The origin of this tasty, shrimp fritters recipe sounds like something out of a dream! Back in the 90’s, our family endured a long day of travel from Minnesota to Disney World’s Caribbean Beach Resort. When we arrived at the Custom House to check in, we were greeted with the delightful sound of reggae music and a Cast Member frying and serving up free, shrimp fritters to resort guests!
These salty and shrimpy, fried dough fritters are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and basically heaven on earth. Now THAT is how you start a vacation!
After indulging in our first shrimp fritters, we learned that these tasty appetizers were found at Caribbean Beach’s table service restaurant, Captain’s Tavern. Shrimp fritters quickly became our favorite snack to order to-go and enjoy poolside.
So, when both Captain’s Tavern and its replacement, Shutters, closed, we thought we’d never see a shrimp fritter again. But then, by chance, we came across a recipe called “Jamaican Stamp and Go” that looked a lot like our beloved shrimp fritters. We replaced the codfish in the recipe with a ton of shrimp and, as Captain Jack Sparrow would say, “Welcome to the Caribbean, love!“
To this day, shrimp fritters are our to-go snack when we want to unwind. They are wonderful paired with a meal of roasted jerk chicken, sweet potato, peppers and mushrooms. They also taste great with tropical drinks like this delicious Takodona Quencher copycat drink from Galaxy’s Edge (a drink that also happens to be a vibrant green color reminiscent of the Jamaican flag). We hope this recipe transports you to a tropical oasis!
Caribbean Beach Shrimp Fritters Copycat Recipe
Ingredients
- ≈ 50 ounces vegetable oil, separated. Approximately 48 ounces to fry the shrimp fritters in + 2 tablespoons to fry the onion in.
- 3/4 cup fresh minced (finely chopped) white onion. We always use a small food processor to mince fresh onion.
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
- 1.5 cups cooked and finely chopped shrimp. We used a 12-ounce package (size 61 to 70 count shrimp/pound) and sliced the shrimp thinly with a knife.
Instructions
- Fill a large stockpot with 1.5 inches of oil, and heat the oil to 360 degrees.
- While the oil is heating, make the shrimp fritter batter. In a small saucepan, heat two tablespoons of vegetable oil on medium heat. Cook the onion in the oil for 5 to 10 minutes or until the onion is soft. Set aside to cool.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, milk, egg, baking powder, salt and red pepper until combined. Stir in the shrimp and cooked onion. You have your shrimp fritter batter!
- Once the oil has reached 360 degrees, drop six, tablespoon-sized clumps of dough into the hot oil. Make sure to drop each ball of dough into the hot oil in one clump. (As your fritters cook up, be on the lookout for hidden Mickey bubbles!)
- Cook up the fritters, turning occasionally, until they are nicely browned. Then, transfer the cooked fritters to a plate lined with a paper towel (to soak up excess grease) to cool slightly.
- Continue to fry up the fritters, six at a time, until your batter is gone. Keep an eye on the temperature of your oil, raising or lowering the heat to maintain a temperature of 360 degrees. (If the oil gets hotter than 360 degrees, your fritters may cook up too fast on the outside and be raw in the middle. If your oil gets lower than 360 degrees, the fritters may take too long to cook and won't crisp up as nice on the outside.)
- Shrimp fritters taste best when eaten warm, after cooling slightly out of the oil. Enjoy!
If you like this recipe, be sure to check out this Caribbean Beach Mango Almond Tartlets copycat recipe!
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