Coconut shrimp is a great party appetizer. Golden brown, light flaky, crispy coconut crust on the outer and tender shrimp inside; you’ll fall instantly in love with this quick and easy-to-make finger food.
Cooking shrimp for close friends and family is always exciting. It’s expensive compared to other proteins, but when handled well, it can taste like a million bucks like these bacon-wrapped shrimp, bonefish grill copycat bang bang shrimp, and lemon garlic shrimp.
Jump to:
Coconut fried shrimp
Perfect finger food to serve for game day or football parties.
The recipe for breading is just perfect, no need for a second coating. A light even coating results in a crunchy crispy outer and tender shrimp inside.
Easy to make and guaranteed crowd pleaser.
Coconut shrimp needs a perfect complement, a dipping sauce to enjoy thoroughly. There are many choices for dipping sauce, I like sweet chili sauce. Try other coconut shrimp sauces such as apricot chili sauce or pineapple marmalade. Dip in the sauce for each bite, it’s heavenly!
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need-
Ingredients notes
- Jumbo shrimp – Fresh shrimp/prawn is best for this recipe. You want to peel and de-vein them. You can keep the tail on. Look for large shrimp which works best for the appetizer. If you can’t get fresh shrimp, then use frozen shrimp.
- Plain flour – coating shrimp in flour is essential before dredging in the egg mix. The flour helps the egg mix and panko breadcrumb mix to stick to the shrimp.
- Eggs – coat shrimp in egg wash to help make the panko breadcrumbs stick to the prawn to help it turn crispy.
- Garlic powder – adds flavor to the shrimp. Adding spices to season the flour helps with the coating turning flavorful.
- Smoked paprika – adds a smoky flavor. Feel free to substitute with cayenne pepper.
- Salt & pepper – season to taste.
- Shredded coconut – use shredded unsweetened coconut.
- Panko bread crumbs – Shredded coconut along with Panko breadcrumbs breading makes the crispy outer.
- Vegetable oil for frying – can also use canola oil.
Step-by-step instructions
You want to have light, even breading on the shrimp. The perfect method to achieve that – have 3 separate bowls with different coating mixes.
It’s crucial to have shrimps cleaned, de veined. You can leave the tail-on. Pat dried ready before you start. Any moisture content in shrimp will cause oil to splutter all over your kitchen when fried. It’s hazardous!
Take help: get your family to help bread the shrimp. A couple of extra hands always helps make the recipe fast. This recipe is two-step – coating shrimp in three different mixes and frying.
Step 1: First coat shrimp in flour spice mix.
Step 2: next dip the shrimp in beaten eggs.
Step 3: finally finish it off by coating it in shredded coconut-panko coating.
Step 4: Get all the shrimp coated and place it on the tray before getting ready for frying.
Step 5: Heat oil in a wide shallow pan. Wait for the oil to reach a temperature between 350 -375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 6: Carefully transfer breaded shrimp into hot oil. Do not overcrowd the pan. Fry a few shrimps at a time, do it in a couple of batches.
Step 7: Once shrimps turn golden brown, remove from the oil onto a tray lined with a kitchen towel.
Serve hot with your favorite dipping sauce.
How to make it in air fryer
- Coat shrimp in the flour mix, then dip in egg and finally coat in shredded coconut + Panko bread crumbs.
- Spray oil of pre-heated air fryer basket.
- Arrange shrimp on it, and spray oil on top of the shrimp as well.
- Air fry coconut-crusted shrimps at 400F for 7 minutes. Flip all shrimp and air fry for another 4 minutes or until golden brown.
- Serve golden browned air fryer coconut shrimp with sweet chili sauce.
Tips to make best coconut shrimp
- Fresh shrimp works better than frozen shrimp. Leave the tail on while cleaning shrimps. Though this is optional, it makes it easier to handle white breading and pick-up-and-eat.
- Jumbo shrimp or large prawns are best for the recipe.
- Pat dry shrimp well before coating it in flour, egg, and coconut mix. Any moisture in the shrimp will cause oil to splutter all over.
- Unsweetened shredded coconut gives a nice savory taste to fried shrimp. Sweetened shredded coconut gives a nice tropical sweet touch to the outer coating. Both work great. Pick your favorite.
- Wait till the oil is heated to 350 to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Fry in small batches. Do not overcrowd the pan. Shrimps won’t crisp up evenly.
Recipe FAQs
Wouldn’t recommend small shrimps as they are difficult to handle while coating and during frying. Jumbo shrimp or large prawns are best for the recipe.
No, fresh shrimp works better than frozen shrimp. Frozen shrimp won’t take on the seasoning coating well and you won’t get evenly coated golden brown coconut-crusted shrimp.
