Surprisingly Easy Shrimp Burgers

There’s a restaurant not too far from us in Ocean City, Maryland called The Shrimp Boat. They’re just about the only place around which cooks and sells shrimp with the heads on. They’re a seasonal place, and very popular because they know how to cook the shrimp just right!

One of my favorite things on their menu are shrimp sliders; small patties served on fresh dinner rolls. They are a treat to eat. This recipe, from Jacques Pépin, is made of just shrimp and some seasoning, formed into patties and fried in butter until golden brown and just cooked through. It’s the closest I’ve made to the shrimp sliders from The Shrimp Boat.

Did I mention that, unlike other patties of this type, these are egg free and low carb? That’s because a portion of the raw shrimp is pureed and added to the rest to hold everything together.

What kind of shrimp should I buy?

You’ll want to use uncooked shrimp for this. They can be frozen or fresh. I bought two 12 ounce bags of small peeled and deveined shrimp that had been frozen. Heaven forbid food processors sell us an entire pound of anything. After thawing, sort through the shrimp and chop them into small pieces, about a half inch or so in length. While you’re chopping them set the tail pieces aside to be used in the puree. Jacques Pépin seasoned his shrimp burgers very simply; just salt, pepper and chopped chives. I omitted the chives and added Old Bay, a seafood seasoning commonly sold in my region.

I don’t know about you, but handling raw meat and seafood isn’t my favorite thing to do. It seems like every time I want to add seasoning or grab something from a drawer my hands are covered with goop and I’m constantly washing them.

Yeah, yeah, I know I should have everything ready to go before I start cooking, but sometimes I get excited and jump right in to a recipe.

You can make the patties ahead of time if you prefer so they can be cooked right before you plan to serve them. I fried mine in a mix of butter and olive oil. Use whatever fat you prefer or try broiling them.

The garlicky, red pepper mayo served with the patties is also easy to prepare with an assist from a stick blender. It’s delicious with a variety of meats, seafood and vegetables and can be thinned to a pourable consistency to use on salads.

Surprisingly Easy Shrimp Burgers

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes minutes

Total Time: 23 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 to 6

Author: LydiaF

Ingredients

For the shrimp burgers

• 24 ounces thawed peeled and deveined shrimp cut into 1/2" pieces, tails reserved
• 1 tablespoon Old Bay or other seafood seasoning more or less to suit your taste
• 2 - 3 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs like chives or parsley optional
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 tablespoons butter olive oil, or a blend

For the garlic red pepper mayo

• 1 jarred roasted red pepper
• about a cup of mayonnaise depends on the size of the pepper
• 1 - 2 garlic cloves peeled and trimmed
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Make the red pepper mayo

• Puree the red pepper and garlic together in the cup that comes with the stick blender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the mayo until well combined. You can blitz it with the stick blender if you like it thinner (like you see in the photo).

Make the shrimp burgers

• Puree the tails and a small handful of the chopped pieces into a small food processor (I use the unit that came with my stick blender). Place the remaining pieces into a medium bowl.
• Season to taste with salt, pepper, Old Bay and chopped fresh herbs as desired and form into patties. If the patties don't stick together well you can always puree another small handful of the mix to help hold them together. I got four burger sized patties about an inch thick but you can make them smaller for sliders.
• Heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet. When very hot, carefully transfer the patties to the skillet and fry the first side for about 2 minutes. You'll see the color change on the sides of the patties as the shrimp cooks.
• Carefully turn the shrimp burger to the other side, reduce the heat to medium low and cover the pan with a lid. Cook until both sides are golden brown and the shrimp are just cooked through, about 3 minutes more.
• Drain briefly on paper towels and serve immediately with the garlic red pepper mayo.

Like this recipe?Be sure to Pin It for later!

As you can imagine, these don’t reheat well as overcooked shrimp tends to get rubbery. If you have leftovers you may prefer to gently reheat them on the stove versus zapping them in the microwave.

I really enjoyed making this recipe, despite my aversion to goopy hands. Using the shrimp puree is so much easier than using potato or a combination of eggs and bread crumbs as a binder. I’m curious to try making a potato free version of my Machipongo Seafood Cakes.

More shrimp recipes to try:

I’m sharing this post with the bloggers of I Heart Cooking Clubs. It’s potluck week where we cook anything we like from one of our featured chefs. I was glad to find these shrimp burgers from Jacques Pépin, I learned a lot from making them.