La Camaronera is a seafood restaurant in Miami, Florida. I’ve never been there. But I took a gander at the menu and could only draw one conclusion: I need to be there. Everything looks amazing. Fortunately for me, before I can make it back to Miami, the chef from the restaurant gave the recipe for La Camaronera fried shrimp to the Food Network! These shrimp are different. They are not your ‘normal’ battered and fried shrimp. The wet batter contains ketchup. Yep. You read that correctly. And that’s what makes these shrimp amazing.

Perfect Crunch. Perfect Flavor.
The flavor in each and every bite of La Camaronera fried shrimp makes you want more and more. They have just the right crunch and texture. These are not your 1980s steak house butterflied crazy crunchy over-fried shrimp. They are special.
If I’m cooking for a crowd, I’ll break out my big deep fryer. But, if it’s just the two of us, I’ll fire up my Fry Daddy fryer. It’s the perfect size for both of us. It fries everything perfectly. And as an added bonus, it doesn’t use a lot of oil, which saves me money.
The Presto Fry Daddy is perfect for making smaller batches of food. It only uses a few cups of oil and comes to temperature quickly. Clean-up is easy too!
Also try my Old Bay southern fried shrimp.
La Camaronera Fried Shrimp
Ingredients
- 2 pounds shrimp 16-20 count or larger, peeled and deveined, tails on or off.
- vegetable oil for frying
- 3 cups ketchup
- 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 cup lime juice
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Butterfly the shrimp if desired.
- Heat 3" of oil to 350 F in a deep fryer or Dutch oven.
- Whisk together the ketchup, black pepper, cumin, garlic, salt, lime juice and water in a large bowl.
- Place the flour into another large bowl.
- Working in batches, place the shrimp into the ketchup mixture and coat on all sides. Shake off any excess and transfer to the flour. Roll to coat.
- Fry the shrimp 2-3 minutes until cooked and golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack-lined baking sheet or paper towel-lined plate to drain.
- Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are approximate.