Air Fryer Reference
Frozen Raw Shrimp in an Air Fryer
Frozen · straight from the bag
- Temperature
- 400 °F
- 204 °C
- Total time
- 7 min
- Shake at
- 4 min
- shake once
- Serving
- 1 lb frozen raw peeled deveined shrimp (about 20–25 large)
- from frozen
Doneness
Shrimp curl into a loose C-shape and turn opaque pink-white throughout; tightly curled into an O-shape means overcooked.
Technique
Unlike breaded frozen shrimp, raw frozen shrimp must thaw briefly under cold water before air-frying — about 5 minutes under cold tap water. Pat completely dry, toss with oil and Old Bay (or garlic salt), spread in a single layer and shake at 4 minutes.
Oil & seasoning
Thaw under cold running water for 5 minutes first, pat dry, then toss with 1 tsp olive oil and seasoning. Cooking from rock-frozen produces rubbery shrimp.
Watch out for
- Thaw first under cold running water — never microwave-thaw shrimp (it begins cooking the outside) and never air-fry rock-frozen raw shrimp (the outside scorches before the centre thaws, giving a rubbery cold-centred result).
- Use peeled, deveined shrimp. Shell-on adds 2 minutes and the shells get brittle.
- Do not crowd. Raw shrimp release liquid as they cook; stacked shrimp steam each other.