Popeyes 2026 Seafood Menu Review: Seasoned Shrimp Are The Catch Of The Day

Popeyes earned its bona fides selling fried chicken with a Cajun twist, but has also worked its culinary magic beyond the turf of poultry by also embracing the surf. Fish and shrimp have often dotted the menu (a rarity in the fast food space) and especially during the 40 days observance of Lent, when parishioners avoid eating warm-blooded animals on Fridays. As the calendar turns to Fat Tuesday, Popeyes is ready to party it up, Mardi Gras-style, and has unleashed the 2026 edition of its Seafood Menu on Presidents' Day. 

Familiar favorites like the Flounder Fish Sandwich are once again washing ashore, and even Fried Pickles, as well as a whole new wrinkle to freshen up its Butterfly Shrimp like Popeyes has recently done with its wings — seasoning them up with one of four dry rubs. Fried shrimp with the stylings of Garlic Parmesan, Lemon Pepper, Buffalo, or Ghost Pepper — sounds like quite the catch, right?

The Takeout assigned itself the task of trying these new seasoned shrimp offerings to see if we'd love dat shrimp from Popeyes as much as we do its chicken. So do all four of these flavored shrimp stand mighty tall, or is it all too tall of an order to fill? The truth can now be revealed in this encrusted crustacean chew & review!

On the first day of the new seafood release, I headed to the nearest Popeyes in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware to try the new flavors of shrimp. The meal was ordered and eaten on site by myself and one other person. Each flavor was tried once in succession, and then again in random order before coming to a conclusion for this review.

This review is a summation of my own personal tastes and opinions. It also takes into account my previous experiences with Popeyes, and its shrimp and dry rub offerings. The ultimate criteria considered for this chew and review were flavor, appearance, presentation, smell, texture, temperature, familiarity, originality, uniqueness, sauciness, and overall, whether any or all of these flavors were worthy of an encore purchase.

Popeyes has been serving up fried goodness since 1972, and by at least 1979, the Louisiana-born and bred chain branched out into battering foods from the sea, including fried fish. By 1981, shrimp from the Gulf Coast became a catch of the day, although it only hung around in limited runs. Big tastes came in small sizes with the launch of Popcorn Shrimp in 1986, and then bigger tastes came in bigger sizes when Popeyes dropped its first batch of Butterfly Shrimp three years later. Ever since, fried fish and shrimp options have come and gone, like Wicked Shrimp and Hushpuppy Butterfly Shrimp, with some even flirting with being made permanent additions. However, fish and shrimp seem to earn a guaranteed place on menus during the Lenten season.

For its 2026 Seafood Menu, Popeyes is bringing back the Flounder Fish sandwich, Butterfly Shrimp, and even the amazing Fried Pickles, which debuted last April. In recent years, Popeyes has been saucing and dry rubbing up its wings with all kinds of winning flavors, and at the tail of this winter, trying to warm up some new business by doing the same with its butterfly shrimp. 

There are four new flavors of shrimp this year: Garlic Parmesan, Lemon Pepper, Buffalo, and Ghost Pepper. In its press materials, Popeyes describes the garlicky one as "savory," the Lemon Pepper as "zesty" and "tangy," notes that the Buffalo strikes the "perfect balance of flavor and heat," and that the Ghost Pepper one is "made with classic Louisiana seasonings and fiery Ghost Pepper for serious heat."

Starting February 16, Popeyes Seafood Menu will be available at participating locations nationwide. The items will remain on menus for an unspecified limited time only, while supplies last. 

The Flounder Sandwich, which comes in classic or spicy, can be ordered à la carte or as part of a meal deal combo that includes a drink. The shrimp can be ordered several ways — in the Shrimp Tackle Box, which also includes 8 pieces, one side, a biscuit, and side dipping sauce, as well as a Surf & Turf special that comes with 4 pieces of shrimp, two chicken tenders any style, a regular side, a biscuit, and a side sauce. Both the Shrimp Tackle Box or Surf & Turf boxes can also be turned into combos that include a beverage. Prices will vary per location, but at the one in Delaware, the base price for the sandwich and the shrimp boxes start at $5.99. Fried Pickles can be ordered as a side, starting at $3.99, but cannot be chosen as a side for a meal deal.

Orders can be placed directly at the restaurant, at the register, kiosk, or drive-thru, where available. Advanced orders for dine-in, pick-up, or delivery can be placed through Popeyes' app or its website. Additional costs may apply to delivery orders or ones placed through third party apps and websites.

A serving of Butterfly Shrimp includes 8-pieces. Between all four flavors, the totals for each include 370 calories, 21 grams of fat, and 14 grams of protein, including 2 grams of fiber. The Lemon Pepper Shrimp contains 78 milligrams of cholesterol, while the other three flavors have 2 additional grams in that category. Those three contain 32 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of sugar, while the Lemon Pepper rub nets one more gram of carbohydrates and sugar. The Garlic Parm and the Ghost Pepper Shrimp are the only ones that contain saturated fat, at 9 grams of piece. Sodium is high for our four, with the Garlic Parm pitching in 1,360 milligrams, Buffalo with 1,590 milligrams, and both Lemon Pepper and Ghost Pepper landing at 1,600 milligrams a piece.

