Spicy Sri Lankan-Inspired Butter Shrimp
with Bell Pepper, Red Onion, Chili Flakes & Rice
- Eggs
- Milk
- Wheat
- Shellfish
This spicy, rich, and tangy Sri Lankan-inspired dish features plump shrimp coated in our light-as-air tempura batter, which is shallow fried till crisp. Next you'll sauté aromatic ginger, garlic, scallions, red onion, and bell pepper in butter. Add Sriracha and chili flakes, then coat shrimp in the sauce. Spoon it all over fluffy rice with more chili flakes if you're a real spice connoisseur!
Ingredients
1 teaspoon
Chili Flakes
1 unit
Red Onion
82 g
Tempura Batter
(Contains: Eggs, Milk, Wheat)
1 thumb
Ginger
1 tablespoon
Curry Powder
1 teaspoon
Garlic Powder
1 unit
Ketchup
2 unit
Scallions
1 teaspoon
Sriracha
¾ cup
Jasmine Rice
10 ounce
Shrimp
(Contains: Shellfish)
1 unit
Green Bell Pepper
3 clove
Garlic
Not included in your delivery
Salt
Cooking Oil
Sugar
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• In a small pot, combine rice, 1 1⁄4 cups water (2 1⁄4 cups for 4 servings), and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Cook until tender, 15-18 minutes. • Keep covered off heat until ready to serve.
• While rice cooks, wash and dry produce. • Peel and mince or grate ginger. Peel and mince or grate garlic. Trim scallions and cut into 1 1⁄2-inch- long pieces; halve whites lengthwise. Halve, peel, and slice onion into 1⁄4-inch-thick strips. Halve, core, and thinly slice bell pepper into 1⁄4-inch- thick strips.
• Rinse shrimp under cold water and pat dry with paper towels. • In a large bowl, combine tempura batter mix, garlic powder, half the curry powder (you’ll use the rest later), and 1⁄3 cup cold water (2⁄3 cup for 4 servings). TIP: If needed, add more water 1 TBSP at a time until mixture reaches a pancake-batter-like consistency. • Stir shrimp into batter until fully coated.
• Heat a 1⁄3-inch layer of oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat. • Once oil is hot enough that a drop of batter sizzles when added to the pan, add coated shrimp in a single layer. (Work in batches if needed!) Cook until golden brown and cooked through, 2-3 minutes on the first side and 1-2 minutes on the second side. • Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate. Remove pan from heat; carefully discard oil. Wash and thoroughly dry pan.
• Heat 3 TBSP butter(6 TBSP for 4 servings) and a drizzle of oil in pan used for shrimp over medium heat. Add ginger, garlic, scallions, onion, and bell pepper; season with salt. Increase heat to medium high and cook, stirring occasionally, until veggies just begin to soften, 2-3 minutes. • Add ketchup, Sriracha, remaining curry powder, a pinch of sugar, and as many chili flakes as you like (save some for serving!). Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is thoroughly combined, 30 seconds more. • Add shrimp to pan; toss to combine.
• Fluff rice with a fork. • Divide rice between shallow bowls; top with shrimp and veggies. Serve with remaining chili flakes on the side.
Shellfish is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 145°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Sep 2026- Flavor: The spice combination of ginger, garlic, and sriracha delivers bold flavor, but many found the overall dish too dry and in need of more sauce 🍲.
- Ease of prep: This is a more hands-on recipe — frying the shrimp in batches takes time and attention, and several reviewers found it more challenging than expected.
- Suggestions: Keep the fried shrimp separate and spoon sauce over them at serving to preserve crispiness; adding a splash of heavy cream or doubling the ketchup and sriracha builds a saucier finish. Use cornstarch or panko to help the batter adhere better to the shrimp.
- Leftovers: One reviewer noted it was delicious as a leftover, though the shrimp lose their crispiness once cooled.
- Texture: The tempura batter frequently turned soggy when tossed with the vegetables — serve shrimp on top rather than mixing to keep the crunch.
Reviews from our home cooks
Easily the best recipe I've had in ages. Would love to see this meal featured more prominently after this. If this is a new meal, then it's an amazing debut. One thing to improve, I find that tossing the shrimp with the veggies makes the shrimp soggy and the batter soft. Maybe instead of mixing the ketchup and siracha, make it into 2 large packets of the sauce itself? One for the veggies and one to exclusively toss the shrimp in.
Truly was delicious. The shrimp was easy to make but had a great little crunch that held up to the sauce. The peppers and onions was a great pairing.
This was excellent. Generous amount of shrimp. I added more of my own onion & red pepper & doubled the sauce ingredients. Came out really delicious, a unique and tasty dinner.
This was wonderful! I think I need to adjust the hot pepper flakes for my husband! Lol I love trying different style recipes that most are afraid to try! It said hard but I would consider it medium not too hard to make!
This was really good, the paste made for the pepper mix added some nice moisture to the rice, though I added butter to the rice to loosen it up more with added chicken bouillon. It has just a hint of spice but is sooo filling.
This is probably my favorite meal this far. The shrimp were crispy and flavorful and the bowl has just the right amount of heat. I would definitely purchase this one again.
Keep shrimp out of sauce. Add sauce then top with shrimp so they don't get soggy. Delicious
DELICIOUS. Tasted as good as a restaurant-made dish. We doubled the sauce as a drizzle for the rice.
This was just ok - while the golden tempura shrimp was effortless and impressive for me, I was underwhelmed by the flavors. This dish had butter, tampura, lots of fragrant things like garlic and ginger and peppers and onions but still it lacked flavor
My husband was impressed with how well the batter held to the shrimp during the frying process. I would have liked a little extra flavor to bring this meal together, but it was still delicious nonetheless.
