Air fryer · 12 minutes · Serves 4
Air Fryer Lemon Garlic Shrimp in 12 Minutes
From frozen, no thawing. Butter, garlic, lemon — and dinner is done before you’ve even decided on a side. This is the one to pin for the nights you forgot to plan dinner.
How to make it
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Pat the shrimp dry
If frozen, rinse under cold water for a minute, then pat very dry. Wet shrimp steam; dry shrimp crisp.
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Toss with butter and garlic
Melted butter, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Toss until every shrimp is coated.
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Air fry at 400°F
Fresh shrimp: 8–10 minutes. Frozen shrimp: 10–12 minutes. Shake the basket halfway through.
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Check for pink and curl
Shrimp are done when pink all over and curled into a loose C. A tight O means overcooked — pull them sooner next time.
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Lemon, then serve
Squeeze the lemon over the hot shrimp, scatter the parsley, and serve straight away with wedges on the side.
Cook timer
Shrimp in the air fryer
12:00
Fresh shrimp: stop at 8–10 minutes. Frozen: let it run the full 12.
Why this works
High heat plus a dry surface is the whole trick. The air fryer does in 12 minutes what a pan does in 20, with no splatter and no watching. Frozen shrimp work because the blast of hot air thaws and crisps in the same pass — just don’t crowd the basket, or they’ll steam instead.
What I used
The gear that made this easy
These are the exact tools from this recipe. Affiliate links are added here once the Amazon Associates account is approved — for now, the names so you can find them.
- Air fryer, 5–6 qt basketLink coming soon
- Parchment liners for air fryer — cleanup in secondsLink coming soon
- Oil sprayer — a light mist, no puddlesLink coming soon