We love breaded shrimp here at Freezer Meal Frenzy. But if you’re avoiding gluten, then you’ll have to get your shrimp without the breading. Well, that’s how things used to be until the Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Breaded Shrimp came along. Okay, so we can’t say for sure that TJ’s was the first brand to make a gluten-free breaded shrimp. In fact, they almost certainly aren’t, and we know for sure that there are a lot of other brands out there doing it. But you have to admit, assuming this was true made for a pretty decent opening paragraph, right?
Anyway, this bag o’ shrimpy shrimp has been around for a little while now — at least since this summer — but we’ve been unable to find any until now. So we’re super happy to have a batch of this to review today!
There are a few ways to cook this. The package recommends cooking this shrimp in a skillet, but it also gives instructions for an air fryer or the regular ol’ oven. We actually decided to bake ours in the oven. (If you want to read the full cooking instructions for all of these methods, check out the package scans at the bottom of this review.)
Our shrimp did get a little bit oily as they cooked, but once we dumped them onto a plate and let them cool for a couple minutes, they seemed to dry up nicely. Still, you might want to have some napkins on hand if you’re eating these with your fingers. Otherwise, you can do what we did and use a fork.
Now, we have to talk about this breading. This is a gluten-free breading made from tapioca starch and coconut flour. It has an almost pancakey consistency, which we weren’t expecting. We thought this would be crispier. That said, we actually love this stuff — it might even be our favorite shrimp breading yet. Not too shabby for a gluten-free breading, huh?
The shrimp is pretty decent, though it doesn’t have that amazing buttery flavor that you’d expect from a brand like Scott & Jon’s. It also doesn’t have a strong fishy flavor, which shrimp can occasionally have, so it really lets that amazing breading to most of the talking. And we’re loving it.
About 1/3 of the bag is a serving, and this seems to be a pretty decent amount. You could try to finish the whole bag in a sitting if you want to, but we found this to be pretty filling. Plus, there’s a decent amount of shrimp in this bag. We think you’ll definitely get more than a single serving from this amount. If you stick with the recommended 1/3 — and again, there’s no reason you wouldn’t — you’ll be consuming a very reasonable 260 calories and 480 mg of sodium. Not bad, TJ’s. Not bad at all.
The Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Breaded Shrimp might be the best breaded shrimp we’ve reviewed so far. The shrimp is decent, but it’s the breading that elevates this to greatness. We adore this breading, and we’re definitely hoping to find more of this shrimp the next time we visit our local TJ’s store.
To learn more about the nutrition content, ingredients, or cooking instructions for this frozen shrimp, check out the package scans below.