Yes, you can. Bread shrimp in the flour mix, egg, and shredded coconut panko breadcrumbs mix. Arrange breaded shrimp on a wire rack, place the rack on a baking tray, and bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes flipping once in between. Lastly, broil for 2 minutes to get that golden brown crust.
Spray oil of pre-heated air fryer basket.
Arrange shrimp on it, and spray oil on top of the shrimp as well.
Air fry coconut-crusted shrimps at 400F for 7 minutes. Flip all shrimp and air fry for another 4 minutes or until golden brown.
If you are on a keto diet it’s very easy to make it keto-friendly. Replace plain flour with coconut flour and leave out Panko bread crumbs( use only cocooned flakes for breading in the third bowl). The rest of the recipe remains the same.
Don’t forget to Subscribe to CurryTrail Recipes below to get our newest recipes delivered straight to your inbox.
If you love this recipe, keep in touch and don’t miss out on any of currytrail recipes. Follow me on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram.
Have you tried any one of my recipes? I’d love to see what you’ve made. Take a picture and use the hashtag #currytrail and share it on Instagram so I can see and share it on my feed.
If you make this coconut shrimcp recipe, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this recipe in the comment box below. Your review will help other readers!
📋 RECIPE: Coconut Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 lb large shrimp peeled de veined with tails on
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup plain flour
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¾ teaspoon smoked paprika
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- ½ cup Panko bread crumbs
- Vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Bowl 1 – mix flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste, and smoked paprika together.
- Bowl 2 – whisk two eggs.
- Bowl 3 – mix unsweetened shredded coconut and Panko bread crumbs.
- It’s crucial to have shrimps cleaned, de-veined, and pat dried ready before you start. Any moisture content in shrimp will cause oil to splutter all over your kitchen when fried.
- First coat shrimps in flour-spices mix. Then coat in beaten eggs. Finally, coat in coconut-panko bread crumbs mix. Place breaded shrimps on to tray. Repeat the breading process for the rest of the remaining shrimps.
- Heat oil in a wide shallow pan. Once the oil temperature reaches between 350 -375 degrees Fahrenheit. Carefully transfer breaded shrimp into hot oil. Do not overcrowd the pan. Fry a few shrimps at a time, and you’ll have to fry a couple of batches.
- Once shrimps turn golden brown, remove them from the oil onto a tray lined with a kitchen towel.
- Serve immediately hot with your favorite dipping sauce.
Video
Notes
-
- Fresh shrimp works best rather than frozen shrimp. Leave the tail on while cleaning shrimps. Though this is optional, it makes it easier to bread shrimp. Easy to handle while eating too.
- Jumbo shrimp or large-sized prawns are best for the recipe.
- Pat dry the shrimp well before coating it in flour, egg, and coconut mix. Any moisture in the shrimp will cause oil to splutter all over.
- Unsweetened shredded coconut gives a nice savory touch to these fried shrimps. Sweetened shredded coconut gives a nice tropical touch to it. Pick which you would love.
- Wait till oil is heated to 350 to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Fry in small batches. Do not overcrowd the pan. Shrimps won’t crisp up evenly.
Nutrition
Created by Jyothi Rajesh
Thank you for stopping by.
I’m Jyothi Rajesh (Jo for short) and i’m the founder of the food blog, Curry Trail where I share my culinary Adventures. I live in Bangalore, India. I’m a mom of two beautiful kids. My passion is creating and sharing delicious and easy recipes for the home cook. I have been blogging since 2007 and many of my recipes have appeared in both online and print publications over the years. Learn more about Jyothi Rajesh.
Comments & Reviews
Jacque Hastert says
These were finger licking, lip smacking, mouth watering good! I can’t wait to make these again and again!
Alena says
Woah these coconut shrimp look so unbelievably crispy and delicious! I can’t wait to try this recipe for myself!
Charity says
Coconut shrimp are one of my favorite bar foods. Can’t wait to make these for our next diy date night. Adding the ingredients to my peapod cart! Thanks!
Laura Arteaga says
Will definitely try making this next time we have people over! It looks simple to make and something that everyone would love. Pin it and hoping we can make it soon!
LaKita says
I love coconut shrimp but have never tried making them myself. This recipe looks so simple to follow that I will definitely be giving it a try soon!
Paige says
Love that these can be so delish in an air fryer! I LOVE coconut shrimp, its one of my faves, this is a great recipe!
Jenny Graves says
Just delicious, our new favorite appetizer. Thank you for your notes, very helpful.
Tara says
I just purchased and air fryer and have been looking for the perfect recipe to try it out. I think I just found it! The kick from the paprika, and the crunchy coconut, I can taste it already!
Jyothi Rajesh says
Thank you
Priya says
Those shrimps look so delicious and crunchy!