These Baked Coconut Shrimp are coated with flavorful seasonings & coconut flakes and then baked to a golden crispy perfection!
Hi friends! I’m popping in to share with you this post from 2017 because I thought it would make the perfect game-day snack or holiday appetizer! It’s an old recipe, but a timeless classic and so delicious!
I’ve always loved coconut shrimp. It’s one of those things that until this recipe, I would only get on occasion at restaurants and usually left unsatisfied because they never give you enough. So one day, I became determined to create my own recipe with a restaurant-worthy dipping sauce to go with its delicious crunch. Turns out, the perfect ratio of crunch to seasoning wasn’t easy to come by, especially when you trying to make it grain-free/whole food ingredients. After many failed tries, this recipe became my tried and true recipe!
And the dipping sauce is a little spicy, tangy, and sweet. I know that sounds like a lot in a dip, but I promise you, it’s divine so don’t skip it!
How to Make Baked Coconut Shrimp
*Note, this is a how-to visual section. For the full printable recipe card, please scroll to the bottom of this post.
Start by fully drying your shrimp, then mix with tapioca flour or cornstarch till fully coated. Make an egg wash by whisking together eggs and egg whites. Mix your seasonings and coconut shreds. Dip each shrimp into the egg wash, shake the excess off, and then coat in the coconut shred mixture. Place on a foil-lined sheet pan sprayed with cooking spray.
While your shrimp are baking you can make the mango dipping sauce by adding all ingredients to a blender and blending until smooth. Flip shrimp halfway through baking time and continue to bake until they are all crispy and golden brown.
Ingredient Swaps and Substitutions
This recipe is gluten-free. You can use the swapping suggestions below to swap an ingredient out if you don’t have it on hand or it doesn’t work for you.
- Seasonings (Thyme, Paprika, Onion, Garlic, Salt, Chili, Red Pepper Flakes) – You could use a 1-2T old bay for less spicy shrimp or if you have creole seasonings on hand you could use that as well. Feel free to change up the seasonings to meet your preferences! Just keep in mind that changing the seasonings will change the ultimate flavor of the recipe!
- Coconut shreds – Unfortunately it won’t be coconut shrimp if you omit or change this! Do not omit/substitute.
- Medium Shrimp – You can really use medium or large shrimp. You could use small too, but it likely would be very tedious trying to coat them all. I used cooked shrimp when shooting this recipe, but raw will work as well since we’re baking them for a decent amount of time. I typically use raw.
- Tapioca flour or cornstarch – either is fine!
- Egg/Egg Whites – I did a mixture, but you could do 2-3 eggs and no egg whites as well. I just think an egg wash is easier to work with when it’s a mix of the two.
- Vanilla Yogurt – you can use Greek, regular, coconut, or whatever you want! If you go low sugar though you may end up wanting to add some honey or maple syrup.
- Mango chunks – do not omit
- Jalapeno – increase or decrease as desired.
- Cilantro – do not omit or substitute. Cilantro is really unique there isn’t a great sub for it!
How to Store and Freeze Baked Coconut Shrimp
To store baked coconut shrimp: store in an airtight container in the fridge. To reheat I would use the reheat button on my air fryer! But, if you don’t have that, you could heat them on a pan to try and get some of that crunch back. Or microwave them, they won’t be crispy but the taste is still delicious!
To freeze baked coconut shrimp: Personally, due to texture and safety reasons, I wouldn’t freeze these after baking.
To meal prep/freeze baked coconut shrimp: If I was able to get my hands on fresh shrimp (never previously frozen because you can’t refreeze meat/seafood without cooking it first after it’s been defrosted) I would make this recipe up till right before I baked them. So get the shrimp all coated and placed on a sheet pan, then freeze the entire pan. When the shrimp are fully frozen, you can remove them from the pan and place them in a freezer-safe bag for storage. Then you could bake them directly from frozen or use the air fryer. I just don’t know how long it would take since I haven’t tried it. You’ll want to make sure your shrimp are fully cooked at the end!
You May Also Like:
- Cajun Shrimp Deviled Eggs
- Easy Chimichurri Shrimp
- Creamy Chipotle Shrimp
- Stupid Easy Shrimp Tacos with Creamy Chipotle
- Sheet Pan Sweet and Spicy Shrimp
- Sheet Pan Baked Pesto Cauliflower Gnocchi and Red Shrimp
- Bruschetta Shrimp Pasta Recipe
- Shrimp Enchilada Spaghetti Squash Boats
- Baked Mini Shrimp Tacos
- Zoodles with Creamy Lemon Shrimp
- Mu Shu Shrimp
Tag me if you make these! I love to see what you guys make! You can tag me on Insta @hungryhobbyRD and Facebook @hungryhobby!
Baked Coconut Shrimp with Spicy Mango Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
Baked Coconut Shrimp:
- 1 teaspoon thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut shreds
- 20 medium shrimp defrosted, tails on or off, could use raw or fully cooked
- 2 tablespoons tapioca flour
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup egg whites
For Spicy Mango Dipping Sauce:
- 4 ounces vanilla yogurt - I used coconut milk yogurt
- 1 cup mango chunks
- 1- inch sliver of jalapeno
- 1/4 cup cilantro
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Line a sheet pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil and spray it with cooking spray.
- Pat dry defrosted shrimp then toss with tapioca flour or cornstarch and set aside.20 medium shrimp, 2 tablespoons tapioca flour
- Whisk together egg and egg whites in a medium bowl.1/2 cup egg whites , 1 egg
- In a large bowl mix seasonings and coconut shreds.1 teaspoon thyme leaves, 1 teaspoon paprika , 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt , 1/4 teaspoon chili powder, 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes , 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut shreds
- Dip one shrimp at a time into the egg mixture then into the seasonings/coconut mixture. Then place the shrimp on the baking pan. Once all of the shrimp are coated in the yummy coconut mixture, bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and crunchy!
- While the shrimp are baking, make your sauce by combining all the sauce ingredients in a high-powered blender until smooth.4 ounces vanilla yogurt - I used coconut milk yogurt, 1 cup mango chunks, 1- inch sliver of jalapeno , 1/4 cup cilantro
Notes
Nutrition
This sounds like a yummy combo! my boyfriend and I were just chatting the other night about how we haven’t had shrimp in a while!
Don’t you live in the bay? I would eat shrimp every day!
Good luck with the moving process! It is always such a pain, but worth it. I will have to give these a try, the hubs loves coconut shrimp.
Moving sounds so not fun! These shrimp on the other hand…..a must try!