Bang Bang Shrimp Bowl {Portion Fix/21 Day Fix}

“Bowls” are one of my favorite meals to eat! Both my Egg Roll in a Bowl and Bigger Big Mac in a Bowl are up there in the top 2 spots!!  But this new Bang Bang Shrimp Bowl is running a close 3rd now!! 

The original Bang Bang Shrimp from Bonefish Grille is deep-fried and all of the copycat recipes I have had over the years are too. My lightened up version of this is perfect for the air fryer but will work in a regular oven too. 

Container counts for the 21 Day Fix–with multiple ways of serving the shrimp included! 

How to get started making a Bang Bang Shrimp Bowl

I started the process of making these by making my own breadcrumbs. I know that sounds like a lot of trouble but if you know me and the 21 Day Fix, you know that I get the most out of those containers. So I took did some experimenting with the bread I had and came away smiling. Different brands of bread can have different slice counts to equal 1 Yellow container. I give you some info HERE.

Just so happened the bread in my cabinet this week was Aldi’s Fit and Active Whole Wheat. Three slices of it equal 1Y and when I crushed it down to breadcrumbs it filled my yellow completely full. Why is this important? Because I am able to get 1/2 cup of bread crumbs for 105 calories. Whereas, the store-bought whole wheat ones that I can get locally are 160 calories for 1/2 a cup… out of the calorie range for that Yellow container. So I can only use about 1/4 cup of them and have to count that as a full Yellow container (you can totally use store-bought!). Use whatever whole wheat bread slices you have that counts as 1 Yellow to make 1 Yellow of breadcrumbs, even if it doesn’t measure 1/2 a cup.  I did only use 1/2 Yellow of breadcrumbs for 1 Red container of shrimp. WIN!! 

Step 1

The way I have made breadcrumbs for years is to start with day-old toast. Just toasted 3 slices till fairly dark. And then laid them on a paper plate on the counter the day before. But you can totally do it the same day but you need COLD toast.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (Don’t skip the parchment paper! Save this piece for later in the recipe too). 

Step 2

Break the cold toast up and give it a whirl in your food processor or blender. Get it as small as you can.  It will still be kinda chunky but we are going to take care of that. Spread them out over the whole pan, getting some room between the chunks is important. Toast for 4 minutes and stir around. Right here if you want to “flavor” them just add the seasonings and then toast for  2-4 more minutes watching carefully for a golden brown color. I prefer mine unseasoned most of the time. 

Step 3

When you take them out of the oven carefully gather the parchment paper up off the hot pan. Careful not to spill your breadcrumbs and then set it on the counter and spread the breadcrumbs out again to cool completely. It will only take a couple of minutes for them to cool off. then you are going to put them in the food processor again and get them as “fine” as you want them but don’t turn them into powder. And you are done!

Sometimes I make batches of breadcrumbs out of 1/2 loaf of old bread. I just make sure to measure my “per Yellow” amount. 

Let’s get going on the Bang Bang Shrimp Bowl!

After you take your shrimp out of the freezer to thaw, you are going to want to make your sauce. The longer it sits –  the better it gets!! I LOVE my sauces and fell in love with this one right away.

Classic Bang Bang Sauce uses “sweet chili sauce” but OH MY at the sugar amounts in those products!!! So I just made my own and put myself in charge of how sweet it is. It uses 2 different heat sources with chili sauce and sriracha both, so you might want to go slow adding heat if you are super sensitive. I don’t like things to BURN my mouth so I keep the heat level at “medium” and you can certainly add more to your sauce or your serving of the bowl. Taste it after it sits for 30 minutes or more and if it needs more heat add it.  But if you got it too hot then add a tablespoon or two of mayonnaise to tame it down. This recipe makes 3–2Tablespoon or Orange container servings. 

Maple syrup, mayonnaise, sriracha, paprika, garlic powder, and chili paste are the only ingredients. I use the Fresh Ground Chili Paste that is made by the same company as the sriracha and this little jar lasts forever! I add it to my Big Mac Sauce sometimes for a KICK! 

This recipe makes about 3- 2 tablespoon servings, so if you are going to make this for a family you might not have to double or triple the sauce part.

Other ingredients do we need to prep to make our bowl 

Our shrimp is thawing and our sauce is made. Now let’s make sure we have a bowl FULL of our favorite ingredients.  Use whatever veggies you have and are in the mood for or have on hand. Cut them into bite-sized pieces about the same size as the shrimp. I keep my measurements/counts simple 1 Yellow container of rice, 1 Green container of mixed veggies, and 1 Orange container of sauce… so far. 

I use brown rice as the Yellow base for my bowl but you could use any yellow container grain you love. Most of the time I use “boil in a bag” brown rice because it is so simple and makes just a few servings. Salt, pepper, and a little bit of garlic powder is all the seasoning the rice gets. I like the rice to be warm but I tried it with cold rice and it was good too! 

And I know I am going to have 1/2 a Yellow for my shrimp coating and so I have to decide if I want to use rice as another Yellow or not. 

 

If you want to keep the base veggie-based instead, you could use cauliflower rice or a lettuce/greens nest even. Again the container counts so far for this bowl would be 1 Green container of lettuce/greens and one for mixed veggies, and that 1 Orange container of sauce. 

Now onto cooking the shrimp

The reason we got all of our ingredients ready ahead of time is that the shrimp is only going to take a few minutes to cook. 

I am only doing a single serving of this recipe. It is easy to multiply it to fix as a family meal though! 

I do a basic Dry/Wet/Dry dredging using cornstarch/egg wash/breadcrumbs. 

Lightly dust shrimp in cornstarch. I press one side into the corn starch and then brush off the excess with my fingers and then flip them over.

The same with the egg wash put 1 shrimp in and then turn it over….RIGHT then put in breadcrumbs and then turn over. Dry-Wet-Dry. Place them on an olive oil sprayed rack or air fryer basket. 

Cooking Bang Bang Shrimp 

I used medium frozen shrimp and this is the cooking time for those. If you use bigger or smaller shrimp, you may have to adjust your cook time accordingly.

Spray the shrimp with olive oil spray and cook in your air fryer on high for about 7 minutes. Carefully turn over each shrimp and spray that side and cook about 7 minutes more or till golden. 

You can cook them in the oven too. Cook at 400 degrees for the same amount of time 7 minutes, turn, 7 more minutes. I do suggest cooking them on a rack so the breading stay “crisp”, but you could totally cook them in an air fryer basket or a cookie sheet in the oven. If I do them on a cookie sheet I usually line it with parchment paper to help those breadcrumbs not to burn.

NOTE: The size of your shrimp will determine how many shrimp you are cooking for 1 serving and it will determine how long they will cook too.

Pulling the Bang Bang Shrimp Bowl all together!

Have your bowls/salads all ready to go when your shrimp come out of the oven. I give my rice and veggies a big stir and then place my hot shrimp on top. The same thing with a salad just place them on top, I like to drizzle a little sauce on each shrimp that way every bit of it get sauce 🙂 

Since this is a “one-dish” meal I don’t really think “side dish” with it. Instead, I concentrate on a healthy dessert to make instead! An apple crisp comes to mind!! My friend and blogger Nancylynn has a wonderful one right HERE .