Honey sriracha shrimp is easy to make, so flavorful and the perfect weeknight meal. Super versatile, this spicy honey shrimp is made with simple ingredients and is even quicker than takeout! Ready in about 15 minutes, this sriracha shrimp is suer to become a favorite!

Looking for more shrimp dishes? Try this Buffalo Grilled Shrimp or Sun dried Tomato Shrimp.

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Why you will love this recipe

• Easy to make – the sriracha shrimp cooks up in just minutes in a large skillet while the sauce simmers away on a separate burner. This dish can be made even quicker if you prep the sauce in advance.
• Simple ingredients – made with just 5 easy to find ingredients (many of which are pantry staples), this honey sriracha shrimp is perfect for those nights when you feel like you don’t have anything to make.
• Versatile – enjoy this honey sriracha shrimp over rice, with veggies, in lettuce wraps or as a fun appetizer!

Ingredients

• Honey – honey sweetens the sauce and helps make it super sticky and thick. I typically make this with a less expensive honey bear honey (instead of more expensive local honey) since you are heating up the honey. Use whatever you have on hand though. You can also use maple syrup if you don’t have honey.
• Sriracha – sriracha is a super popular spicy condiment made with red chili peppers, sugar, garlic, salt and vinegar. Thicker than most hot sauce, sriracha is a great way to add spice to any meal and can be found in most grocery stores.
• Coconut aminos – coconut aminos are the soy free and gluten free alternative to soy sauce that add a deep level of flavor and salt to the sauce. You can also use gluten free tamari or soy sauce if you are not gluten free.
• Rice wine vinegar – rice wine vinegar helps to balance out all the flavors as it provides some acid to the sauce. If you don’t have rice wine vinegar, you can also use the juice from 1 lime.
• Shrimp – I recommend using peeled and de-veined shrimp for this recipe. You can use medium, large or extra large shrimp for this recipe (I use large 20/25 count shrimp). You can choose to leave the tails on (if you are serving as an appetizer) or you can remove the tails before cooking (my preferred method). I almost always use frozen shrimp that has been defrosted but if you have fresh shrimp that works well.

How to make honey sriracha shrimp

Start by making the honey sriracha sauce. Measure out all the ingredients (honey, sriracha, coconut aminos, rice wine vinegar) in a small sauce pan and put over medium high heat. Stir the pan regularly as it comes to a boil. Let it bubble for 3-5 minutes before turning down the heat to medium low and simmering for 5-7 minutes.

Once the sauce is simmering, you can preheat a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the peeled and de-veined shrimp. Be sure to move the shrimp around so they are in one single layer. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Flip the shrimp and cook an additional 2-3 minutes on the other side until the shrimp start to curl up into a tight C- shape and turn pink.

Take the shrimp off the heat immediately (they will overcook quickly). If there is any extra liquid in the pan, remove the shrimp and dump the liquid.

Pour just enough sauce over the shrimp to coat them. Stir well. Note: there will be extra sauce to pour over your vegetables or rice.

Top tips

• Time saving tip: Make the honey sriracha sauce in advance to have dinner ready even quicker.
• The longer the honey sriracha sauce simmers for, the thicker it gets. If it gets too thick, add water (1 tablespoon at a time) until it reaches your desired consistency.
• Make the honey sriracha shrimp spicier by using less honey.
• Drain away any excess liquid after the shrimp are done cooking before adding the sauce. This helps keep the sauce super thick and sticky.
• This recipe makes extra sauce to pour over rice or veggies (the sauce really is the star of the dish). This recipe makes enough sauce that you can easily double the shrimp without having to increase the sauce.
• Use just enough of the sauce to coat the shrimp, there will be extra for dipping or pouring over the rice and veggies when serving.
• I prefer peeled and deveined shrimp with the tails removed to make this dish so easy to prepare. If you find that your shrimp still has the shell, it will add about 10 minutes of prep time to remove the shell and de-vein the shrimp.

