Coconut Shrimp with Orange Dipping Sauce
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This coconut shrimp recipe is hands down one of my favorite appetizers to make when I host a party at home. My recipe uses fresh shrimp, sweet shredded coconut, and a tempura-style batter to create a crispy and golden crust. I serve it with a zesty orange marmalade dipping sauce that I make from scratch, and the whole dish is ready in under 45 minutes.
If coconut shrimp shows up on the appetizer menu when I sit down at a restaurant, there is at least a 90% chance I am ordering it. Ha! Sweet, salty, crispy, a little heat from the dipping sauce, all in one shrimp. If you love shrimp the way I do, I have a perfect shrimp scampi recipe and a pineapple and shrimp ceviche. Seriously, guys, they’re both incredibly delicious!
Coconut Shrimp
Coconut shrimp is peeled shrimp coated in a shredded-coconut breading, fried to golden brown, and served with a dipping sauce on the side. The exact origin is unknown, but the plate is most commonly credited to Caribbean and Polynesian kitchens, and versions of it now show up on restaurant menus all over the world.
I have to tell you how my love for coconut shrimp started. Well, I actually worked at Outback Steakhouse for exactly one week back when I was young (well… younger, since I recently turned 45!), and just starting out. It was absolute madness in that kitchen, with pans flying, every burner going, and every oven full. I just couldn’t stick it out. Yeah… fun, fun experience!
But I was assigned to the fry station, which is where they put you when you’re green, and I made the loaded fries and, lucky me, the coconut shrimp. This isn’t a copycat recipe because I worked there 25 years ago and honestly don’t even remember a single ingredient. But my love for coconut shrimp started right there… over a fry basket. That’s right!
And today I’m sharing with you my own unique recipe that you won’t find anywhere else. I’ll teach you how to make the most delicious coconut shrimp with an easy orange dipping sauce, and of course I’ll share some of the best tips I’ve learned over the years. This is my tried-and-true recipe, and I can’t recommend it enough. Once you and your family bite into one of these coconut shrimp fresh out of the oil… oh my! I know you’ll become just as obsessed with them as I am.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Here is what I use for the shrimp, the tempura-style egg wash, the coconut breading, and the orange dipping sauce:
- Shrimp – I like 16/20 size shrimp for this, however, you can use whichever size you like.
- All-purpose flour is key for the initial coating and for the egg wash.
- Cornstarch – Goes into the egg wash to give it a tempura-style crispness that holds the coconut breading in place.
- Eggs – Large eggs, whisked into the batter until fully scrambled before the cold liquid goes in.
- Club Soda – You can use club soda or cold water, or even beer.
- Coconut Shreds – Sweetened is what I want here for the browning and flavor. Unsweetened coconut will not give you the same golden crust or the sweet-salty balance.
- Breadcrumbs – Cut into the coconut to help the coating go golden and stay crisp. Regular breadcrumbs work but the crust will be denser.
- Oil – Canola, peanut, or vegetable oil. Any high-smoke-point neutral oil is fine.
For the Dipping Sauce
- Orange Marmalade – This is essentially a sweet orange jam or preserves with orange peel.
- Chili Sauce – I use the sweet chili-sauce for this recipe. You can use sambal if you want some spice.
- Mustard – I prefer Dijon or whole grain mustard.
- Honey – Any good raw honey will work.
- Hot Sauce, I like Tabasco. Any hot sauce you already keep in the fridge is fine here.
Make the Orange Dipping Sauce In One Step
Whisk the sauce: Whisk the orange marmalade, sweet chili sauce, honey, Dijon mustard, and hot sauce together in a medium bowl until fully combined. Cover and refrigerate until the shrimp is ready to plate.
Heat the oil: Pour about 5 cups of neutral oil into a medium heavy-bottomed pot and bring it up to 350°F over medium heat. If a thermometer is not available, drop a pinch of flour into the oil; if it sizzles without burning, the oil is ready.
How to Make Crispy Coconut Shrimp
Peel and devein the shrimp: I slide a shrimp peeler-deveiner down the top of the shell and pull up to remove the shell in one motion. If the shrimp are already deveined but still in the shell, pinch the legs and pull sideways to peel. I always save the shells for a batch of homemade shrimp stock or seafood chowder.
Set up the seasoned flour: Whisk all-purpose flour with sea salt and ground white pepper in a shallow bowl or pie tin. Taste it.
Mix the tempura egg wash: Whisk the eggs in a second shallow bowl until fully scrambled. Add the cold club soda, then whisk in all-purpose flour and cornstarch, along with more salt and white pepper. The batter should look loose, tempura-style, not stiff ok?
Combine the coconut breading: Mix 3 cups of sweetened shredded coconut with 1 cup of panko in a third shallow bowl. Break up any large clumps of coconut with a fork or bare hands.
Bread the shrimp: Dust a shrimp in the seasoned flour and shake off the excess. Switch to a dry hand for the flour, a wet hand for the egg wash, and dip the shrimp in the batter on both sides. Lay it in the coconut breading and press a generous coat onto the top and the bottom. Move it to a parchment-lined sheet tray and repeat with the rest.
