A healthier spin on Chinese takeout, this skinny honey walnut shrimp is tossed with a sweet and spicy Greek yogurt sauce and topped with sweet walnuts!
Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Ditch the take out and make walnut shrimp yourself. It’s fast and easy, and better for you.
How long it takes: less than a half hour
Equipment you’ll need: skillet
Servings: 4
Hey hey! It’s Megan from The Housewife in Training Files back again! If you couldn’t tell by now, I really have a craving for Chinese food! Last time we decided sweet and sour shrimp lettuce wraps were a great idea and today, I have yet another healthier takeout recipe that rivals my love of lettuce wraps, skinny honey walnut shrimp!
My husband would eat Chinese food every week if he could. I don’t blame him! It’s quick, tasty and you can get a few meals out of one takeout order. But in our love of making dishes at home rather than going out to eat, we have experimented with homemade versions of our takeout favorites quite often lately.
About This Shrimp Recipe
The classic honey walnut shrimp is a heavily battered dish doused in a mayo and honey based sauce. I am not going to lie. There is a time and place for those greasy and comforting dishes but most nights I will pass and opt for a healthy version. One that has me coming back for more, rather than running to the gym!
I made over this dish by skipping the heavy batter, as I find it ends up soggy and unappetizing. The shrimp themselves are tender and sweet so I don’t feel like they need to hide under a greasy batter! As the batter went out the window, so did the idea of deep frying them. A quick sauté is all they need.
Lastly, I swap out the mayo for Greek yogurt to lighten up the sauce. The honey stays in to do the sweetening, and I add a touch of red pepper flakes for some spice. The sauce is smooth and velvety but not overly sweet — the perfect pairing with the shrimp.
Since you can’t have honey walnut shrimp without the sugared walnuts, I simmer them in mixture of Truvia (a sugar substitute) and water to give them sweetness but not leave you with a broken tooth. Don’t care for Truvia? Substitute sugar if you like.
You won’t believe how quickly this dish comes together! With a sauce that is whipped up in minutes and quick cooking shrimp, you will be throwing away that Chinese takeout menu in no time!
PS Try making your own, much more healthy, fried rice! It’s so easy!
More Shrimp Recipes
Honey Walnut Shrimp
Ingredients
For walnuts:
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup walnut halves, or large pieces
For the sauce:
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons honey
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
For the shrimp:
- 16 ounces shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails removed (I use 20/30 size shrimp)
- 1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil (any oil with high smoke point such as vegetable or coconut oil)
To serve:
- cooked white or brown rice, if desired
- sliced green onions, for garnish
Instructions
- If shrimp is frozen, follow package directions to thaw.
- Bring water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add walnuts and boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain walnuts and transfer them to a plate to cool.½ cup water, ¼ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup walnut halves, or large pieces
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk mayonnaise, honey, red pepper flakes, salt, and rice wine vinegar until smooth. Set aside.½ cup mayonnaise, 3 tablespoons honey, ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, ¼ teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
- In another small bowl, whisk cornstarch, flour, garlic powder, salt, and pepper together.1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch, 1 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- Use paper towels to pat excess moisture from the shrimp. Add the shrimp to a gallon-size resealable bag. Add the cornstarch mixture and seal the bag. Shake or rotate it until all the shrimp are coated.16 ounces shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails removed
- In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook until shrimp begins to curl into a C-shape, about 2 minutes per side, depending on the size of the shrimp. Avoid overcooking the shrimp. Don't overcrowd the skillet; it's better to fry the shrimp in batches. If working in batches, transfer the cooked shrimp to a plate and continue until all the shrimp are cooked.2 tablespoons avocado oil
- Combine the shrimp and walnuts in the skillet. Pour HALF of the sauce over the shrimp (see note). Gently toss to coat, being careful not to dislodge the breading from the shrimp.
- Serve over rice or noodles. Garnish with sliced green onions.
Notes
- Sauce note: The recipe makes a generous amount of sauce. I recommend adding only half the sauce to the shrimp at first, and toss to coat before adding more sauce, if desired. If you’re serving the shrimp with rice or stir-fried vegetables, you’ll want to use the entire amount of sauce.
- Gluten-free option: The breading can be made with all cornstarch (no flour). However, when I tested both options, I found that coating made with a combination of cornstarch and flour stuck to the shrimp better after frying and wasn’t as delicate.
- Storage: Honey walnut shrimp is best eaten immediately after it’s made. Freezing is not recommended.
- Recipe retested and revised December 2024.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
What happened to the yogurt on the recipe card? “Lastly, I swap out the mayo for Greek yogurt to lighten up the sauce.” Is it a one to one swap for the mayo?
Hi Gordon – Good catch. We retested this recipe and updated the recipe card, but haven’t fully updated the post yet (it’s coming soon!). We did switch it to mayo because we found it to be a creamier, more reliable sauce. If you prefer yogurt, yes, it’s a 1 to 1 swap.
This recipe is awesome! Got maple walnuts from Walmart . Would not change a thing. Oh I did add 1 Taplespoon Mayo and used cauliflower rice! Delicious
So glad you liked it! Thanks for letting us know!
I don’t see what amount of shrimp this recipe calls for.
Hi Irene,
Sorry – we transferred to a new recipe card, and it looks like that got left off. I added in back in, let me know if you have any other questions!
I’ve been using this with Mike’s hot honey and it really kicks up the heat. Super good
Oooh I love that! Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
Served on rice, sautéed veggies and arugala. Stuck walnuts in freezer for crunch.
Yum!
First time I have left a review. This recipe is amazing, easy to make and healthy. I always put it over quinoa.
Thanks for leaving a comment! So glad you liked it!
I’ve made this twice now, and it was just OK each time. Without any breading, the flavor just doesn’t adhere or absorb well into the shrimp, the penalty for lowering the calories. I think that it might taste better with flavored greek yogurt (or regular yogurt) instead of plain. Again, a flavor penalty for reducing the calories. Also, the pepper needs to go in before the shrimp instead of in the honey blend; there’s no kick to the dish at all unless you accidentally bite into a pepper flake. The pepper really needs to be cooked to spread out.
Thanks for your great feedback!
I rarely leave reviews but this dish was delicious and easy to prepare! Very similar in taste to the fattening dish in restaurants. Great job on the recipe! This one is a keeper!
So happy to hear that! Thanks for taking the time to comment!