Ways to serve

• With rice, cauliflower rice or quinoa
• With veggies: Asian broccoli, sauteed or steamed green beans, carrots, air fryer frozen cauliflower, air fryer frozen asparagus
• In lettuce wraps with avocado and green onion
• With a salad on the side. This sesame ginger broccoli slaw or spicy Asian slaw would be great on the side and a good way to get in more veggies.
• Make them into tacos by adding them to a tortilla with creamy cilantro lime slaw
• Garnish with sesame seeds, green onion, cilantro, chopped cashews, chopped peanuts, crushed red pepper flakes

Common questions

Is sriracha shrimp spicy?

Sriracha sauce is a spicy condiment that adds so much flavor to any dish. The honey helps to mellow out the spice but the sauce still has a kick to it.

• If you want this honey sriracha shrimp to be less spicy, reduce the sriracha from 1/2 cup to 1/3 cup.
• If you want the spicy honey shrimp to be more spicy, decrease the honey to 1/4 cup or increase the sriracha to 2/3 cup.

What is the best shrimp to use for this spicy honey shrimp recipe

I recommend using large (20/22 count) or jumbo shrimp that have already been peeled and deveined.  You can use smaller shrimp, just know that they will cook up quicker, so keep an eye on them.

I always have a bag or two of the Argentinian Red Shrimp from Trader Joe’s in my freezer. It’s peeled, de-veined and so easy to cook up. I like to defrost it in the fridge overnight but you can also defrost in a large bowl of cold water in about 2 hours on the counter (change out the water every 30 minutes or so).

How to tell the size of shrimp

Usually the shrimp will say something like Large or Medium on the packaging. However, sometimes the bag only says things like 20/22 count or 41/50 count. The count on the bag indicates how many shrimp are in a pound. The smaller the number, the larger the shrimp. The bigger the number, the smaller the shrimp.

In the first example, this means that there are about 20-22 shrimp per pound, which makes them large. The second example is about 41-50 shrimp per pound, making them medium sized.

Can you make this with frozen shrimp?

If you only have frozen shrimp on hand, cook the shrimp in the air fryer, then pour the honey sriracha sauce on top. Using the air fryer makes perfectly cooked frozen shrimp in less than 10 minutes (be sure it’s peeled and de-veined before cooking).

Why does this spicy honey sauce need to be boiled?

To make this a sticky sweet sauce, you need to boil the sauce to help to thicken it and reduce any excess liquid. The sriracha honey sauce will get thicker the longer it boils, just be sure to stir the sauce regularly.

Can you double the recipe?

This recipe is written to make 1 pound of shrimp and enough sauce to fully coat the shrimp plus have extra for pouring over veggies or rice.

There is enough sauce that if you wanted to double the shrimp to 2 pounds, you would easily have enough sauce to coat the 2 pounds, however you may not have much extra.

If you know you want double the shrimp and double the sauce, you can double the recipe (be sure to use a larger pot to bring the sauce to a boil in). If you just want to double the shrimp, you don’t have to double the sauce.

Storing leftovers

Fridge: Store leftover honey sriracha shrimp in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Eat leftovers cold or heat through just till warm (about 1-2 minutes in the microwave) or the shrimp can get overcooked. You can also reheat in a skillet over low heat until warmed through.

Substitutions

• Sriracha – sriracha gives the sauce it’s spicy kick. You could also use chili garlic sauce (however this will change the flavor). I haven’t tested this by using hot sauce in place of the sriracha.
• Honey – you can use maple syrup or agave in place of the honey. The flavor will be slightly different.
• Coconut aminos – You can use gluten free tamari or soy sauce in place of coconut aminos. Note that the coconut aminos are slightly less salty and a little sweeter than soy sauce, so start with just 3 tablespoons of soy sauce.
• Rice wine vinegar – use the juice from 1 lime or lemon in place of the rice wine vinegar.
• Shrimp – you can also make this with cubed chicken or pour over salmon bites after cooking. Be sure to cook the chicken and salmon accordingly.

If you love this recipe, you should try

Bang Bang Shrimp

Air Fryer Shrimp Tacos

Sheet Pan Shrimp Fajitas

Teriyaki Chickpeas