Air Fryer Shrimp Scampi

The shrimp are running on the southern coasts right now. I’m getting good reports of cast nets full coming in from buddies across the Gulf, from Louisiana down to lower Florida. Grab yourself a cast net or a big dip net designed for shrimp, and head down to your favorite shoreline, pier, or creek inlet to catch your own.

Shrimp are running close to the coast this time of year and they make the perfect quick meal. Images by author

As always, if you are geographically challenged when it comes to catching fresh shrimp and you need to buy it, look for wild caught, American harvested shrimp. It’s worth the slightly increased cost to buy good shrimp you can trust. You will taste the difference at the table as well.

This recipe only requires a few simple ingredients.

If you have an air fryer, some shrimp on hand, and you want a restaurant quality meal that you can put on the table in about 15 minutes, then you’re in luck. This scampi cooks faster than it takes the pasta to boil.

Start by peeling and deveining some fresh shrimp. I love my Toadfish tool made for the purpose.

Peel and devein the shrimp.

Place a small pan inside your air fryer basket. A round cake pan works well, as does a disposable aluminum pan. You need something you can take out of the pan once the shrimp are ready so that you can pour the delicious sauce over your pasta.

Like I said, the pasta takes longer to boil than the shrimp does to cook, so start there. Once your pasta water is heating up, move on to the shrimp.

Start by preheating your air fryer. Leave the pan out for this step because you just want to get the air fryer warmed up. While the air fryer heats, add the butter, garlic, wine and lemon juice to the pan. Place it into the hot air fryer and let it run at 350 for about 2 minutes. This infuses the butter with the garlic flavor.

Salt and pepper the peeled shrimp. Pull the basket from the air fryer and carefully add the shrimp to the hot pan with the melted butter. Toss to evenly coat the shrimp with the butter sauce.

Place the seasoned shrimp into the garlic butter.

Place the basket back into the air fryer for 5-7 minutes, depending on shrimp size. Check it at five. You want the shrimp to be just opaque, but not over cooked and tough. If you need another minute or two for larger shrimp, stick them back in.

Cook for 5-7 minutes or until the shrimp are just cooked through.

That’s it. You have a main course ready to go in about 15 minutes. Drain your cooked pasta and plate it up. VERY carefully lift the pan from the air fryer. Top the pasta with servings of shrimp. Pour the sauce over the top. If you want to get extra fancy, garnish it with some fresh parsley or chives.

Top the cooked pasta with shrimp, then pour over the garlic butter sauce.

Serve it up with a nice salad and some garlic bread, and you have a full meal in less time than it takes to order take out.

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