Easy to make extremely crispy air fried prawns, served with a sweet honey mustard dipping sauce or a tangy sun dried tomato mayo.
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Have you already joined the air fryer train? I have been on it for some months now and I don’t regret riding it. We got ours before the lockdown started, which turned out to be perfect timing as from then on we almost get to use it every day. I’ve been cooking up a storm with it, whilst constantly experimenting what to cook in it. It’s been an amazing journey trying recipes from other air fryer fanatics and now finally, after I gained a good amount of expertise, it’s my time to share with you one of my air fryer recipes. Of course, you can make this recipe in other ways but if you have an air fryer you can’t skip on this!
As I already said, I really experimented with the air fryer, apart from the fundamental chicken wings and fries, I even baked my own birthday cake in it (Check it out here)! However, I decided to start with something maybe more simple but that has so much flavour that will always be a big hit! In fact, these air fried prawns are such a winner that when I make them it’s difficult to stop eating.
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Preparing the prawns
The preparation of these prawns is quite straight forward and follows the ‘usual’ breading process; flour, egg and breadcrumbs. First and foremost, it’s important that whatever prawns you’ll be using, you devein them and make sure that they’re clean. You can also leave the tails on, this is up to your liking. It’s important that before starting the breading process, pat the prawns dry. Start by dipping the prawns in the seasoned flour, then in the beaten eggs and lastly in the panko breadcrumbs and paprika mixture. Place in the lightly oiled air fryer basket and cook for about 8 – 10 minutes at 200°C/400°F. Keep an eye on the prawns while cooking, as the cooking time might vary depending the size of your prawns.
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Serving
These air fried prawns make a great appetiser which will steal the show or as a satisfying entree. As an accompaniment, you can really have fun with the sauces here. Some of my favourite dipping sauce that work great with prawns are the classic cocktail sauce, tartar sauce, mayo sriracha, aioli and marinara sauce. For this recipe today I wanted to give you some more alternatives which work perfectly with these air fried prawns. Honey and mustard sauce and a sun dried tomato mayo. I also wanted to create something more colourful to go with these prawns.
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Honey mustard Sauce
A sweet and bold sauce that enhances the prawns freshness that glazes the crispy casing exquisitely. All that’s needed are Dijon mustard, honey, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, salt and black pepper. I personally, like to whip everything in a jar and mix it up well until everything in emulsified together. However, you can also go with a more classical approach and combine everything with a whisk in a bowl. Other ways to use this sauce is to use it as a refreshing salad dressing or as a chicken wings sauce.
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Sun-dried tomato mayo
All the perfect Mediterranean ingredients which create this tangy, sweet and tart dipping sauce. I have to be honest, but I think out of the two, this is my favourite. I found myself dipping almost all my prawns in it, even though I had other options. The base of this sauce is similar to a pesto, as sun dried tomatoes, olive oil, dried oregano, dried basil, a garlic clove, chili flakes, salt and pepper are pulsed into a thick paste. Once you have this tangy paste, you can use it for a fragrant pasta dish or as a marinade. However, by simply adding mayonnaise you’ll get this incredible dipping sauce.
Air Fried Prawns
Ingredients
Air fried Prawns
- 400 g large prawns fresh or frozen, peeled and devined
- 90 g panko breadcrumbs 1 1/2 cup
- 2 eggs beaten
- 65 g flour 1/2 cup
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- lemon zest
Sun-dried tomato mayo dip
- 100 g sun-dried tomatoes not the ones in oil
- 200 g mayonnaise
- 80 ml olive oil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp tomato paste
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes
Honey mustard dip
- 60 g Dijon mustard
- 60 g honey
- 30 ml apple cider vinegar
- 40 ml olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
Sun-dried tomato mayo dip
- In a food processor, add all the ingredients except the mayonnaise. Pulse everything until a thick paste is achieved. Add the mayonnaise and mix together.
Honey mustard dip
- Add the ingredients in a bowl and whisk everything up until all the ingredients have emulsified together. Or else, simply place everything in a jar and shake vigorously.
Preparing the prawns
- Start by cleaning the prawns and pat them dry.
- Prepare three bowls. In the first one prepare the flour seasoned with salt and black pepper. In another add the beaten eggs. Lastly, in a third bowl, mix the panko breadcrumbs and the paprika.
- Spray the basket of your air fryer with some oil and set aside.
- Working with a prawn at a time, first dip the prawn in the flour ,then in the egg mixture, and finally in the panko breadcrumbs. Make sure that each prawn is evenly and completely breaded.
- Place the breaded prawns in the basket and cook in the air fryer at 200°C/400°F for about 8-10 minutes, turning them half way through the cooking process. Bake until the prawns are cooked and have a nice golden colour. As this is a large quantity you’ll have to work in batches.
- Once done and plated, zest some lemon zest on top and season with some flakey salt.
Notes
- Cooking time might vary depending the size of your prawns.
- If you don’t have an air fryer, you can easily just fry these prawns in neutral oil such as vegetable oil. Or else, you can also bake the in the oven, they might take longer and don’t get as crispy as when you fry them.
- These recipes make a good amount of these sauces, so you might have leftovers. This depends what you serve with these air fried prawns.
- If you omit the mayonnaise, the sun dried tomato paste can act as a pesto that can be used with pasta, as a marinade etc.
- This sauce can also be used as a dressing or a chicken wings sauce.
If you have any questions, feedback or comments on this recipe, please leave a comment below. Please also rate this recipe by double clicking on the stars below. If you did make this recipe, tag @apronandwhisk and hashtag #apronandwhisk, as I’m curious to see what you create!
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