Shrimp Po’ Boy
Published
Published
This classic Louisiana Po Boy Sandwich is piled high with golden fried shrimp, crisp shredded lettuce, sweet tomatoes, tangy pickles, and homemade remoulade sauce. Enjoy it for lunch or dinner, during Mardi Gras or all year round. It’s crazy delicious!
Pin this now to find it later
Pin ItThis post may contain affiliate links. If you click on one and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products we genuinely love.
5 STAR REVIEWS
You ready to have the best fried shrimp sandwich ever? Ya, us too. A Po Boy Sandwich is so simple, but mouth-watering and substantial with a slightly-spicy creamy sauce and piled high with golden fried shrimp, lettuce, tomato, and pickles. This sandwich fires on all cylinders and is crazy delicious. We enjoy it for lunch and dinner.
What is a Shrimp Po Boy?
Shrimp Po’ Boys are a quintessential Louisiana sandwich favorite! It originated in the south in the 1920’s when a local restaurant handed out free fried shrimp sandwiches to workers who were on strike, calling the men “poor boys” and the name stuck.
Po Boy sandwiches are typically made with cajun-seasoned fried shrimp, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and served on a baguette that’s slathered with zesty remoulade sauce.
Helpful Tips & Variations
- Oil. Peanut oil is used in a lot of Louisiana cooking, which adds a certain Bayou flavor, so if you want to get as close to authentic as possible, use that to fry the shrimp. If allergies are a concern, vegetable or canola oil work perfectly fine.
- Po Boy Sauce. A po boy just isn’t a po boy without remoulade sauce. Remoulade is a classic mayonnaise-based condiment that’s creamy, tangy, spicy, and delish! It originated in France, but Louisiana made it popular, and you won’t find many food joints in New Orleans that offer this fried shrimp sandwich without this sauce. Along with mayo, mustard, lemon juice, pickle juice, and horseradish, creole (or cajun) seasonings are added for great spice and flavor. It elevates the sandwich and makes it irresistible.
- Bread. The shrimp and remoulade sauce are stars of this sandwich, but so is the bread. Ideally you want to use a French-style roll, like a baguette but wider and a foot long. If not, a regular hoagie roll is fine. The bread should have a nice crust and soft interior. If the inside is really dense, you can scoop out a lot of it, so the sandwich is easier to build and eat, without everything falling out.
- Swap the shrimp. The classic way to make po boys is piled high with crispy, golden fried shrimp, but they are also made with fried catfish or oysters, and sometimes you’ll even find them with beef or chicken.
- Cheater shrimp. If you don’t want to go to the trouble of deep frying fresh shrimp, you can cheat by buying breaded shrimp, tossing them in the seasoning and air frying them. It won’t be the same as the authentic way, but it’s definitely quicker and less messy.
Shrimp Po’ Boy
Ingredients
For the Remoulade Sauce
- 1¼ cups mayonnaise
- 2½ tablespoons spicy brown mustard
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
- 2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning
- 1 teaspoon pickle juice, (dill or sweet)
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1 cloves garlic, grated
- grind of black pepper
For the Fried Shrimp
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 pound raw medium shrimp, peeled and deveined, tail removed, patted dry
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup fine cornmeal
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- Canola or Vegetable oil, for frying
For Assembly
- 4 (8-inch) French loaves, split horizontally
- 1/2 head iceberg lettuce, shredded
- 2-3 tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 3-4 large dill pickles rounds, sliced into rounds
Instructions
For the Remoulade Sauce
- Whisk everything together and chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.
For the Fried Shrimp
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the salt, paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, and cayenne pepper; divide the spice mixture in half.
- Place shrimp in a bowl and toss to coat with half of the spice mixture.
- In another bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, and the remaining half of the spice mixture.
- In a 3rd bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and hot sauce.
- Dip seasoned shrimp in the buttermilk, then coat with flour mixture shaking off any excess.
- Pour oil to a depth of 2-inches into a deep, wide pot. Heat the oil to 350 degrees F.
