Do you like the tempura shrimp you find at Costco in the frozen section? Learn how to cook it in your air fryer and get my recipe for a "poke rice bowl" with crispy onions, edamame. cucumbers, and sushi rice.
📋 What's New In This Post (4/9/25) - Added a recommendation for an alternative dipping sauce.
Trying Out Costco's Tempura Shrimp
If this your first time trying Tempura Shrimp then you are in for a treat. This shrimp comes out super crunchy. It's shape makes it perfect for dipping. It's like dipping a French fry or a French toast stick. Maybe we should just call it "French Fried Shrimp"!
The shrimp has good flavor. 3 out of 4 kids liked it, my son being the only one that didn't.
I don't believe it's the best Tempura Shrimp ever. I did feel when I cooked it that it was just a touch greasy. Nothing too much. Do not add any oil at all when you are cooking it though or it might be too greasy then.
I am all about portion control to help my stretch my groceries further, so I came up with the idea to make a shrimp bowl with rice and veggies, which I will teach you how to make in this post as well making sure you know the best way to air fry this shrimp.
If you just want to eat the shrimp as is but are looking for some side dish ideas, I have an entire post called 13 Simple Sides to Serve with Fried Shrimp.
Jump to:
💲 How Much Does It Cost?
Let's start with how much this shrimp is going to cost you. The cost of the shrimp is $19.49 for 2.35 pound box. There are 30 shrimp per box. Several packets of soy dipping sauce are included in the box.
The shrimp comes inside of a plastic bag. I discarded the box when I brought it home as we have a very small freezer and need to save as much space as we can. The bag isn't resealable, so you will need to put a rubber band around what you don't use or find a bag you can reseal to put it in.
⏲️ How Long to Air Fry
Air Fry Time - 8 minutes at 375 degrees
This shrimp actually cooks quicker than the Kirkland Panko Fried Shrimp, which takes up to 15 minutes to cook. The shape of the shrimp leads itself to faster cooking.
📋 Instructions
Start by arranging the shrimp into a single layer. Don't stack them on top of each other. Work in batches if you don't have enough space. I got 6 of them in one basket of my dual basket air fryer.
Please note - You don't need to preheat before cooking. It really doesn't speed things up or have a significant affect on how the shrimp turns out.
First, set your air fryer to 375 degrees for 4 minutes.
Then flip each piece of shrimp over and air fry for another 4 minutes. I found rotating the shrimp helped it cook evenly so that it was equally crispy all around.
🧊 Did You Need to Thaw First?
Nope. It's best that you put the shrimp in directly from the freezer. There is no reason to thaw. It cooks so fast that you will waste more time thawing it.
🍚 How to Make Shrimp Bowl
My wife and her sister love getting poke bowls when they have a chance to do lunch alone together. This recipe is a tribute to those bowls. Along with the tempera shrimp we use these ingredients:
- Sushi Rice (you can use whatever rice you have)
- Edamame
- Mini Cucumbers
- Crispy Onions
- Black Sesame Seeds
Here is how I treat each ingredient:
- Cook the sushi rice in the Instant Pot. Use 1 cup of water for every 1 cup of rice. Cook in the Instant Pot for 4 minutes at high pressure. Wait for 10 minutes after it's done and release any pressure left. Fluff with a fork. It's best to serve immediately.
- You can boil the edamame in a pot or just microwave it for a couple minutes in a bowl with some water so that it doesn't dry out.
- Take the mini cucumber and dice them up with a knife. The reason I use mini cukes because they are more tender.
- Place your rice in a bowl, place some of the shrimp on top. Then add your edamame on top. Add the crunchy onions. These are the same onions you would use for a green bean casserole. Then sprinkle with sesame seeds and salt to taste. Crack on some black pepper if you like or add some pepper flakes for some heat.
- I like to make a thicker sauce from the soy dipping sauce that comes with the shrimp. For that add some mayo to the sauce until it's thicker and add that to the bowl.
Now you have a colorful delicious dinner that was pretty easy to make
Dipping Sauce
The tempura shrimp comes with a soy dipping sauce. If you're using it, just place the packet in warm water while the shrimp cooks to thaw it out. However, it's not all that exciting. My recommendation? Grab a bottle of this instead:
Bachan's Japanese Barbecue Sauce is my new favorite go-to condiment and Costco offers the best deal on them. In fact a lot of stores are selling them for the same price but with a much smaller bottle. It is a soy based sauce but with lots of additional flavor, way more than the dipping sauce that comes with shrimp. It's great on rice too and pretty much anything!
🎧 Podcast Episode - How to Make Dinner from Costco Frozen Foods
Listen to me share a whole bunch of different meal ideas using Costco frozen foods by clicking the play button below..
More Costco Shrimp
Interested in learning about all the types of shrimp you can expect to find at a Costco store? Check out my Costco Shrimp Guide to see what might be available at your store. I have noticed traveling around the country that the stores in the south tend to have more shrimp options than in other places of the country.
Kirkland Tempura Shrimp Bowl Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 Kirkland Tempura Shrimp per serving
- 1 cup cooked rice per serving
- ½ cup cooked edamame per serving
- 1 diced mini cucumber per serving
- 2 tbsp crispy onions per serving
- salt to taste
- 1 tsp black sesame seeds per serving
Sauce
- 1 pack soy dipping sauce
- 1-2 tbsp mayonaise
Instructions
How to Air Fry the Shrimp
- Take shrimp directly from the freezer into your air fryer basket.
- Make sure to arrange shrimp in a single layer.
- Air fry for 4 minutes at 375 degrees.
- Flip your shrimp over and cook for 4 more minutes at 375 degrees.
Putting the bowl together
- Boil your edamame in a pot until hot or microwave the edamame in a boil of water for about 2 mintues.
- Place your cooked rice into a bowl. Top with the shrimp, cooked edamame, diced cucumbers, and crispy onions. Season with salt and sesame seeds.
- Mix together 1 pack of the soy dipping sauce with 1-2 tablespoons of mayo. Drizzle on top of your bowl. Enjoy!
Notes
- Combine rice and water at a 1:1 ratio
- Cook for 4 minutes at high pressure.
- Allow to sit for 10 minutes.
- Release any remaining pressure.
- Fluff the rice with a fork.
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