This crispy Coconut Shrimp recipe is both delicious & easy!
Tender bites of shrimp are coated in a sweet crispy coconut crust. It’s cooked until golden and served with a simple 3 ingredient dip.
They’re perfect as an appetizer or make a great meal over salad
Easy-to-Make Coconut Shrimp
This Coconut Shrimp recipe is sure to disappear from the appetizer table.
- Skip the deep fry: This coconut shrimp recipe is oven-baked (or air fried) for a nice crispy coating.
- Make ahead: Prep ahead and refrigerate or freeze. Bake just before serving for a quick and easy appetizer.
- Just dip, coat, and bake – it’s that simple!
- Making your own coconut shrimp costs less than pre-packaged, and tastes way better!
Ingredients for Coconut Shrimp
Shrimp – Medium or large, fresh or frozen, peeled and deveined. Butterflying the shrimp open can create a more dramatic presentation, and leaving the tails on can make them easy to pick up and dip.
Egg/Cornstarch – Dip the shrimp in a whisked egg mixture and cornstarch to help the coating stick.
Coconut Coating – Pulse sweetened shredded coconut in a food processor to break it up and then add panko breadcrumbs for extra crunch. You can unsweetened coconut, but sweetened is recommended for a better flavor.
Seasonings – Feel free to mix up the seasonings to your liking. Try adding some homemade Cajun seasoning or DIY lemon pepper seasoning for a unique twist.
How to Make Coconut Shrimp
- Coat the shrimp: Dredge each shrimp in cornstarch and egg, and then roll in a mixture of coconut and panko crumbs (per the recipe below).
- Bake: Bake in the oven, air fryer, or deep fryer until golden brown.
- Serve: With your favorite dipping sauce or sweet chili sauce.
Tips for Crunchy Coconut Shrimp
- Shake off any excess cornstarch – you just want a light dusting.
- If you don’t have cornstarch, you can use all-purpose flour instead.
- Spray the coconut coating with cooking spray before cooking to get a crispy exterior.
- Coconut shrimp cook quickly and appliances can vary, so be sure to check them early to ensure they don’t overcook.
How to Prepare Ahead of Time
To prepare shrimp ahead of time, and once breaded, place the shrimp in a single layer on a baking sheet.
- Refrigerate up to 24 hours before baking.
- Freeze on the baking sheet and once frozen, transfer to a freezer bag or air-tight container. Store up to 2 months before baking.
- Cook frozen prepared shrimp from frozen, adding 2 minutes to the cooking time.
Leftover shrimp can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-4 days in an airtight container or zippered bag.
More Shrimp Faves
Did you make these Coconut Shrimp? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Coconut Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 pound large shrimp peeled & deveined
- ½ cup cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- In a small bowl, combine cornstarch, salt, and cayenne pepper. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg until well beaten.
- In a food processor or blender, pulse the coconut or chop it with a knife to break it up. You don't want it too fine, just broken up a little bit.
- Combine the chopped coconut with the bread crumbs.
- Dip each shrimp in the cornstarch mixture, shaking off excess. Dip into the beaten egg, then coat with the coconut and breadcrumb mixture, pressing gently to adhere.
- Place the shrimp on a parchment-lined baking sheet and spray with cooking spray.
- Bake for 8 minutes, flip the shrimp over and bake for 5 to 10 minutes more or until cooked and crispy. Broil for 1 minute if desired.
- Serve warm with sweet chili dip (recipe below).
Notes
- Cooking time is for large shrimp, adjust cooking time for other sizes.
- Spray the shrimp very well with cooking spray for a crispy exterior.
- Be sure to shake off any excess cornstarch, you just want a light dusting. Cornstarch can be replaced with all-purpose flour.
- You can use sweetener or unsweetened coconut flakes, we prefer sweetened.
- Coconut shrimp cook fast; check them early to ensure they don’t overcook.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Appetizer, Main Course, Seafood
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Excited to try a dish I’ve never cooked or eaten. We both love shrimp and I know we’ll love this. Can’t wait to try.
I can’t wait for you to try it Shery!
This recipe was so easy to follow and it turned out great! I was impressed with how well the coconut breading stuck to my shrimp. We decided to use the air fryer (because I’m obsessed with it!) but it made them so perfectly crispy and delicious, and I don’t even like shrimp
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe Samantha!
In airfryer, do I use air fry or bake function?
Hi Brenda, I always use the air fry function unless otherwise stated. Enjoy the shrimp!
Once I used ovenfry, it’s a version of shake and bake to make coconut shrimp. Boy was it good. Thanks for the tip on breaking up the coconut and dipping sauce too.
Sounds delicious, thanks for sharing Traci!
These look great. Can they be made in an air fryer instead? I’m assuming I can use your oven baked shrimp recipe and just add the coconut.
haven’t tried it but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. You could try using the instructions in this recipe for Air Fryer Shrimp. Let us know how it is Linda!