- Working in batches, fry shrimp until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per batch. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
To Assemble the Po' Boys
- To assemble the sandwiches, slice the bread loaves almost all the way through and slather top and bottom with the remoulade sauce.
- Put a layer of shredded lettuce on the bottom of the sandwich, followed by tomato slices and pickles. Top with the shrimp.
- Press the top of the bread down on the bottom, compressing the sandwich a little.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and any changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are very important to you, I would recommend calculating them yourself.
Did you make this? Leave a rating below!How to Make a Shrimp Po Boy Step By Step
Gather your ingredients.
Make Remoulade Sauce. Mix together 1¼ cups mayonnaise, 2½ tablespoons spicy brown mustard, 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley, 2 teaspoons prepared horseradish, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 2 teaspoons smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning, 1 teaspoon dill or sweet pickle juice, 1 teaspoon hot sauce, 1 grated clove garlic, and a grind of black pepper. Keep chilled in the refrigerator until you are finish frying the shrimp.
Combine seasonings for the shrimp. Mix together 3 teaspoons kosher salt, 2 teaspoons paprika, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper. Divide the mixture in half.
Season the shrimp. Coat the shrimp with half of the spice mixture.
Mix together 1½ cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup cornmeal, and the remaining half of the spice mixture together in a bowl.
Whisk together 1 cup buttermilk and 2 tablespoons hot sauce.
Dip seasoned shrimp in the buttermilk, then coat with flour mixture shaking off any excess. (You can repeat this step if you like a thicker coating.) Chill the shrimp in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Pour the oil into a deep, wide pot to the depth of about 2 inches. Heat the oil to 350°F. Working in batches, fry shrimp until golden brown about 3 minutes per batch. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
Build your sandwich on the French bread with the Remoulade sauce, and dress with lettuce, tomato, and pickles then pile on the shrimp. Enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
We enjoy this sandwich served with a side of Pea Salad or Macaroni Salad and washed down with Sweet Tea or Strawberry Sweet Tea. Sometimes if we really want to indulge, we’ll include Fried Green Tomatoes on the sandwich instead of plain tomatoes. To die for!
More Southern-Inspired Recipes
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
My Po’ Boy recipe was originally published 6/2/21. It was retested and republished to be better than ever 2/14/26.
This was absolutely fantastic!
I love being able to make great Shrimp po’ boys at home. Most restaurants serve them made on sandwich rolls so big, you only taste the bread. The homemade remoulade is full of flavor. Thanks for sharing.
Sounds great
Knock your socks off good! I will keep this recipe and make it again.
Delightfully reminiscent of authentic NOLA flavors. I loved this recipe
My family loved this so much!
I rarely fry shrimp and this was a good start. I will make this again.
I finally got around to making this for lunch the other day. The shrimp came out very crispy and flavorful and the sauce was fantastic. We loved them. Will make again.
Gosh you are a temptress. I don’t eat seafood but will happily gobble this up at the airport or anywhere for that matter. It looks fantastic.
I made the shrimp and sauce, but instead of assembling as a sandwich, I served it as an appetizer. Not a po boy I know, but so good!
Made these for a special lunch with friends. I cut the sandwiches in half crosswise so there were 8 smaller sandwiches. It was perfect. Everyone raved about them.
DELICIOUS. Next time I will make the shrimp in advance to save time.
I lived in New Orleans for about 2 years and ate po boys all the time – more than I care to admit. This recipe had me curious. They were GREAT and definitely close to what I used to have. One of the restaurants I used to go to regularly also put chopped hard boiled eggs in their remoulade. You should try it.
My family loves anything shrimp! I’ve never had a po boy, but need to make them. These sound amazing.
I love everything about these sandwiches!
These sandwiches are amazing! Don’t skip the remoulade – it definitely makes the sandwich.
These are my favourite thing ever. I am going to seriously make this ASAP now.
I used to live in New Orleans and have to say, this recipe is legit. Nailed the remoulade and the shrimp had the perfect coating. This took me back to great memories. DELISH – thank you!
Made these for my family and not a scrap left. Loved them!