Honey Walnut Shrimp

5 from 1 vote

My delicious honey walnut shrimp is made with crispy shrimp in a creamy honey sauce, topped with candied walnuts. Much better than takeout!

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Total Time45

Course: dinner

Cuisine: Chinese

Diet: Gluten Free

Servings:

Author: Bailey Rhatigan

Equipment

1 heavy bottomed skillet

Ingredients

1 ¼ pound shrimp peeled/cleaned
½ cup uncooked rice cook according to package *optional
¾ cup cornstarch
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper freshly cracked
2 large eggs
1 tbsp water
¼ cup oil for frying * you may need less!

Candied Walnuts

¼ cup honey or white sugar
4 tbsp water
1 cup raw walnuts rough chopped

Creamy Honey Sauce

⅓ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup honey
¼ tbsp plain yogurt sour cream will also work well

Garnish

green onions sliced

Instructions

Make The Candied Walnuts

In a small saucepan, add the walnuts, honey, and water, and mix it together. Simmer for about 3-4 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon (spoon with holes), transfer the walnuts to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving the excess honey sauce in the pan. Set the walnuts aside to cool and harden a bit.

Make the Creamy Honey Sauce

In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, honey, and yogurt. Add 3 Tbsp of water to thin the sauce.

Cook the Shrimp

In a large Ziploc bag or bowl, combine the eggs and 2 tbsp water. Add in the thawed, dried, and cleaned shrimp and mix together.
In another large bowl, combine the cornstarch, salt and pepper. Whisk well. Set aside.
Heat half of the oil in a large heavy-bottomed skillet.
Working in batches of about 8-10 shrimp, add the shrimp a few pieces at a time to the cornstarch mix. Make sure the shrimp are well battered on both sides.
Add them to the hot oil in the pan (medium heat). Cook on each side for about 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Work in batches to keep the oil from burning. Add oil as needed to the pan, use more or less as needed. You may need another tablespoon of oil to cook all the shrimp.

Assemble the Honey Walnut Shrimp

When the shrimp is cooked, wipe the pan clean with a paper towel and add ¾ of the honey sauce over low heat. Gently add in the crispy shrimp. Toss to coat and warm everything. Sprinkle with candied walnuts and green onions and serve immediately over rice or grain of choice. Drizzle excess sauce as desired.

Notes

Don't overcook the shrimp. The shrimp cooks easily in just 2-3 minutes on each side. It's cooked once it turns pink.
Make extra sauce to serve on the side for dipping or drizzling over shrimp and rice.
Fry the shrimp in batches to cook evenly. Overcrowding the pan can lower the oil temperature and result in soggy shrimp. We don't want that!
Optional. Make it healthier! Skip the batter if you don’t want crispy shrimp. You can cook the thawed shrimp in 1 Tbsp of oil for about 3-4 minutes each side. You won’t need as much of the honey sauce, so only pour 1/2 cup into the pan to reheat everything.

* Please note nutrition facts reflect using all of the creamy honey sauce and the rice portion, you will most likely use a lot less sauce therefore the nutrition facts will be more desirable. Enjoy!

Nutrition