Spicy Shrimp Patties 

Updated April 12, 2024

Spicy Shrimp Patties 
Kelly Marshall for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.
Total Time
40 minutes
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Rating
4(324)
Notes
Read community notes

Sweet, delicate shrimp, roughly chopped, make the base for these patties, flavored with spices typical in Desi cooking: chile powder, cumin, garam masala, ginger and garlic. Bread crumbs soak up any excess moisture, and, along with egg, help bind the ingredients together. The result: a sturdy patty that freezes well (see Tip) and can be pan-fried or even grilled, excellent for summer barbecues. Serve with dollops of mint or mango chutney or both. 

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Ingredients

Yield:About 10 patties
  • 1pound shrimp, shelled, deveined and roughly chopped
  • 1small white onion, finely chopped
  • 2tablespoons chopped cilantro
  • 2Thai green chiles, finely chopped
  • 1large egg, beaten
  • ¼ cup plain bread crumbs
  • 1teaspoon ginger paste or freshly grated ginger
  • 1teaspoon garlic paste or freshly grated garlic
  • ½ teaspoon Kashmiri or other mild red chile powder
  • ½ teaspoon cumin powder
  • ½ teaspoon garam masala
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ¼ cup ghee or neutral-tasting oil
  • Mint or mango chutney, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

196 calories; 11 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 9 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 17 grams protein; 301 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a medium bowl, combine the shrimp, onion, cilantro, chiles, egg, bread crumbs, ginger, garlic, chile powder, cumin, garam masala, turmeric and salt and mix until blended. Form patties about 2 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick and set aside (to form the patties more easily, you can pack the mixture into a ¼-cup measure).

  2. Step 2

    Heat ghee in a medium skillet on high for 30 to 45 seconds. Working in batches to avoid overcrowding the skillet, add patties and lower heat to medium. Fry until golden brown and the shrimp turns opaque, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel. Serve with mint or mango chutney.

Tip
  • Frozen shrimp patties can be pan fried without thawing but will need about 2 minutes longer to cook through.

Ratings

4 out of 5
324 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

This is similar to the shrimp burgers I have made for years. If you blitz half of the shrimp in your food processor or blender, it acts as a binder and there's no need for egg or bread crumbs.

I have been making a very similar recipe for ages. Put the patties on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, brush them lightly with neutral oil, and bake them in a 425 oven for 25 minutes, then flip them carefully and bake them for 5 more minutes. They turn out great.

When making cakes or patties like these, after forming them, pop them in the fridge for 30min to 1hr to setup/firm up before trying to cook them. In my experience they hold together much better in the pan after doing this.

We enjoyed this recipe. I would just add that a note to dry shrimp as throughly as possible. Our patties cooked quickly, keep an eye on them.

With this flavor profile, I would serve the patties on a bed of wilted baby spinach, with rice or potatoes and a raita.

This was delicious with great flavor. I doubled the garam masala because it is a favorite taste. Mine did not stick together well and were sloppy in the pan. The cakes fell apart a bit. Possibly I should have chopped everything a bit smaller. Will try again

My husband and I really enjoyed this dish. I followed several notes and (a) blitzed half the shrimp with the onion, cilantro and spices in a food processor, and (b) chilled the patties in the frig for 30 mins before frying. These took much more than 10 mins prep time. I used fresh breadcrumbs, shallot instead of onion and couldn’t find Thai chiles; used a mixture of green Tabasco and Hatch chile powder. They held together nicely and were super delicious. Def make the mint chutney it was perfect.

fresh or dry bread crumbs?

Why not. I bet it would be delicious.

I would recommend using an extra large egg rather than a large egg. Also, if you want to avoid egg altogether soak flaxseed in water, 1 part flax to 2 parts water, for 20 minutes. The resulting liquid should be thick and gummy. For this recipe I would use 2 Tbs flaxseed and 4 tbs water

We used about 2 tablespoons of fine chopped white onion, no need to over power the gulf shrimp flavor. Since it’s hard to find decent mangoes, we mixed up a mild cucumber and yogurt dipping sauce mildly spiced up with similar spices from recipe. Excellent!

Made these exactly as the recipe was written, with the exception of subbing two serranos for the thai chiles because that’s what I had on hand, and they turned out incredibly. I will be making these again and again. It’s worth using kashmiri red chile if you can find it.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I always find it very, very stupid to include turmeric in a recipe and no black pepper. Turmeric is strongly believed to be a highly nutritious spice, yet is not readily absorbed by the body, unless accompanied by black pepper. The difference between assimilation with and without black pepper is totally huge. Look it up - if I'm wrong, ok, but I don't read comments, so I probably won't see any responses.

I would finely chop the shrimp next time. Good flavors. Easy to make. Needs the suggested chutneys or another dipping sauce.

These are delicious, especially with the cilantro/mint sauce linked in the recipe. However, I had the same trouble with the patties falling apart. The suggested remedies, processing half the shrimp and setting the patties in the frig for an hour before cooking, did not help. I will make them again, but will just cook as a lump in the oven.

Very nice. Followed suggestions and put shrimp and stuff in cuisinart and refrigerated for an hour. Could do all the shrimp that way. Mango salsa I yummy

Made this, using precious tips. I put the entire mixture into the food processor, didn’t process it too much. Doubled all spices, we love these spices and recipes tend to underuse them for American tastes. Put into freezer for 30 minutes, baked @ 425 for 30 minutes. Excellent. Company-worthy!

Tasty but extremely time consuming up to 2hours no way 40 minutes

Dry bread crumbs. The moisture in the ingredients will soften and bind everything up. I use spot shrimp from SE Alaska.

This was good but a bit too salty for some reason. I followed the recipe except used a Thai red chile. Served with an Asian mango cole slaw.

What's a 'medium' skillet on high?

Excess water can be squeezed out when forming the patties / cutlets, so that refrigeration can be skipped if short on time. I substituted breadcrumbs with a mixture (equal parts) of semolina and rice flour to make it extra crispy on the outside, and also added Madras curry powder along with the other spices - overall, a great recipe and super easy!

Although I haven’t tried this recipe yet, I’ve made shrimp burgers from America’s Test Kitchen and their method of preparation allows for the burgers to stay together. Here’s the video on the prep https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da1Q2ap4Tm8

I made these last week. I made one adaptation, based on my mother's recipe for Maryland Crab Cakes. After forming the patties, I lightly coated them with panko and then refrigerated them for about an hour before cooking. Next time I'll chop the shrimp into finer pieces (need to sharpen my knife to do that!) We used a mint-cilantro sauce that we'd bought at an Indian market and that worked well. A homemade version would be even better.

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