These Air Fried Coconut Shrimp are everyone’s favorite finger food made in the air fryer into guilt-free, plump, and juicy morsels.
Almost everyone loves Coconut Shrimp unless you have a seafood allergy. These are easy to prepare, especially with an air fryer, and takes only about 30 minutes of hands on time. Not bad at all for an appetizer that is sure to please.
The Shrimp
For this recipe, please get extra large shrimp i.e. about 15 to 16 shrimps to a pound. Some grocery stores do sell prepared butterfly shrimp. If you can find those, that is a bonus. If not, to butterfly the shrimp is not a big deal. After peeling and deveining each shrimp, simply make a deeper cut running down its back but do not cut through. After which, you should be able to “sit” the meaty side of the shrimp on your cutting board with the tail upwards.
The Coconut
I used unsweetened dried grated coconut which is easily available at the health food grocery stores. It works pretty much like panko bread crumbs. Dried grated coconut keeps the coating dry and will fry up into a golden and crispy exterior in the air fryer.
If you want even more coconut flavor in these shrimp, melt some coconut oil to brush over them before air frying. Over here, the coconut oil comes in jars and is solid. I am not sure if you can find liquid coconut oil. I used canola/vegetable oil but please use coconut oil if you prefer.
Air Fried Coconut Shrimp on Lunar New Year Charcuterie Board
I made these tasty morsels for my Lunar New Year Charcuterie Board. They looked great on the board and we enjoyed them thoroughly. If you have not seen my large serving tray for Lunar New Year, please do check it out. It is a great way to serve a feast for your CNY Reunion Dinner.
Similar Products Used To Make These Air Fried Coconut Shrimp
This post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy here.
Ninja FG551 Foodi Smart XL 6-in-1 Indoor Grill
Winco UT-9 Coiled Spring Heavyweight Stainless Steel Utility Tong, 9-Inch
Dynasty Five Spices Powder, 2 oz
Yeo’s Sweet Chili Sauce
Air Fried Coconut Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 lb extra large shrimp (peeled and deveined, with tails intact) (450g)
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ ground pepper
- ½ cup all-purpose flour + a pinch of salt and pepper (75g)
- 1 egg + 2 tbsp water
- 1 cup unsweetened dried grated coconut (70g)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
- Cut each shrimp running down its back but do not cut through so that it can “sit” with tail up.
- Place all prepared shrimp in a bowl. Add salt and ground pepper. Mix well and let shrimp marinade for 15 minutes.
- Place all-purpose flour with a pinch of salt and pepper, egg mixture, and dessicated coconut in three separate bowls.
- Dredge a shrimp with flour, then dip in the egg mixture, and coat with dessicated coconut. Place on a platter. Repeat with the rest of the shrimp.
- Brush or spray vegetable oil on the prepared shrimp.
- Place air fryer basket in the unit and close the hood. Set air fryer to 390⁰F (200⁰C) for 10 minutes. Press start to begin preheating.
- When unit beeps, open the hood and arrange prepared shrimp in a single layer in the air fryer basket. Close hood to let shrimp cook.
- When cooking is complete, remove Coconut Shrimp to a plate.
- Serve immediately with sweet chili sauce.
Nutrition
I hope you will give these delicious Air Fried Coconut Shrimp a try. They are really easy to prepare and don’t take very much time at all.
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