Coconut shrimp is great party appetizer. Golden brown light flaky coconut crust on the outer is so crispy and the shrimp inside is so tender; you’ll fall instantly in love with this quick and easy to make finger food.
Cooking shrimps for close friends and family is always exciting. It’s expensive compared to other protein, 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.
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Coconut shrimp needs a perfect complement, a dipping sauce to enjoy thoroughly. There are many choices for dipping sauce, I personally like with sweet chili sauce. Other great coconut shrimp sauces for dipping are apricot chili sauce or pineapple marmalade. Make sure to dip in the sauce for each bite, it’s heavenly!
Ingredients needed
Here’s what you’ll need-
- 1 lb large/jumbo shrimp
- ⅓ cup plain flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¾ teaspoon smoked paprika
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1 ½ cup shredded coconut
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
- Vegetable oil for frying
How to bread shrimps
You want to have light, even breading on the shrimp. The perfect method to achieve that – have 3 separate bowls with different coating mixes.
Bowl 1 – mix flour, garlic powder, salt n pepper to taste and smoked paprika together.
Bowl 2 – whisk two eggs.
Bowl 3 – mix unsweetened shredded coconut and Panko bread crumbs.
How to make coconut shrimp
It’s crucial to have shrimps cleaned, de veined and pat dried ready before you start. Any moisture content in shrimp will cause oil spluttering 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 making the recipe fast. This recipe is two step – coating shrimp in three different mixes and fry.
My kids always offer to help when we plan on making it, little one is fond of coconut crusted shrimps.
First coat shrimp in flour spice mix, next dip the shrimps in beaten eggs and finally finish it off with coconut-Panko coating. And in no time we had couple of trays of shrimps coated and ready to be fried. Team work is great!
Heat up oil in wide shallow pan. Wait for oil to reach temperature between 350 -375 degrees Fahrenheit. Carefully transfer breaded shrimps into hot oil. Do not over crowd the pan. Fry few shrimps at a time, and you’ll have to fry couple of batches.
Once shrimps turn golden brown, remove from oil onto a tray lined with kitchen towel.
Serve hot with your favorite dipping sauce.
How to make air fryer coconut shrimp
- Coat shrimp in flour mix, then dip in egg, 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 shrimps 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 dipping sauce.
Tips to make best coconut shrimp
- Fresh shrimp works best rather than frozen shrimps. 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 prawns are best for the recipe.
- Pat dry shrimps well before coating it in flour, egg, 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 your favorite.
- Wait till oil is heated to 350 to 375 degree Fahrenheit. Fry in small batches. Do not over crowd the pan. Shrimps won’t crisp up evenly.
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 best rather than frozen shrimps. 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. To make baked coconut shrimp , bread shrimps as mentioned in the recipe. Arrange breaded shrimps on wire rack lined on baking tray and bake at 400 degree Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes flipping once in between. Place under broiler for 2 minutes to get that signature golden brown crust.
If you own an air fryer , you have the best option to make golden crust air fryer coconut shrimp without deep frying. Spray oil of pre-heated air fryer basket.
Arrange shrimp on it, and spray oil on top of shrimps 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 keto diet it’s very easy to make this appetizer keto friendly. Replace plain flour with coconut flour and leave out Panko break crumbs( use only cocooned flakes for breading in third bowl). The rest of the recipe remains the same.
More party perfect appetizers to try:
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📋 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 n pepper to taste and smoked paprika together.
- Bowl 2 – whisk two eggs.
- Bowl 3 – mix together 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 spluttering 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 breading process for rest of the remaining shrimps.
- Heat up oil in wide shallow pan. Once oil temperature reaches between 350 -375 degrees Fahrenheit. Carefully transfer breaded shrimps into hot oil. Do not over crowd the pan. Fry few shrimps at a time, and you’ll have to fry couple of batches.
- Once shrimps turn golden brown, remove from oil onto a tray lined with kitchen towel.
- Serve immediately hot with your favorite dipping sauce.
Video
Notes
-
- Fresh shrimp works best rather than frozen shrimps. 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 shrimps well before coating it in flour, egg, 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 degree Fahrenheit. Fry in small batches. Do not over crowd the pan. Shrimps won’t crisp up evenly.
Jacque Hastert
These were finger licking, lip smacking, mouth watering good! I can’t wait to make these again and again!
Alena
Woah these coconut shrimp look so unbelievably crispy and delicious! I can’t wait to try this recipe for myself!
Charity
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
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
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
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
Just delicious, our new favorite appetizer. Thank you for your notes, very helpful.
Tara
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
Thank you
Priya
Those shrimps look so delicious and crunchy!