by Teri Lyn Fisher · Published: · Modified:
Jump to Recipe
A simple and delicious recipe for coconut shrimp served with a bright and flavorful mango salsa. It's a great appetizer that fries up quickly, but can also be baked or made in an air fryer!
We love Coconut Shrimp…like REALLY love it. It’s one of the first recipes we put up on the site 10 years ago, and we’ve finally given it a fresh update! Not only is this recipe so simple and delicious, but we’ve made sure to include air fryer and baking instructions so there’s no excuse not to make this ridiculously good coconut shrimp recipe!
How to Make Our Coconut Shrimp Recipe
Process
- Season the shrimp with salt and pepper.
- In a shallow dish combine flour and garlic powder.
- In another shallow dish combine coconut and breadcrumbs.
- Dredge shrimp in the flour mixture and shake off any excess flour. Then dip each shrimp into the beaten eggs, followed by the coconut mixture, shaking off any excess. Season with salt and pepper.
- Place shrimp onto a parchment covered baking sheet and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat oil. Carefully add shrimp to the hot oil and fry. Gently flip and continue to fry until golden brown and shrimp has just cooked through (do this in batches to avoid crowding the pan). Transfer cooked shrimp to a baking sheet lined with a cooling rack. Season with salt and pepper.
- Transfer shrimp to a platter and serve with our Mango Salsa.
Important Tools You Will Need
- long tongs – this makes it very easy to flip and remove the shrimp from the oil
- wide pan with tall sides – when shallow frying I always recommend a pan like this. You get a larger surface area for frying and the tall sides help to prevent any oil to spill out of the pan, creating a potentially dangerous situation and big mess!
- baking sheets lined with a cooling rack – rather than draining the shrimp onto paper towels, I really prefer to use a baking sheet lined with a cooling rack. Excess oil will still drip off the shrimp, but unlike paper towels, the cooling rack and baking sheet combination will help to maintain crisp shrimp that wont get soggy.
Air Fryer Coconut Shrimp Instructions
Making coconut shrimp in an air fryer is so easy, the results are just as delicious and it makes this dish healthier too.
After coating and refrigerating shrimp set air fryer to 400˚F. Lightly spray shrimp on each side with cooking spray and transfer to fry basket. Air fry shrimp for about 10 minutes or until golden brown and just cooked through. Remove from air fryer and season with salt and pepper.
Baked Coconut Shrimp Instructions
We totally get that not everyone likes frying and that not everyone has an air fryer, so we’ve included baking instructions below, so everyone can make this addicting recipe!
After coating and refrigerating shrimp set oven to 400˚F. Lightly spray shrimp on each side with cooking spray and transfer to a baking sheet. Bake shrimp for about 8 minutes, then flip each shrimp and continue to bake for an additional 6 to 8 minutes or until both sides are golden brown and shrimp has just cooked through. Remove from oven and season with salt and pepper.
Freezing Instructions for Our Coconut Shrimp Recipe
Freezing
Our coconut shrimp can be made and frozen (uncooked) up to 2 months ahead of time. To freeze, coat shrimp as written in the recipe below and place shrimp onto a parchment lined baking sheet about 1/2 inch apart. Place baking sheet in the freezer until shrimp are frozen, then transfer shrimp to a freezer proof resealable plastic bag. Store in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Cooking Coconut Shrimp from Frozen
- Frying: Fry shrimp from frozen, but add an additional 1 to 2 minutes frying time to each side.
- Air Fryer: Fry shrimp from frozen, but do not spray with cooking oil and add an additional 3 to 4 minutes to the air frying time.
- Baking: Place frozen shrimp onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Do not spray shrimp with cooking spray and add an additional 4 to 5 minutes of baking to each side.
What to Serve with Our Coconut Shrimp
We love that this dish can be enjoyed as an appetizer on its own, but we also love that it can be added to so many other dishes to make it a complete meal. So of our favorites are:
- simply with some steamed rice and roasted vegetables
- on a variety of different salads, like our Coconut Shrimp Summer Salad
- over creamy, buttery grits
- along with our mango salsa, our coconut shrimp can also be served with out spicy honey drizzle, from our hush puppies.
Click here to view all of our Seafood Recipes
More Delicious Shrimp Recipes You Will Love
- Hawaiian Style Crispy Garlic-Butter Shrimp
- Shrimp Scampi Recipe
- Cajun Shrimp Pasta
- Shrimp Toast
- Shrimp Taquitos with Creamy Chipotle Sauce
- Shrimp and Grits Recipe
- Shrimp Fritters
- Creamy Shrimp and Corn Ravioli
Check out our giant roundup of all our Best Shrimp Recipes!
Hungry for more?
Subscribe to never miss a recipe.
Coconut Shrimp
5 from 9 votes
PRINT RECIPE Pin Recipe
A simple and delicious recipe for coconut shrimp served with a bright and flavorful mango salsa. It's a great appetizer that fries up quickly, but can also be baked or made in an air fryer!
RECIPE BY
Prep Time: 25 minutes mins
Cook Time: 20 minutes mins
Chill Time: 1 hour hr
Servings: 4
INGREDIENTS
- 16 extra jumbo raw shrimp (16-20 count) cleaned and peeled with tails intact
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 cups vegetable oil for frying
- 1/2 recipe for mango salsa for serving
INSTRUCTIONS
In a small bowl, season the shrimp with salt and pepper.
