Bang Bang Shrimp Salad

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This Asian-inspired Bang Bang Shrimp Salad places crispy, sweet and slightly spicy sauced shrimp atop a bed of greens and veggies tossed in a light and herby cilantro and shallot vinaigrette. The recipe for bang bang sauce is great for any time you want a creamy spicy treat!

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A delicious and easy Bang Bang Shrimp Salad recipe!

This salad is BANGIN! (sorry, I cannot resist a corny pun).

If you’ve never had Bang Bang Shrimp- it is a delightful, creamy, crispy shrimp dish, combining impossibly light and crunchy shrimp with a tangy sauce made with mayo, rice vinegar, sriracha, sweet chili sauce and honey.

For this salad, I decided to pile that deliciousness on a crisp, refreshing salad, tossed in a cilantro and shallot vinaigrette.

Getting the Shrimp just right for the Bang Bang Shrimp Salad

Don’t let the odd ingredients deter you- this shrimp is super easy to fry up. All you need to do is toss the peeled and deveined shrimp in some cornstarch, and make a quick and simple “batter” with sparkling water and cornstarch, then fry the shrimp for 2 minutes a side. The result is a super light and airy shrimp with a super crisp exterior that can hold up to all that rich sauce.

Making the bang bang shrimp sauce

This recipe for bang bang sauce is super easy to whip up. To make it, you will need:

• Sweet chili sauce.
• Seasoned rice vinegar. You can also use unseasoned, if that’s what you have on hand.
• Honey.
• Sriracha hot sauce.
• Mayonaise.

Just combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl with a wire whisk. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use!

Some solid investments for Asian-style cooking

These ingredients not only what make this salad delicious, they are also great staples for a lot of great Asian-inspired dishes. Some of them are also featured in my Shrimp and Pineapple Fried Rice recipe!

Sriracha

Everybody knows this delightful hot sauce, but I love to keep it on hand for more than just pouring all over my scrambled eggs. This sauce is great for funky mayo for sandwiches, as well as adding into stir fries and rice noodle dishes.

Sweet Chili Sauce

I love having this stuff on hand, and always miss it when I’m out. Not only is it great for sauces and stir fries, but it is just amazing by itself, and great to have in a pinch as a dipping sauce for dumplings, egg rolls and the like. One of my favorite things to do with it is use it to toss my chicken wings in!

Seasoned Rice Vinegar

Another one that’s great for sauces and stir fries, I also love to have seasoned rice vinegar around for pickling veggies for salad and even Banh Mi sandwiches.

Toasted Sesame Seeds

These are a great topping to have in your spice rack. I love adding them to salad for a little crunch, as well as sprinkling them over roasted veggies, like asparagus.

Made this recipe?

If you make my Bang Bang Shrimp Salad, please be sure to leave me a comment! I would love to hear from you, and value your feedback! Lastly, if you make the recipe and love it, please tag me on Instagram! I love to see your photos!

Looking for more great dinner ideas?

Why not try my Wasabi Shrimp Sushi Tacos, Vegan Dumpling Soup with Carrot Noodles and Enoki Mushrooms, Marinated Pork Chop Bánh mì Ciabatta Sandwiches, or Bang Bang Shrimp Salad!

Print Recipe

Bang Bang Shrimp Salad

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time10 mins

Total Time35 mins

Course: Dinner, lunch

Keyword: salad, shrimp

Servings: 4

Equipment

• Food Processor

Ingredients

Shrimp

• 32 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 3/4 cup sparkling water, such as San Pellegrino
• 1 cup cornstarch, divided (see instructions)
• canola oil, for frying

Bang Bang Sauce

• 2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
• 2 tsp seasoned rice vinegar
• 2 tsp honey
• 2 1/2 tsp sriracha
• 3/4 cup mayonaise

Salad

• 6 oz baby spinach and arugula mix*
• 2 small carrots, shredded (about 1 cup)
• 1 medium cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced

Salad Dressing

• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 2 tbsp organic apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/2 small shallot

Toppings

• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced

Instructions

• Make your Bang Bang sauce: combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl with a wire whisk. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

  2. Combine spinach and arugula mix, carrots, cucumber, tomatoes and shallot in a large bowl and set aside.

  3. Combine all dressing ingredients in a food processor and pulse 4-6 times until smooth and well combined. Transfer to a bowl or liquid measuring cup and set aside.

  4. Batter and fry your shrimp: In a wide, deep frying pan or cast iron skillet, heat 2” of canola oil over high heat (oil should heat up in about 5 minutes- oil is ready for frying when a pinch of cornstarch disintegrates immediately when tossed into oil). Set a cooling rack over a sheet pan and set close to your work station for draining the shrimp.

  5. While the oil heats, batter the shrimp. To a medium mixing bowl, add sparkling water. Slowly whisk in 3/4 cup cornstarch (reserve 1/4 cup for tossing shrimp). Take reserved 1/4 cup of cornstarch and toss with peeled and deveined shrimp to coat. One by one, dip shrimp into cornstarch/sparking water mixture, shaking to remove excess liquid and CAREFULLY place into hot oil. Continue until you have an uncrowded layer of shrimp. Fry each shrimp 2 minutes per side, and remove to cooling rack once cooked. Repeat until all shrimp are fried.

  8. While cooked shrimp cool slightly, toss the salad with dressing and divide into 4 salad bowls.

  9. In a large mixing bowl, toss cooked shrimp with Bang Bang sauce until well coated. Using tongs, place 8 shrimp on top of each salad. Pour any excess sauce evenly over shrimp. Sprinkle each salad with 1/4 tbsp sesame seeds and thinly sliced scallion and enjoy!

Notes/Substitutions:

I love a spinach/arugula mix for this salad, but you could also use spring mix, or even romaine lettuce.

© Jawns I Cooked. All images & content are the sole property of Jawns I Cooked. Please ask permission prior to using my photos. If you would like to share one of my recipes, please link back to this post and re-write the instructions in your own words.