This vegan shrimp is so good it will knock your socks off. It tastes even better than the ‘real thing’. King oyster mushrooms are breaded, crumbed and then fried to crispy, golden brown perfection. Serve with vegan yum yum sauce for a seriously crowd-pleasing appetizer.
This vegan shrimp is made in the style of popcorn shrimp, which means each piece is small and as easy to pop into your mouth as a piece of popcorn!
The seasonings are the same as you’d use when making regular shrimp, and with the ‘meaty’ texture of king oyster mushrooms, the result is pretty much exactly like the ‘real thing’.
So even if you’re serving this as an appetizer to some serious shrimp lovin’ folks they will still be reaching for seconds, thirds and fourths once they taste how good this is.
We served it with our favorite sauce of late, our vegan yum yum sauce. It makes the perfect pairing for this vegan fried shrimp and makes it pretty much irresistible!
And for more vegan seafood-y type recipes try our vegan scallops, vegan crab cakes, vegan fish, vegan tuna, vegan salmon and vegan fish tacos.
What You’ll Need To Make This Vegan Shrimp Recipe:
Ingredient Notes
- King oyster mushrooms – are the stars of the show in this recipe. The stalks have the perfect shape and texture.
- Soy milk – could be replaced with a different non-dairy milk.
- Panko breadcrumbs – are the perfect kind of breadcrumbs for this recipe as they are ultra crispy.
- Sesame oil – is an oil with a high smoke point, making it perfect for frying at high heat.
How To Make Vegan Shrimp
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Cut the tips off the oyster mushrooms and slice the stalks into ½ inch discs.
- Then slice an S shape cut through the middle of each disc, leaving two shrimp shaped halves.
- Set aside.
- Add soy milk and all purpose flour to a mixing bowl and mix together.
- In a separate bowl add Panko breadcrumbs, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, sea salt and ground black pepper and mix together.
- Dip the mushroom shrimp in batches into the batter, making sure it is well coated.
- Then transfer it to the breadcrumbs and roll the shrimp in the breadcrumbs making sure they are well coated on all sides.
- Transfer them to a baking sheet and then continue with the rest of the shrimp until it’s all battered and coated in breadcrumbs.
- Add just enough sesame oil to your frying pan so that the bottom is well coated and heat on medium high heat.
- When the oil is hot, add only as much vegan shrimp as will comfortably fit, making sure the pan isn’t too crowded, there should be space between each piece.
- Fry for around 1-2 minutes on each side until golden brown.
- Repeat with the next batch of vegan shrimp, adding more sesame oil as needed.
- Once fried, place the vegan shrimp pieces on a baking tray lined with paper towels, so that any excess oil can be absorbed.
Serving Suggestions
Serve these vegan shrimp topped with fresh chopped parsley with some vegan yum yum sauce on the side for dipping.
Vegan tartar sauce or vegan ranch dressing would also be great options for dipping.
Chef’s Tips
- The oil must be hot. When you add the vegan shrimp to the hot oil it should sizzle! Don’t add the shrimp too early, wait until your oil is hot.
- Spread the shrimp out in the frying pan. Each piece should have a bit of space around it. This allows them to get nicely crispy and browned all the way around.
- Fry 1-2 minutes per side. They don’t need to fry very long, since each piece is small. So 1-2 minutes per side is enough to get them golden brown and crispy.
- Lay them out on a baking sheet lined with paper towels. This lets any excess oil get soaked up by the paper towels.
Oven Baked Option
If you prefer to stay away from frying then vegan popcorn shrimp can be oven-baked as well.
I have to say though, that we tried it both ways and frying them was definitely better.
But if you’d prefer to oven-bake them then you definitely can. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and bake them on a parchment lined baking sheet for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned and crispy.
Storing and Reheating
Keep leftover vegan shrimp in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
They can be reheated in the oven at 350°F for 10-15 minutes until heated through, or better yet, in the air fryer until hot and crispy.
More Delicious Appetizer Recipes
- Vegan Chicken Nuggets
- Bang Bang Cauliflower
- Crispy BBQ Tofu
- BBQ Cauliflower Wings
- Crispy Air Fryer Tofu
- Vegan Jalapeño Poppers
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Shrimp
Ingredients
- 8 ounces King Oyster Mushrooms (226g)
- ½ cup Soy Milk (120ml) or other non-dairy milk
- ½ cup All Purpose Flour (63g)
- 1 cup Panko Breadcrumbs
- ½ teaspoon Onion Powder
- ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- ¼ teaspoon Sea Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- 4 Tablespoons Sesame Oil or more as needed, for frying
For Serving (Optional):
- Fresh Chopped Parsley
- Vegan Yum Yum Sauce
Instructions
- Cut the tips off the oyster mushrooms and slice the stalks into ½ inch discs.
- Then slice an S shape cut through the middle of each disc, leaving two shrimp shaped halves.
- Add soy milk and all purpose flour to a mixing bowl and mix together.
- In a separate bowl add Panko breadcrumbs, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, sea salt and ground black pepper and mix together.
- Dip the mushroom shrimp in batches into the batter, making sure it is well coated.
- Then transfer it to the breadcrumbs and roll the shrimp in the breadcrumbs making sure they are well coated on all sides.
- Transfer them to a baking sheet and then continue with the rest of the mushroom shrimp until it's all battered and coated in breadcrumbs.
- Add just enough sesame oil to your frying pan so that the bottom is well coated and heat on medium high heat.
- When the oil is hot, add only as much vegan shrimp as will comfortably fit, making sure the pan isn't too crowded, there should be space between each piece.
- Fry for around 1-2 minutes on each side until golden brown. Repeat with the next batch of vegan shrimp, adding more sesame oil as needed.
- Once fried, place the vegan shrimp pieces on a baking tray lined with paper towels, so that any excess oil can be absorbed.
Notes
- Sesame oil for frying: The amount of oil you’ll need will depend on the size of your pan. You just want the bottom of the pan to be comfortably coated with oil. In our 11-inch round frying pan, it took 2 tablespoons of sesame oil to comfortably coat the bottom of the pan and we added more as we went, using 4 tablespoons in total.
- Oven baked: If you’d prefer to oven-bake them then preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and bake them on a parchment lined baking sheet for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned and crispy.
- Gluten-free: To make a gluten free version of this vegan shrimp, use a gluten free all purpose flour blend and gluten free breadcrumbs.
- Storing: Keep leftover vegan shrimp in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Reheating: They can be reheated in the oven at 350°F for 10-15 minutes until heated through, or better yet, in the air fryer until hot and crispy.
- Nutritional information is for the shrimp only and excludes vegan yum yum sauce.
So many amazing recipes call for king oyster mushrooms but I can never find them for sale. What would be the next best to try? I do have dehydrated regular oysters would that suffice?
You can try using heart of palm instead, though I haven’t tried it. I’m not sure about dehydrated oysters.
Sooo tasty and easy to make! Thanks so much for the simple delicious recipe.
So happy you enjoyed it Anna!
Oh this looks delicious. Gonna make this! I’m curious would this be good to make in an air fryer?
Hi Arushana, yes I think they would work great in an air fryer as well. They definitely reheat amazingly in the air fryer!