Fry in batches: Slide 4 to 6 breaded shrimp into the 350°F oil at a time. Wave each shrimp back and forth once as it hits the oil so nothing sticks, then let them fry 2 to 4 minutes, flipping once at the halfway mark. Pull each batch when the crust is deep golden brown and drain on a paper-towel-lined tray. Repeat until every shrimp is fried.
Plate with the sauce: Stack the fried shrimp on a serving platter, put the chilled orange dipping sauce in a small bowl alongside, and finish the plate with a scatter of chopped parsley, cilantro, or chives if desired.
chef tip + notes
There really isn’t anything difficult about making this coconut shrimp recipe if you follow my step-by-step instructions, so if you’re a beginner cook, don’t sweat it! The one thing I always recommend paying close attention to is the oil temperature when the shrimp goes in. Keep the oil at 350 F using a thermometer. If it drops below 340 F, the shrimp will absorb too much oil and turn greasy. If it rises above 365 F, the coconut will burn before the shrimp is cooked through.
- Work the standard breading procedure with one wet hand, one dry hand. I keep the flour hand dry and the egg-wash hand wet. Cross-contaminate them and the flour bowl goes to paste in 5 shrimp.
- Press the coconut on with real pressure: A gentle sprinkle falls off in the oil. Press coconut into the top, flip, press coconut into the bottom, and pinch the sides. A fully coated shrimp fries golden all the way around.
- Freeze breaded, uncooked shrimp for later: Breaded raw shrimp go on a parchment-lined tray in the freezer, then into a labeled bag once fully frozen. They fry straight from the freezer with no thawing, and they hold for up to 6 months.
- Use sweetened coconut only, trust me, unsweetened will not give the crust its color or the sweet-salty balance the sauce plays off. The sweetness in the coconut is the whole point.
- The batter feeds 2 pounds of shrimp: The tempura egg wash in this recipe stretches to 2 pounds if a bigger crowd is coming. Scale the flour dust and the coconut breading proportionally.
Serving Suggestions
This is the appetizer I make when friends are coming over on a Saturday and the game is on the TV. A batch of these next to a bowl of homemade potato chips, some fresh pineapple salsa and a stack of shrimp spring rolls with peanut butter dipping sauce.
Together, they make a tropical-inspired feast that keeps everyone happily snacking long before dinner is ready. When I want them to be the meal, I plate the shrimp over coconut rice with a spoonful of mango salsa on the side. You can always pick any other side dishes you want to pair this with, just search my blog for inspiration.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: While these are meant to be eaten immediately, you can keep them warm on a sheet tray with a rack in the oven at low temperatures (165° to 200°).
How to Store: I cover and keep the shrimp in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. They will freeze covered after being cooked for up to 3 months. See chef notes on freezing raw. The dipping sauce will store in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 2 weeks. It will not freeze.
How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of coconut shrimp to a cookie sheet tray lined with parchment paper and heat at 350° for 4-5 minutes or until hot. If reheating frozen and cooked, place them on a cookie sheet tray lined with parchment paper and heat at 350° for 13-15 minutes or until hot.
More Seafood Recipes
- Seafood Pasta
- Cajun Shrimp Pasta
- Pan-Seared Chilean Sea Bass
- Tuna Noodle Casserole
- Pan Seared Halibut
Video
Coconut Shrimp with Orange Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
For the Sauce:
- 1 cup orange marmalade
- 1/3 cup sweet chili sauce
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
For the Shrimp:
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup club soda
- ¾ cup corn starch
- 3 cups sweet coconut shreds
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 pound peeled and deveined tail on 16/20 shrimp
- oil for frying
- salt and ground white pepper to taste
Instructions
For the Sauce:
- Add all the ingredients to a medium-size bowl and whisk until combined. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Heat some oil in a medium-size pot over medium heat and keep at 350°.
For the Shrimp:
- In a shallow bowl or cake tin, whisk together 1 cup of flour, salt, and pepper until combined. Set aside.
- Next, whisk together the 2 eggs with club soda, ¾ cup of flour, corn starch, salt, and pepper in a separate shallow bowl or cake tin until combined. Set aside.
- Mix the coconut shreds and panko in a separate shallow bowl or cake tin until combined. Set aside.
- Add a few shrimps at a time into the seasoned flour to coat. Dust off any excess then dredge in the egg wash, and finally coat completely in the coconut breading. Place on a cookie sheet tray lined with parchment paper until all the shrimp have been breaded.
- Fry the shrimp in the oil for 2 to 4 minutes or until browned and cooked throughout. Drain on paper towels. Cook in batches for 3-5.
- Serve the shrimp alongside the dipping sauce.
Coconut shrimp is one of my wife’s favorite appetizers. So I surprise her with this last night and made these for her. She loved them. Thank you for the recipe.
Fantastic! Thank you!
Loved how you broke things down.. The step-by-step guide was excellent….
Thanks for checking out the recipe!