In a shallow dish combine flour and garlic powder. In another shallow dish, gently toss together the coconut and breadcrumbs.
Dredge shrimp in the flour mixture and shake off any excess flour. Then dip each shrimp into the beaten eggs, followed by the coconut mixture, shaking off any excess coconut and panko. Season with salt and pepper.
Place shrimp onto a parchment covered baking sheet and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat oil to 350˚F. Once oil is hot, carefully add shrimp and fry for 3 minutes. Gently flip and continue to fry for an additional 3 minutes or until golden brown and shrimp has just cooked through. Transfer cooked shrimp to a baking sheet lined with a cooling rack or paper towels. Season with salt and pepper.
Transfer shrimp to a platter and serve with mango salsa.
NOTES
Air Fryer Coconut Shrimp Instructions
Making coconut shrimp in an air fryer is so easy, the results are just as delicious and it makes this dish healthier too.
After coating and refrigerating shrimp set air fryer to 400˚F. Lightly spray shrimp on each side with cooking spray and transfer to fry basket. Air fry shrimp for about 10 minutes or until golden brown and just cooked through. Remove from air fryer and season with salt and pepper.
Baked Coconut Shrimp Instructions
We totally get that not everyone likes frying and that not everyone has an air fryer, so we’ve included baking instructions below, so everyone can make this addicting recipe!
After coating and refrigerating shrimp set oven to 400˚F. Lightly spray shrimp on each side with cooking spray and transfer to a baking sheet. Bake shrimp for about 8 minutes, then flip each shrimp and continue to bake for an additional 6 to 8 minutes or until both sides are golden brown and shrimp has just cooked through. Remove from oven and season with salt and pepper.
Freezing Instructions
To Freeze
Our coconut shrimp can be made and frozen (uncooked) up to 2 months ahead of time. To freeze, coat shrimp as written in the recipe below and place shrimp onto a parchment lined baking sheet about 1/2 inch apart. Place baking sheet in the freezer until shrimp are frozen, then transfer shrimp to a freezer proof resealable plastic bag. Store in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Cooking Coconut Shrimp from Frozen
- Frying: Fry shrimp from frozen, but add an additional 1 to 2 minutes frying time to each side.
- Air Fryer: Fry shrimp from frozen, but do not spray with cooking oil and add an additional 3 to 4 minutes to the air frying time.
- Baking: Place frozen shrimp onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Do not spray shrimp with cooking spray and add an additional 4 to 5 minutes of baking to each side.
Calories: 561kcal Carbohydrates: 30g Protein: 12g Fat: 45g Saturated Fat: 16g Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g Monounsaturated Fat: 19g Trans Fat: 1g Cholesterol: 101mg Sodium: 267mg Potassium: 218mg Fiber: 5g Sugar: 2g Vitamin A: 59IU Vitamin C: 1mg Calcium: 65mg Iron: 3mg
CUISINE: Caribbean
KEYWORD: coconut shrimp
COURSE: Appetizer
You Might Also Love...
- Shrimp Scampi Recipe
- Sweet Corn Risotto with Cajun Shrimp
- Hot Shrimp Over Cheesy Corn Grits
About Teri Lyn Fisher
Teri Lyn Fisher is half of Spoon Fork Bacon. She is also a food and cosmetics photographer. She is a big fan of hot dogs. #sfbTERI
Previous Post: < Previous Post Wedge Salad with Everything Bagel Seasoning
Next Post: Kiwi Caipiroska Next Post >
Reader Interactions
/ 10 Comments
Comments
Bunny
Hi:I love your website😀😀😀 I have made this recipe with scallops, shrimp, calamari tentacles and Petrale sole.
Our family loves the umami of hoisin sauce (2tab.) mixed with mayonnaise (1tab.) as well as pineapple jam (2tab.) mixed with mayonnaise (2tab.), green onions (1tab) and sesame seeds (1 tsp.). They also love my sticky orange sauce (made with honey, orange marmalade, ginger and sesame seeds) with these treats.
Reply
Mango
Awesome recipe. I liked it. I will definitely try this recipe, but will make just one change. instead of mango I will use alphonso mango so that it’s taste will become much sweeter.Reply
Tres Delicious
Splendid idea! I like your creativity. I must also prepare my own version of this.
Reply
Jessica
Do you use raw shrimp with this recipe? Or do you have to start with cooked shrimp?
And o.m.g. Your site is the cutest and prettiest thing ever. talk about eye candy. I heart it. I am sooo glad I found it! I am adding it to my site directory this weekend!!! <3
Reply
Jenny Park
Hi Jessica! I use raw shrimp for this recipe. I think tiger shrimp works the best, but feel free to use any type of shrimp! Thanks for reading! xx
Reply
Kankana
I have never seen such a gorgeous presentation of coconut shrimp.
Reply
myFudo
looks tasty, love your idea of coconut shrimp. Great appealing photo
Reply
Brian Carter
I think this recipe is just I’ve been looking for in coconut shrimp. However; shrimp cooks very fast, you should be very careful to watch the color of the meat. Raw shrimp is a greyish/white color, when it is cooked it will be pink in color. When it turn pink, it is done. The taste is right on, it’s easy to assemble and it’s a crowd pleasure. Thanks, ladies.Reply
Adrianna from A Cozy Kitchen
OFFICIAL: Most gangster recipe EVER!!!Reply
Teri Lyn Fisher
I think your comment is more gangster cause its the first one!
Reply