Shrimp Francese

Shrimp Francese (or francaise) is a classic Italian-American dish that combines succulent, egg-battered shrimp that’s simmered in a buttery lemon and white wine sauce and topped with fresh parsley.  This simple seafood dish goes perfectly with rice, linguine, or crusty bread and is so simple it’s sure to become part of your rotation!

Shrimp Francese is one of those dishes I grew up eating.

Anytime we’d go to an Italian restaurant, it was on the menu alongside some other favorites, like baked clams, and shrimp fra diavolo.

As great as it is at a restaurant, it’s even better at home, and is incredibly easy to make!

I love to serve shrimp Francese with rice, or linguine, but it’s also great with crusty bread.  

A simple sauteed green like broccoli rabe or spinach rounds out the meal. 

And when you’re in the mood for chicken, check out our recipe for chicken Francese!

How to make it

Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.

1. Mince 1/4 cup of flat-leaf Italian parsley and 3 cloves of garlic. Cut 1 large lemon into slices, and juice enough of another lemon to yield 1 tablespoon of juice. Clean and devein 1 1/2 pounds of colossal shrimp (roughly U15 size).  If you’d like to butterfly the shrimp, do that now by cutting the shrimp almost all the way through, lengthwise.  Then flatten it as shown.  Prepare a frying station with the shrimp, a bowl with 1 cup of flour, and a bowl of 5 large beaten eggs mixed with half of the minced flat-leaf Italian parsley.

2. Dry the shrimp off with paper towels and season with salt and pepper on both sides.  
3. Heat a large nonstick pan to a little less than medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter. Dredge the shrimp in flour and shake off the excess.  Note: you’ll need 3 tablespoons of flour for the sauce later on.  Reserve 3 tablespoons from the dredging flour and the rest can be discarded.

4. Dip the shrimp into the eggwash, then add them to the pan. If needed, work in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan.
5. Fry the shrimp for 1-2 minutes per side, then place on a wire rack or paper towels to drain.   Note: If you chose to butterfly the shrimp, you can try to get the shrimp to fry with the flat side down.  An easier way to get them to fry flat is to remove the tails before frying.  The choice is yours.

6. Repeat the process for the remaining shrimp adding extra oil and butter as needed.
7. Wipe down the pan to remove most of the accumulated oil and butter and add 3 tablespoons of butter and the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. 

8. Take 3 tablespoons of flour from the dredging flour and add to the pan, whisking over medium heat for 30 seconds or until smooth.
9. Add 3/4 cup of dry white wine and turn the heat up to high and allow to boil for 30-60 seconds while whisking.  Add 1 1/2 cups of low-sodium chicken stock and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and bring to a boil for 1 minute while whisking.

10. Turn the heat down to medium-low and taste test the sauce.  Adjust any salt and pepper as needed. 
11. Return the shrimp to the pan along with the lemon slices and gently coat the shrimp with the sauce.  Heat through and cook for 3-4 minutes while spooning the sauce over the shrimp.

12. Stir in the remaining parsley before serving.  Serve the shrimp with rice, linguine, or with crusty bread and enjoy!

Top tips for shrimp Francese

• Shrimp. I used U15 shrimp for this recipe, meaning there are 15 shrimp per pound.  I find that the larger shrimp are much better for this dish.  Also, I recommend butterflying the shrimp as it will create more surface area for batter and sauce and makes for an overall better experience and appearance. The same principle works well for shrimp parmigiana.
• Wine. I used Sauvignon Blanc for this recipe but any dry white wine will work.  If you prefer to not use wine, you can omit it entirely.
• Pan. Using a nonstick pan is a great idea for this particular recipe since it will help to prevent the delicate batter from sticking and coming off the shrimp.
• Substitutions and additions. You can easily use the same recipe for flounder, cod, or scallops.  Adding a few scallops to the shrimp Francese would be a really nice touch!

More awesome shrimp recipes

It’s no secret that we’re huge shrimp fans here at Sip and Feast.  Here are just a few of our favorites, but feel free to browse our entire seafood category for more!

• Shrimp oreganata – shrimp with garlicky breadcrumbs, lemon, and butter.
• Lemon garlic shrimp pasta – al dente pasta tossed with shrimp, parsley, lemon juice, and garlic.
• Shrimp alla vodka – pasta tossed with shrimp in a creamy pink sauce.

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