This authentic Shrimp Po Boy recipe is the type you will find on the streets of New Orleans. It’s got crispy cajun-fried shrimp loaded onto a soft French baguette that’s drizzled with a bold and creamy Creole remoulade sauce making it the real deal boos. One bite, and you’ll swear you are in NOLA! It just doesn’t get better than this.
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They’re Lovin’ It! Here’s what They’re Sayin’:
“Amazing recipe!! I recently moved to New Orleans and have tried many shrimp po’ boys, but I have to say, this is one of the best ones!”
—A.M.
If you’ve tried an authentic shrimp po boy in New Orleans before, you’ve probably grabbed one at a small-cash only restaurant outside of The French Quarter. It more than likely had plump, crispy fried shrimp that tasted so fresh it must have been swimming in the Gulf of Mexico that morning. And don’t forget that New Orleans French bread made by a local baker and brought to the restaurant just after sunrise. And let’s not ignore the impossibly juicy, ripe tomato and perfectly spiced creamy remoulade “dressing” the whole thing and taking it over the top. Making this classic perfectly for you boos wasn’t a hard feat but I think we may have nailed it.
The Lowdown on the best Shrimp Po Boy
Cuisine Inspiration: Classic New Orleans street food
Primary Cooking Method: Frying
Dietary Info: all the Southern cajun vibes. Can be made gluten-free with some ingredient swaps
Key Flavor: Spicy, crispy shrimp on a sandwich with a creamy, tangy kick
Skill Level: Easy y’all (No Sweat Fam!)
Ingredients you’ll need to make this shrimp po boy recipe
- Remoulade Sauce: A remoulade sauce is a jazzed up mayo that brings a little more heat and spice to the party. We create that iconic sauce by mixing together creamy mayo, dill pickle relish, zesty lemon juice, a kick of hot sauce, chopped capers, paprika, Creole mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and minced garlic. This sauce brings all the flavor and then some!
- Fried Shrimp: We season fresh juicy shrimp with kosher salt, paprika, garlic powder, cayenne, and black pepper. Coated in a crispy flour and cornmeal mix, it gets dunked in buttermilk spiked with hot sauce, then fried to golden perfection.
- Po’ Boy Fixings: We load fresh French bread loaves up with shredded lettuce, juicy tomato slices, and dill pickles. Iceberg lettuce is really the only way to go for the cool, crisp crunch an authentic po’ boy requires. Shred the iceberg lettuce thin and pile it on. Use a plump, ripe, juicy and locally grown beefsteak tomato if you can get one. Dill pickle slices add the perfect slightly sour tang to balance the the shrimp.
- Oil for Frying: Canola or vegetable oil to get the shrimp perfectly crispy.
How to make shrimp po boys
What to serve with fried shrimp poboys
- Classic Sides: Serve these fried poboys up with traditional sides like hush puppies, Southern potato salad and fried okra.
- Chill Drinks: Make a big ole pitcher of lemonade or sweet tea to serve along with these.
- Game Day Party: Get your poboys on a platter and serve along with lemon pepper wings, Southern chili, and salted caramel chocolate chip cookies.
Recipe Substitutions
- Shrimp: Catfish nuggets, oysters or chicken pieces work well here.
- Mayo: Swap out the mayo for Greek yogurt.
- Bread: Crusty beads like brioche buns are good as a replacement for french bread.
- Hot Sauce: Go with a spicier sauce vibe with sriracha instead.
- Spices: Streamline the spices with an Old Bay seasoning.
Recipe Variations and Additions
- Gluten-Free: Swap out the flour in the shrimp batter for gluten-free and replace the bread with your fave gluten-free option.
- Add Blackened Flavor: Coat the shrimp in this delish homemade blackened seasoning and sear for some serious spicy kick.
- Use Garlic Bread: Instead of regular French bread, use homemade garlic bread for your bread base.
- Add Fried Green Tomatoes: Replace the tomato slices with fried green tomatoes.
Expert Tips and Tricks for making the best shrimp poboy
- Get the Right Shrimp: You want plump shrimp you can eat in one bite. If your shrimp are too big, they make your sandwich difficult to eat. Look for size 16/20 shrimp (basically this means there are 16-20 shrimp per pound). Buy shrimp that are peeled and deveined with the tails off.
- Oil Temp is Important: Heat the oil to 350°F to ensure the shrimp fry quickly and come out super crispy and not soggy from absorbing oil.
- Make the Remoulade Ahead: I would make this a few hours or even a day ahead so those flavors can really come together and pop.
- Let the Batter Rest: Let the shrimp rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before frying. This helps the coating to stick to the shrimp better. You don’t want all of your delicious, crispy coating falling off the shrimp as you fry them.
How to store & reheat shrimp po boys
It’s best to store all of the components separately. Add the shrimp to an airtight container after it cools and pop in the fridge. Keep the fresh veggies and remoulade in separate containers in the fridge. Finally, add your bread to a ziptop bag and keep at room temp. When you want to reheat the shrimp, I prefer using an air fryer at 350°F for 4-5 minutes or oven at 375°F for 8-10 minutes flipping halfway to keep the crunch popping. Just don’t microwave boos.
