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This Best Sweet and Sour Shrimp Recipe has peanuts, scallions and lime juice, red pepper flakes, fish sauce, rice vinegar and sugar.

This shrimp takes less than 10 minutes to make and can be served with pad thai, lo mein or fried rice. The best part of this shrimp is the sauce – the secret? Equal parts light brown sugar, fish sauce, and vinegar.
Vinegar can be off-putting to some, but I promise that the combination with the sugar and the fish sauce is amazing. Feel free to add any roasted veggies as well with this shrimp, like snap peas, roasted red peppers, or baby corn.
What you will need
Shrimp: For best results, use fresh shrimp and not previously frozen shrimp. Go to your local fish market to get some. Previously frozen shrimp will work, but I recommend using fresh!
Fish Sauce: Some people may be intimidated by using fish sauce, but it is not fishy. I promise it'll add such good flavor.
Sugar: I used brown sugar for this, although you can use regular sugar. If you are keto, you can use erythritol.
Vinegar: Rice vinegar is traditionally used for sweet and sour shrimp, although I have used apple cider vinegar before and it works just as well.
How to make Best Sweet and Sour Shrimp Recipe
Pat the shrimp very dry and lightly season with salt and pepper. Make sure they are super dry or else they will extract a ton of liquid.
In a bowl, add together the fish sauce, sugar and vinegar and whisk well.
Heat up a large nonstick skillet and pour in the whisked sauce. On medium-high heat, bring to a simmer. Add the shrimp into the simmer sauce and cook on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
Add the peanuts, lime juice, scallions, sesame seeds, and red pepper flakes and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Other shrimp dishes
- One-Pot Shrimp Orzo with Harissa and Tahini
- Cheesy Shrimp and Poblano Pepper with Salsa Verde
- Cajun Shrimp Orzo
Healthy Sweet and Sour Shrimp
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
This Healthy Sweet and Sour Shrimp has peanuts, scallions and lime juice, red pepper flakes, fish sauce, rice vinegar and sugar.
Ingredients
- 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons roasted peanuts, finely chopped
- 3 scallions, thinly sliced crosswise
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- ½ teaspoon red-pepper flakes
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
- Pat the shrimp very dry and lightly season with salt and pepper. Make sure they are super dry or else they will extract a ton of liquid.
- In a bowl, add together the fish sauce, sugar and vinegar and whisk well.
- Heat up a large nonstick skillet and pour in the whisked sauce. On medium-high heat, bring to a simmer. Add the shrimp into the simmer sauce and cook on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
- Add the peanuts, lime juice, scallions, sesame seeds, and red pepper flakes and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Notes
- If you really do not want to use fish sauce or vinegar, I recommend using lemon juice in place of the vinegar and soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce in place of the fish sauce. I recommend you cook as described.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: Asian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 195.5
- Sugar: 10.5 g
- Sodium: 572.6 mg
- Fat: 3.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 15.3 g
- Fiber: 1.2 g
- Protein: 24.7 g
- Cholesterol: 221.0 mg
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