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. It’s crazy delicious!
Serve it with Pea Salad on the side and wash it down with Southern Style Sweet Tea!
How can anyone not love a Po Boy Sandwich? So simple, but mouth-watering and substantial, easily enjoyed 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. Po Boys are also made with fried catfish or oysters, and sometimes you’ll find them with beef or chicken, but the classic way is piled high with crispy, golden fried shrimp.
Shrimp Po Boy Recipe
For this shrimp sandwich you will need the following:
(Scroll below to the printable recipe card for details.)
- Battered fried shrimp
- Remoulade Sauce
- Shredded iceberg lettuce
- Sliced tomatoes
- Sliced dill pickle rounds
- French sandwich baguettes
Shrimp 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.
Recipe Tips
- 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. Due to allergies we avoid peanut products and use vegetable or canola oil, which works perfectly fine.
- 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.
- Sauce: As mentioned above, remoulade sauce is the way to go. The end. HA. If for some reason, you can’t make it, you can slather both sides of the bread with mayo and a spicy mustard. It won’t be nearly as good, but definitely better than a dry sandwich!
How to Make a Shrimp Po Boy
You ready to have the best fried shrimp sandwich ever? Ya, us too. Prepare the remoulade sauce and store it in the fridge until ready to use. Shred the lettuce, slice the tomatoes and pickles, then bread and fry the shrimp. Assemble and devour! This sandwich fires on all cylinders and is crazy delicious. (To make this po boy recipe, follow the steps below included in the printable recipe card.)
Shrimp Po Boy Video
What to Serve with a Shrimp Po Boy
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!
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Shrimp Po’ Boy Sandwiches
Ingredients
For the Remoulade Sauce
- 1 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 1/2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
- 2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 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
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 pound raw medium shrimp , peeled and deveined, tail removed, patted dry
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup fine cornmeal
- 1/2 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!
Video
Nutrition
Other Notes
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!