How long will shrimp po boys last in the fridge?
The shrimp should last up to 2 days. The bread should stay fresh about 1-2 days, and the remoulade lasts the longest staying all good for about 5 days.
Can I freeze this shrimp po boy recipe?
You can freeze the fried shrimp but keep in mind that they will overcook once you reheat and chance the texture. Just keepin it real.
If you still want to move forward, place them in a single layer on a baking sheet to freeze individually, and then transfer them to a ziplock freezer bag. They can last up to 2 months in the freezer.
Frequently asked questions
The bread for a shrimp po’boy sandwich is almost as important as the shrimp boos. It will be difficult to find the French bread loaves used in New Orleans because it doesn’t travel well. Look for French bread loaves with thin, crisp crusts and fluffy interiors.
I suggest making the remoulade a day in advance and popping in the fridge. You can also make your spice blend and cornmeal mixture ahead as well. For the best shrimp flavor, don’t fry until you are ready to serve.
Listen boos, when you create the bomb flavors of authentic New Orleans, get into this shrimp po boy that gets it perfectly right. From the crispy spiced shrimp to the creamy savory remoulade, everything hits setting off flavor fireworks ya dig? Y’all gotta get into this one.
More New Orleans inspired recipes
Thank you to Demetra of Sweet Savant for this incredible recipe!
Authentic New Orleans Shrimp Po’ Boy
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I’ll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Remoulade Sauce
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp dill pickle relish
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tsp hot sauce
- 2 tsp capers roughly chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp Creole mustard or Dijon
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 garlic cloves minced
For the Fried Shrimp
- 3 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 lbs raw medium shrimp (about 45), peeled, deveined and tail off
- Canola or Vegetable oil for frying
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 3 tbsp hot sauce
For the Po'Boy Assembly
- 4 French loaves 8 inches long, split horizontally
- dill pickles for garnish
- Shredded iceberg lettuce
- Sliced tomatoes
Instructions
For the Remoulade Sauce
- Mix everything together and chill in the refrigerator until you are finished frying the shrimp
For the Fried Shrimp
- Mix the salt, paprika, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and black pepper together then divide the spice mixture in half
- Season the shrimp with half of the spice mixture
- Mix the flour, cornmeal and the rest of the spice mixture together in a bowl
- In a separate bowl, mix the buttermilk and hot sauce together
- Dip seasoned shrimp in the buttermilk, then coat with flour mixture shaking off any excess. If you like a thicker coating you can repeat this step. Chill the shrimp in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
- Pour the oil into a deep, wide pot to the depth of about 2 inches. Heat the oil to 350° Fahrenheit
- Working in batches, fry shrimp until golden brown about 3-4 minutes per batch. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
To Assemble Po'Boy
- Build your sandwich with on the French bread with mayonnaise or Remoulade, dress your sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and pickles then pile on the shrimp.
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Absolutely fantastic! The remoulade was especially tasty. Didn’t have dill pickle relish on hand so I threw in a bit of pickle juice instead. Next time I will make a bigger batch because I couldn’t get enough. 🙂 The shrimp is spot on too – perfect amount of breading and combination of spices. I didn’t need a ton of oil to fry them either which I liked. I had some leftover shrimp which reheated fine in the air fryer the next day – 400 degrees for about 8 minutes. (Can’t beat the shrimp fresh out of the oil/fryer though… ) Thank you for the delicious recipe!
The best po’boy we’ve had, better than in NOLA! Thanks for sharing.
We made this last night and the shrimp alone is to die for! We will definitely put it in our normal rotation. I do want to test a few to see how well it would hold up in an air fryer though.
Omgosh I made this because I had too much shrimp ( is that even possible?)and it was aaamazing thank you for sharing what will need to be a go to sandwich at least once a month thank you thank you thank you.
Thanks I’ll try your recipe. Exactly like you said. I miss the proper Cajun cooking. A good Cubano a good veche, a good marsala. I look forward to making your dish.
Most excellent! Recipe results in a taste that reminds me of the best of the Gulf Coast at home. Fresh or frozen shrimp are no matter. Double coat for the extra pop. Thanks for these great tastes.
Just read Where the Crawdads Sing and was inspired to try a few of the recipes it mentioned. First taste of a po’boy and wow, how good are they?! Will definitely be making this again. Remoulade was sensational. Added a bit of grated lemon and subbed in greek yoghurt for the buttermilk dip as I didn’t have any. Ridiculously delicious. Thank you!!
I love to cook, and I cook a lot. I don’t often leave comments or ratings about recipes, because I don’t usually use recipes as they are written, but instead pick and choose parts of recipes. This recipe deserves five stars (plus) any way you want to go about it. I have used the recipe exactly as written, and it is exceptional as is. I’ve recently developed an allergy where I can no longer use buttermilk, so instead I’m cooking blackened shrimp and leaving the rest of the recipe as is. I looked for a couple of years for a good remoulade recipe before I found this one, and it is just the best. Thank you so much to Jocelyn and Demetra for this 🙂 Happy cooking!
The last best tasting Po’Boy was in New Orleans. This recipe nails it!
OMG! These are great. I’m so glad I went with your recipe. I’m gonna share this recipe alot!