Honey Walnut Shrimp
Budget-friendly crispy shrimp tossed in a creamy, sweet sauce topped with caramelized walnuts! Tastes just like take-out, but BETTER!
I’m kind of a sucker for Chinese food. I could eat it on any given night, and whenever we order take-out, the honey walnut shrimp must always be ordered.
Always.
Now this dish involves an epic concoction of crispy battered shrimp tossed in a creamy, sweet sauce along with some candy-glazed walnuts.
It’s actually one of the most popular dishes at Chinese restaurants, but it’s also the most expensive dish on the menu. But sure enough, you could make this right at home for just $10! With one pound of shrimp, some walnuts, honey, condensed milk and a bit of mayo, you can easily recreate this on a tight budget.
But don’t be like me and hoard those walnuts.
They. are. dangerous.
You’ve been warned.
Honey Walnut Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup walnut halves
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 ½ teaspoons honey
- 1 ½ teaspoons condensed milk
- 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 large egg, beaten
- ½ cup cornstarch
Instructions
- Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
- Heat 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Add sugar and stir, constantly, until golden and thickened. Add walnuts and gently toss to combine. Transfer to a parchment paper-lined plate.
- In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, honey and condensed milk; set aside.
- Season shrimp with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Working one at a time, dip the shrimp into the egg, then dredge in the cornstarch, pressing to coat.
- Working in batches, add the shrimp to the skillet, 8-10 at a time, and fry until evenly golden brown and crispy, about 1-2 minutes on each side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
- In a large bowl, combine shrimp and honey mixture.
- Serve immediately, topped with walnuts.
Did you make this recipe?
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Just made this tonight for dinner because I was craving takeout style Chinese food and this is one of my favorite dishes in a restaurant but it’s so expensive!! Thank you for this recipe!!
Thanks for sharing!
Recipes will typically specify if cooked shrimp is required. In this case, you would want to use uncooked shrimp as it is cooked in step 6. Hope that helps!
I made this last night. Wow! Definitely a keeper. My husband and I get this every time we go to Panda Express or the Chinese buffet. I never thought I could make it myself at home. I’m glad I made the candied walnuts first though because the caramel took a little longer to come together than I anticipated.
My family and I absolutely love this recipe I made the walnuts earlier and have the shrimp cleaned and waiting for me to complete it yummy I have not eaten this at the restaurant since finding this recipe….Thank you so much!
Omg! So delicious! You cannot go wrong with this dish! It’s perfect. I didn’t have enough corn starch so I used half flour and it was still so good!
That’s great! Thanks, Mimo!
Can this be made without the mayonnaise? Can something else be substituted?
Hi Josephine! Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
The shrimp were not so crispy. More than half cup of cornstarch was needed to coat them all. One cup of oil was excessive and was a waste. All in all a successful delish. We like to add a dash of orange or passion to the sauce. And sometimes no mayo just extra juice.
Wow, so many rave reviews! This was a favorite dish of ours to order from Chinese restaurants before we went vegan. GOOD NEWS for some of the people asking for alternative ingredients! My local grocery store sells dairy free sweetened condensed milk made from coconut, vegan mayo (egg-free mayo) and even vegan shrimp! For those who don’t eat shrimp 😉 I will be trying this wonderful recipe with vegan ingredients. Thank you!
This is so good! Make this dish now!! It comes out better than many restaurants.
Wow. Wow!!! This was amazing. I ran out of cornstarch half way through, so the other batch of shrimp got a flour coating and those were just as good. I bought walnuts that were already candied to save time… and I doubled the sauce because we love our Chinese food saucy.
I also let the shrimp marinate for an hour in the seasoning and spices to make sure they were flavorful. This dish tasted just like what’d you get at a restaurant. Just don’t over crowd the shrimp in the pan, only do a few at a time. I served along with a side of homemade fried rice. Amazing dinner!!!!
Hi- this looks sooo good. My hubby is allergic to shrimp though- would I be able to substitute anything? Chicken?
Yes, chicken would be a great substitute!
Shrimp and honey? no arguments here (:
I’m anxious to try this – as well as the lettuce wrap on H&F yesterday. You were a star! Good job…..
Although I lived on the west coast for 30 years, I only saw this dish in one restaurant. It was my favorite! This will be my next shrimp adventure, and I might try it with chicken or both too. I have no other use for the milk so I’ll freeze it in an ice cube tray for future use. Thanks so much for this recipe, Chung-Ah!
This is a wonderful tasting, easy and inexpensive recipe. You can also change it up now and then by using chopped chicken in place of the shrimp! Thanks for posting!
Had this as a side dish last night and we were thrilled with the results! I love getting honey walnut shrimp at restaurants and didn’t think I’d be able to achieve them at home. Will definitely be eating these at home more often 🙂
OMG this is the best recipe ever! I tried it last night thinking it probably wouldn’t come out half as good as yours did in your pic, but it DID! I followed step by step and this is hands down the best honey walnut shrimp I have ever had! Now that I know how easy it is to make I will not be ordering out anymore! I love your recipes! Thank you so much!
This is happening Friday night along with the chicken pot stickers…We are loving your recipes, thank you!
I’m sorry, at what point you use mayo mix?
Please refer to the second to last step:
In a large bowl, combine shrimp and honey mixture.
How long for the sugar water to thicken? I was standing there for about 15 mins with it boiling and stirring constantly and it did not thicken. I ended up putting the pecans in anyway and it did sweeten them up a bit.
Also, the shrimp did not get crispy. Maybe I should use just egg whites with the corn starch next time?
The sauce is very good and just like what they serve at my favorite Chinese restaurant.
This tasted even better the next day.
15 minutes is a bit long – I would say that 5 minutes should do the trick. Either way, I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂
I just have to tell you how much my family loves this! I only make it for Father’s day and my husbands birthday, but man, I just made this for probably the 6th time and let me tell you, it was gone in under 10 minutes! Less time than it took me to clean up. And I don’t even bother with the walnuts anymore, I just make the shrimp and let them dip it in the mayo honey mixture!