Bonefish Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos Copycat Recipe

We  love making crispy fried Bang Bang shrimp tacos with a sweet and spicy sauce. Crispy fried shrimp in a taco. Yes!

This is one of the easiest Bonefish copycat dishes you can make. We coat the shrimp, make the sauce and then quickly fry them and toss them in sweet chili mayo sauce. Bang bang.

Watch How We Made Bang Bang Shrimp

How To Make Bang Bang Sauce

The bang bang sauce is made with sweet chili sauce and mayonnaise. We like to add a tiny bit of heat, just a tiny bit mind you, by adding a little Sriracha sauce. Sriracha chili sauce, the one with the rooster on it, is a staple in my pantry and one of the secret ingredients in many of our dishes.

The sauce ends up being sweet, spicy and delicious. This bang bang sauce is really amazing as a topping for a lot of different dishes. Delicious on burgers and fried chicken, but today it’s headed for the glory of fried crispy shrimp. 

The Right Kind of Shrimp

In the supermarket, you will run into different kinds of shrimp. The seafood counter will probably have on display Gulf white shrimp, black tiger shrimp and perhaps gulf pink shrimp and rock shrimp. For our bang bang shrimp it is far easier to buy frozen shrimp that are raw but peeled and deveined.

It makes further sense to buy frozen shrimp and thaw out enough for the recipe that you are making. Unless you are in New Orleans, it’s most likely the the shrimp from the grocery counter have been previously frozen and thawed for display.

For this recipe for our Bang Bang shrimp tacos copycat, we used frozen Gulf Pink Shrimp. The shrimp were peeled and deveined, and sized 31 to 40 per pound. That’s the perfect size for one bite shrimp in this recipe and they cook quickly.

The key to this dish is to make sure the shrimp is well marinated in buttermilk, drained and then tossed in a very light coating of cornstarch and flour. Make sure you shake off the excess coating and then deep fry the bang bang shrimp quickly. It will only take 3 to 4 minutes in the fryer.

Remember that, as with any fried food recipe, do not overcrowd the fryer. When you overcrowd a fryer, the oil temperature drops to quickly, and the food will cook unevenly.

How To Make Tortillas For Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos

Alright, we didn’t make our own tortillas for the tacos. The Bonefish Grill uses flour tortillas for their Bang Bang Shrimp. While we prefer the taste of homemade corn tortillas, we stayed true to a copycat and used flour tortillas for our tacos.

Maybe we’ll do the Throwdown recipe for tortillas one day, but not today. Today we are on a mission to make this one of your easiest and quickest recipes. You will end up making these Bang Bang Shrimp over and over again for family and friends.

Putting It All Together Into A Taco

Lets get started making our copycat of Bonefish Grill’s signature dish, Bang Bang Shrimp.

First, make the sauce. Combine the mayo, sweet chili sauce and Sriracha in a bowl and mix together. Most sauces benefit from being made ahead of time and this one does as well. Make the sauce at least an hour ahead and let it get happy as all the flavors come together.

Second, coat the thawed raw shrimp in the buttermilk and add a little bit of lemon juice to the marinade. The citrus and acid of lemon juice will help improve the flavor to our shrimp.

Make a quick dredge for the shrimp with cornstarch and flour. This is one of the very few times that we will not season our dredge. The addition of the flour will add to the crunchy quality of the fried shrimp. Some recipes will tell you to use Panko crumbs, but we find this to be too far from the original recipe.

Remove the shrimp from the buttermilk bath and drain on paper towels or in a strainer. Then add the shrimp to the dredge and coat nicely. We want a thin coating so shake off any excess as we drop them in the fryer.

How To Fry Bang Bang Shrimp

The Bang bang shrimp will cook very quickly in canola oil that has reached 375 degrees. It will only take 3 to 4 minutes , so make sure your warm tortillas and toppings are ready to plate. You will want to serve these tacos immediately while the shrimp are still hot and the tacos are still warm.

It seems like a lot of steps, but it really is a simple recipe. We coat the shrimp, make the sauce and then quickly fry them and toss them in sweet chili mayo sauce. Bang Bang style.

Shop The Ingredients For Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos

Bang Bang Shrimp Recipe

The tacos are still warm and filled with spicy crispy shrimp. The flavors of the sweet sauce with garlic and chilies really deliver in the creamy mayonnaise. The simplicity of iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream are brilliant as cohorts to our crispy shrimp. Just a squeeze of lime juice, and we are in taco heaven! Enjoy!

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