Schirripa was born on August 1, 1958 in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. His father, Ralph, was Italian American. His grandparents, Ilario Schirripa and Maria Capacci, were from Riace, Italy. His mother is of Jewish descent.

Schirrippa married Laura Lemos on April 22, 1989. They have two children, daughters Bria and Ciara.

Schirripa got his first taste of show Business in his job as entertainment Director of the Riviera Hotel and Casino. In the biography page of his website, Schirripa says that he had cameo appearances in comedy specials by Drew Carey and Kevin Pollak, among other comedians. That led to a role as an uncredited extra in Martin Scorsese's Casino. In the film, he portrayed a customer at the bar in the scene when Joe Pesci's character angrily stabs a man with a pen. After this, Schirripa decided that he wanted to become an actor. He had several minor roles in movies, including The Runner (1999) and Joe Dirt. His breakthrough role was in The Sopranos (2000), playing Tony Soprano's dense but lovable mobster brother-in-law Bobby Baccalieri for five seasons.

Schirripa was a frequent guest on the Don Imus radio program. In February 2007, he began to make appearances for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, on Spike TV, siding with Team 3D as their cousin in their ongoing battle against The Latin American Xchange. On October 30, 2007, he appeared on, The Podge and Rodge Show. He also did spots as "Steve the Judgmental Bastard" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and taped several episodes of The Gong Show with Dave Attell, as one of the Celebrity judges.

From 2008 to 2012, Schirripa had a recurring role in the ABC Family show, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, as Leo Boykewick, Ben's dad.

Schirripa hosted NBC's poker game show, Face the Ace, with the premiere episode airing on August 1, 2009.

In the fall of 2010, Schirripa had a guest star role in the digital comedy short film, Lil DPC, from writer/director Michael Ratner, which also features Rapper Fat Joe and Blink 182's Mark Hoppus.

In 2011 and 2012, Schirripa hosted and narrated the television true-crime series Nothing Personal, which premiered in the US on Investigation Discovery and in the UK on History. The series featured an often humorous take on true stories and reenactments of murders-for-hire. In addition to hosting the hour-long programs, Schirripa was one of the program's executive producers. The programs were filmed on location around the United States and in Ontario, Canada. Subsequently, Schirripa hosted Karma's a B*tch!, also for Investigation Discovery. This show dramatizes stories of people who seek revenge on someone they believe did them wrong. Recently, Schirripa has provided the voice for the lemon in McDonald's McCafe Strawberry Lemonade commercials. He has also guest-starred in the American version of Top Gear.

Schirripa and Fleming also collaborated on two books about Nicky Deuce, a suburban teenager who is sent to visit his grandparents in Brooklyn. Nicky Deuce: Welcome to the Family was followed by Nicky Deuce: Home for the Holidays, which was the basis for the 2013 Nickelodeon film Nicky Deuce starring Noah Munck. Nicky Deuce also featured supporting roles filled by James Gandolfini, Michael Imperioli, Tony Sirico, and Vincent Curatola of The Sopranos fame.

In 2014, Schirripa launched a line of organic, vegan pasta sauces under the Business name of Uncle Steve's Italian Specialties Group. Schirripa appeared on the Eric Andre Show to promote the sauce.

Starting in 2015, Schirripa played Det. Anthony Abetemarco, an investigator who works with assistant district attorney Erin Reagan on the CBS series Blue Bloods.

In July 2017, Schirrpa appeared in a segment on John Oliver's satirical news show Last Week Tonight satirizing Boris Epshteyn and the right-wing tone of mandatory segments given to member stations by the Sinclair Broadcast Group.