The Lemon Pepper rub includes sugar, corn syrup, water, honey, apple cider vinegar, salt, and 2% or less of distilled vinegar, lemon juice concentrate, spice, lemon flavedo — which is lemon peel, sugar, and lemon oil — and natural flavor. The Roasted Garlic Parmesan includes oil, water, buttermilk, distilled vinegar, corn syrup, salt, egg yolk, parmesan cheese, asiago cheese, garlic juice, and less than 2% of romano cheese, dehydrated red pepper, dehydrated roasted garlic, spice, lemon juice concentrate, and dehydrated onion. The Buffalo rub's make-up includes chipotle and guajillo.

For additional nutritional and allergen information, please consult Popeyes' website.

Before I embarked on this flavorful new journey for Popeyes Butterfly Shrimp, I first decided to take a bite of the original, regular, unseasoned kind. While it is encrusted with the usual golden fried, brown skin that covers most of what the chain sells, the shrimp, which is pretty minuscule, probably has the thinnest and weakest coating of all. Nonetheless, these bite size fellers serve their purposes and are fun little treats from the ocean to snack on.

I next turned my attention to the Garlic Parmesan seasoned shrimp. As I approached the box of 8 of them, their pungent and cheesy, arresting aroma drew me in closer. The seasoning here was splashed on aplenty, with a greenish-sandy brown appearance. My first bite didn't seem to pack as full a flavor as its smell did, but with each shrimp I popped into my mouth, it started to make more of an impact. The garlic aspects tied in very well with the sharp parmesan, creating a bite that was both savory and pungent. One flavor in and I was already a fan of this new flavorful path forward.

Next on the docket was the Lemon Pepper Shrimp, which I was excited to try just by the name. This one too had a very alluring aroma, and one that was straight up peppery. I may have detected a hint of lemon, but the pepper was truly driving the ship here. Turns out, that was a sign of things to come. The pepper profile was boosted further with black flakes covering the shrimp's exterior.

A single bite, and the peppy pepper dominated the flavor. There was certainly an underlying lemon zest, but it was pretty mild. Some of the seasoning did end up rubbing against my lips, and after the shrimp headed towards my throat, I licked my lips and finally came face-to-face with the promised notes of citrus. As I pressed on, the more the pepper began to work on my taste buds as a sort of spicy agent. Not the kind that delivers heat, but one that provides a powerful kick to the mouth. The more I had of these, the more I wished they had an additional douse of acidity. A little bit more lemon would have made them even more a-peel-ing. Nonetheless, these were another solid seasoned effort.

Buffalo-flavored shrimp is a common item found on menus, and so this was one of easiest choices Popeyes had to make when selecting a seasoned rub in this inaugural run. By appearances alone, the rub was easily giving off Buffalo-y vibes, with its burnt orange hued seasoning strewn about.

My first bite revealed this flavor to be the strongest of the three I had. The others tended to blend in more with its crust and crustacean, but here, the Buffalo made quite a stance that even Neneh Cherry would have to pause, take notice, and perhaps even sing its praises. While these could have easily leaned into a much more spicy territory, they thankfully took a more mild route, leaving the zingy flavoring to do all the great work.

I left the Ghost Pepper flavor for last, just in case it had supernatural powers that would end up scaring and scarring my taste buds, preventing them from properly evaluating the other flavors. This one, too, had a more noticeable rubbing of seasonings. Here it was also orange, but not as vibrant as its Buffalo brethren. Still, its dusting was eye-catching, helping it to stand out among the darker sandy flavors. The Ghost Pepper dusting didn't really have a strong essence to it, mainly smelling like an assortment of random seasonings.

My first nibble didn't result in much, but the heat blew a small puff when the seasoning made its way to the recesses of my mouth. Like the Lemon Pepper flavor, it was more peppy than spicy, but it went a slight step further by leaving notes of heat behind. The more pieces I tried, the more its spiciness became prevalent, but it wasn't a kind that was worth the minor bits of sweat eventually emitted. Overall, it made for an okay try, but it ultimately was a flavor I didn't need to try more than two shrimp swimming in.

After trying all four seasoned shrimp flavors, one after the other, and then having seconds, thirds, and even eighths of some, I turned my attention back to the regular Butterfly Shrimp. The one advantage the forebear had over its flavored cousins was the sweet and mildly briny taste of shrimp was prevalent. However, once one's mouth encounters this same piece of seafood but doused in an array of seasonings, it's hard to go back to the same old same old. That cleaner shrimp now almost tasted boring. Throw them back into the ocean until they come back seasoned!

The Buffalo Shrimp had both the most familiar and striking flavor of the four newbies, but my heart belonged to the Garlic Parmesan. It had a great combination of flavors to make for a unique new way to season up shrimp. The Lemon Pepper had merit, and I recommend trying it, but a few more drops of citrus could've made this one a real juicy contender. The Ghost Pepper Shrimp was totally fine, but I'd rather they'd just made a spicier version of the already proven Buffalo winner.

The dry rubs have worked a flavorful magic for the Popeyes wings, and it's no surprise they're able to lend their talents quite well to the Butterfly Shrimp. The added bonus is that there's plenty of flavor to go around, but in lieu of being icky-sticky sauced up, the dry rub delivers a mess-free environment of enjoyment. There's plenty to see in this year's Seafood Menu, and don't forget to reel in the also super-tasty Flounder Fish Sandwich and a side of Fried Pickles. So, what's next to be seasoned? Biscuits? Or copy the McShaker method and further season those Cajun fries? 'Tis the season(ing) for anything.