them. They will need to be cooked until golden brown to make sure they are crispy. Once ready, leave on a paper towel to release excess oil. Add some sea salt and serve with some cocktail sauce or tartar sauce.
Serving Suggestion
Our veggie shrimp are best enjoyed as an appetizer or snack. Served with some chopped cilantro, lemon wedges, and a homemade vegan tartar sauce, these crunchy vegan seafood treats will be a winner party food, game day snack, or festive appetizer.
Other dipping sauces that go great with these vegan shrimp are cocktail sauce or this delicious Domino's Garlic Sauce
Serve something light on the side, as these are deep-fried and need something fresh to go with them. Our delicious Beet Carpaccio pairs beautifully with this recipe.
If you have leftover vegan shrimp, you can reheat them using an air fryer or a frying pan. If you microwave them, they will get soggy.
Best Sauce for Vegan Shrimp
Our favorite sauce to serve these fried bites is tartar sauce. Tartar sauce is a creamy sauce that is normally served with fried seafood. For our vegan shrimp, we made our own vegan tartar sauce by combining vegan mayonnaise, red onion, dill pickles, mustard, capers, and lemon juice. The result is simply delicious! We got inspired by Minimalist Baker's recipe.
FAQ and Tips
- Fry the vegan shrimp in batches. This way, you will make sure they don't stick to each other or break.
- Serve while hot. This appetizer is best enjoyed right after cooking. If you leave them out for a long time, they may get soggy.
- Can I make these in an air fryer? Sure, simply use the same method you would use for breaded bites to get crunchy.
- What can I make with the leftover mushrooms? As we are just using the stem, with the top part of the king oyster mushrooms you can make different recipes such as a Mushrooms Stroganoff, some White Wine and Garlic Mushrooms, or add them to your lasagna or Lasagna Soups. You can use the leftover mushrooms for any recipe that calls for mushrooms!
- What other dishes can I add this Vegan Shrimp to? You can add these shrimp before battering or frying to your Veggie Paella. As well, you could make a festive vegan shrimp cocktail with them, vegan shrimp tacos, or add them to your favorite pasta dish.
Vegan Shrimp
Ingredients
- 3 large King Oyster Mushroom stems
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 nori sheet
- 1 tablespoon yeast flakes
- ½ cup flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup plant-based milk we used unsweetened soy milk
- ½ cup bread crumbs
Vegan Tartar Sauce
- 2 tablespoon vegan mayonnaise
- ¼ red onion finely chopped
- 2-3 small dill pickles
- 1 teaspoon capers
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- lemon juice from half a lemon
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Cut the oyster mushrooms stems into shrimp shape by making a yin-yang shape.
- Prepare the marinade by combining the sweet paprika, garlic powder, and soy sauce in a mixing bowl.
- Add the shaped mushrooms into the marinade, combine well so all the mushrooms are coated, and leave while you prepare the batter.
- Using a food processor or blender, blend the nori sheet and nutritional yeast until these are finely ground.
- Prepare the batter by mixing flour, ground yeast flakes and nori sheets, salt, black pepper, and plant-based milk.
- Add the mushrooms into the batter and mix well. Making sure the scampi pieces are well coated.
- Then, using your hands, take one battered vegan shrimp, coat it with breadcrumbs and place it on a plate. Repeat process until all the vegan shrimp are breaded.
- Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan to medium-high heat and when hot, add the vegan shrimp in small batches.
- Cook until golden brown to make sure they are crispy. Once ready, leave on a paper towel to release excess oil.
- Add some sea salt before serving.
Vegan Tartar Sauce
- To make the vegan tartar sauce combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Adjust with salt before serving.
| If you tried our recipe, please leave a comment or tag us on Instagram. We are always happy to see your creations! |
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